29. Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Cody
Cody lay in bed, phone in hand, typing, erasing, and re-typing a text message to Morgan.
Cody: I really need to see you. And I need to give you three orgasms. Pronto.
Nope. He quickly deleted that. He had double-checked and he was already at seven Romance Levels with Morgan.
Considering they managed levels four through seven the last time they were together, three levels seemed pretty damn easy to achieve in a single session, especially with his pussy petting powers.
If he could finish her off as his first Full Romance, that could possibly take care of the Nyrah Romance situation by cancelling it out. But there was only one way to find out.
So, three more really good fucks and you can marry your dream girl, Knife said. This is what you wanted, but I’m sensing some trepidation in this brain of yours.
I love her. I fought to come back for her, Cody said, trying to make sense of his feelings.
It’s just, this is not how I pictured it.
And everything feels so rushed because of this stupid game.
And Temica is ruining everything. I should be enjoying this, and instead I’m super stressed out and I do not feel like this is an ideal time to propose or get married or whatever, but I know the game might require that.
And it might require we get married really fucking soon.
I don’t know how Morgan is going to react.
And I’m really not looking forward to finding out how Doug feels about us getting married, especially so soon after we started dating again.
But if you finish off all your Friendship stuff and marry Morgan, Temica will leave. You know, hopefully. Then you can slow down and enjoy your married life with Mrs. Hampshire, yeah? And you can take me out to see my puffball wifey sometime soon, right? Like, maybe later tonight?
Cody tossed his phone aside, and rubbed his face. Maybe. If Morgan can’t come by tonight. She texted earlier saying Gracie was acting up today, so she might not be able to.
Okay, so can you please send your text already and find out which one of us is getting lucky tonight? Knife asked.
Cody picked up his phone and shot off a simple text, asking if Morgan was free tonight. She replied almost immediately, and he wasn’t surprised that she was going to Doug’s place for dinner to help with Gracie, and that she’d probably be spending the night.
Fuck. Sorry, Knife said. But maybe we can go for a little walk then?
Sure. Cody didn’t have it in him to fight. Besides, after seeing what Knife had been through, he actually wanted to help out his friend.
Cody whipped together a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for his dinner so he wouldn’t have to sit down and eat a proper meal with Nyrah and Yana.
He was scarfing it down while heading out to visit Knife’s puffball mushroom, when Yana called out to him from down the hall.
She had changed out of her bikini and was dressed in a more modest pair of denim shorts and a T-shirt.
“Cody? Where are you going?” she asked.
“I’m going for a walk. Make your own dinner tonight, okay? You're welcome to use whatever’s available. I took some stuff out of my Inventory and put it in the fridge and cupboards.”
“May I walk with you?” Yana asked.
“No.” Even as he said it, he felt like a jerk.
Yana walked the rest of the way down the hall to meet him at the door. “But I was thinking about the Friendship Levels and how you think it’s the way to beat the game and get rid of Temica. So…maybe we should make an effort to actually be friends? And figure out what unlocks my Friendship Levels?”
“And where’s Nyrah?”
“She’s sleeping. She used up a lot of Stamina while swimming and fishing. She, um…she won’t mind if I spend time with you.”
Cody was pretty sure a very faint blush bloomed in Yana’s cheeks, but it was gone as quickly as it appeared. Cody sighed, unsure what to make of that, but he really did need to start making progress with Yana if he wanted to complete this game.
“Yeah. Sure. I guess we should work on your Friendship Levels. Come on.”
He ripped his sandwich in half, and passed it to her.
He’d noticed she was always hungry and ate a ton at mealtimes, so opting for a walk instead of dinner was probably not the greatest option for her.
He shared his sandwich without thinking about the game levels, but after she accepted it, he half expected a notification. Nothing happened.
They ate their sandwiches and walked in silence, until Cody spotted one of the big white puffball mushrooms. “There. That’s what we came for.”
“What is it?” Yana asked.
“Puffball mushroom,” Cody explained, and pulled Knife out of his inventory. “My, um…sentient Knife likes to spend time with…mushrooms. Big, white mushrooms.”
“Yes, your sentient knife.” Yana nodded knowingly as she chewed up the last bite of her sandwich. “Nyrah told me you had one of those. Did she tell you about the sentient demon spatula?”
“She did.” Cody aimed at the mushroom and let Knife fly. It was actually a perfect throw this time, with Knife sinking into the mushroom up to the hilt. “And now we go.”
“We leave your knife there?”
“Yeah, we give them some privacy and we come back when he pops back into my head and lets me know he’s done.”
They were already walking away, but Yana looked over her shoulder at the mushroom and Knife. “When he’s done what?”
“Husband and wife stuff.”
“I am…very confused.”
“You and me both.” Cody shared a smile with Yana. “Just go with it.”
Yana laughed.
[Congratulations! You have completed your first Friendship Level with Resident Yana Rose! Only four more to go until Romance is Unlocked!]
“Fuck yeah!” Cody said as soon as the notification popped up. But then he read the whole thing. “Fuck…no.”
Cody really did not want any more Romance options. And he was not getting any romantic vibes from Yana, which made it all the more confusing. The only possible reason he could think of was that Nyrah had been insisting that she and Yana were a package deal.
“What’s wrong?” Yana asked.
“I earned your first Friendship Level,” Cody explained, leaving out the part about eventually unlocking Romance.
“Well, that’s wonderful news.”
“Yeah, sure. But I don’t really know what made that happen.”
“You made me laugh?” Yana suggested.
Cody shrugged. “Maybe? I guess we’ll know for sure next time I say something hilarious to you.”
“Assuming I agree that what you said is amusing.”
“Yeah, assuming that.”
Considering Yana was pretty damn serious most of the time, he was really hoping ‘making her laugh’ wasn’t the actual key to her Friendship Levels.
He pushed it from his mind as he did some more foraging, picking up some more Red Twirlies and the blue cog things.
He checked his Inventory to find out the proper name for the blue things, but apparently it was just Blue Cog Thingies.
It felt like it was made of metal, and the cog was nearly the size of his palm.
“What are those?” Yana asked.
“Don’t know, never seen them when I lived here before. Pretty sure they’re part of the game. Gracie, Morgan’s niece, sometimes asks for this stuff, so I like to have plenty on hand. It’s how I level up her Friendship.”
“Why does she need them?”
“I have no idea. Probably random kid stuff. She’s only eight.”
They continued to walk along the trail in silence.
The vibrant orange and yellow of the setting sun could be seen through the trees, and they were close enough to the lake to hear the gentle waves against the shoreline.
Yana wasn’t bad company. She was calmer and much more reserved than Nyrah, that was for sure.
It wasn’t exactly an uncomfortable silence, but he had a lot on his mind.
Cody was having trouble enjoying the sunset walk, since he found out Yana would also be unlocking Romance once her Friendship Levels were completed.
Cody was relieved when Knife finally called out in his mind, letting him know he was done.
They made their way back and Cody leaned down, pulling Knife out of the mushroom.
He wiped the blade off on his pants and sent Knife back into his Inventory.
Cody was about to ask Yana if she was ready to head home when a scream pierced the evening air.
Yana spun around, looking back towards the cottage, but was frozen in place.
“Was that Nyrah?” she asked, her voice hushed.
Before Cody could answer, Yana took off running. He swore under his breath and ran after her.