36. Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Six
Cody
Cody had really wanted to punch Temica in the face, but he was worried it was an extremely uneven match.
It would probably have ended badly for him, and possibly Morgan and everyone else he cared about.
He had no power here. He was a twenty-eight-year-old human with no special powers whatsoever.
Not that any of his Velasarin powers would have helped against a goddess or even a Chaos Demon.
Over there, he just had extra strength and some combat skills.
Once Temica had left, Cody tugged Morgan aside and into the edge of the forest so they could talk in private.
“What is it?” Morgan asked.
“What exactly did you say to Doug?”
“I told him we were together. And that you’re a good guy and I love you.”
“I take it he took it well?”
“Surprisingly well, yes. He did say he would hunt you down and kick your ass if you left me again, but you’re mine and you’re never leaving me again, so we don’t have to worry about that.” She straightened the collar of Cody’s button-down shirt as she said it, her words sounding sweet as honey.
There was something about the way she so confidently claimed him as her own that made a heated wave of arousal flow through him and straight to his cock.
It was like a different degree of being loved and wanted.
It was borderline obsessive, and very close to the way Nyrah acted toward him, but he was beginning to realize he liked it.
The two women might have their differences, but the more he got to know each of them, the more similarities were beginning to emerge.
“Right, well…” Cody tried to shake off his horniness.
A forest next to a child’s birthday party was not the ideal place to fuck Morgan’s brains out.
“I guess Doug believes you because I got my first Friendship Level with him while the two of you were talking. Feels kind of weird that I wasn’t directly involved, but I’ll take it. ”
Morgan’s whole face lit up as she smiled. “That’s amazing! How many more levels do you need with Doug?”
“Each Resident I have to become ‘friends’ with has five levels,” Cody explained. “They usually have specific triggers or quests, things I need to do for them. So, I’m not sure what earned me that first level with Doug.”
“Maybe it was just me talking to him, letting him know how much I love you. Maybe he’s finally accepted you’re here to stay, with me.”
“Maybe.”
Cody was still feeling immensely horny. For the past few days, Morgan had been moping around his bedroom wearing sweatpants.
That was fine, she needed some time to process everything.
But now she was standing before him, wearing a pretty green floral sundress.
It was more modest than other dresses she’d worn, as this one had a halter top that covered up her cleavage, but she still looked spectacularly beautiful.
He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her in nice and close so he could kiss her.
Her hands immediately sunk into his hair, holding him in place.
Just a kiss, he told himself. He just needed one little kiss to…
uh, take the edge off. He knew it didn’t work like that, but he kissed her anyway.
A burst of laughter drifted over from the party, reminding them where they were.
They reluctantly ended their kiss, but Morgan stayed nice and close, her body flush with his.
“Make love to me tonight?” she asked softly.
“Definitely.” He kissed her one last time before they returned to the party.
The rest of the birthday party went well, with Doug and Bob taking turns at the barbecue cooking up burgers and hot dogs.
A big, pink frosted cake was gifted from Corner Pieces Bakery and served for dessert , and plenty of gifts made the birthday girl very happy.
Gracie even asked Cody for some more Red Twirlies, which he was happy to hand over, earning him his third Friendship Level with Gracie.
It was also nice seeing almost the entire town in one place.
Upbeat music was being played, and a bunch of partygoers were dancing on the beach.
Morgan was dancing with Gracie, holding both hands and spinning in circles while laughing.
Cody never really liked dancing, so he wandered off, grabbing his second piece of cake.
It was cherry chip with fluffy vanilla frosting, and was probably the best birthday cake he had ever had in his life.
He was going to have to buy a birthday cake from William for his own birthday.
“H-hello?” he heard a soft voice say, and he turned to see Marigold.
Her golden hair was worn in her usual braids, and she was wearing a frilly white dress shirt under her denim overalls.
Cody still thought it was strange that out of all the women he had ever encountered while attached to Knife this was the one Knife had shown interest in.
“Oh, hey Marigold,” Cody said. “Good cake, eh?”
“Yes. I had some. But I…I brought my library books to work and you n-never came to get them. Am I allowed to return them or…? You seemed very intent on b-bringing them back yourself, so I wasn’t sure…but now they’re even more overdue and I’ve been avoiding Lexi this whole p-party.”
Cody paused chewing to try and decipher what the hell she was talking about.
It only took a moment to remember. Right before all the shit went down with Morgan and Nyrah, he’d been rounding up overdue library books to level up Lexi.
He had told Marigold to bring hers to work, so he could pick them up and return them for her, but he’d completely forgotten and hadn’t been back since.
“Oh, shit. Sorry,” he said. “Some stuff came up. Is it cool if I stop by tomorrow?”
“Y-yes,” Marigold said, and abruptly turned and walked away.
Cody blinked a few times and then dug back into his cake. Marigold was still a mystery when it came to level ups. He really needed to get back into town and start working on finishing up his Friendship Levels.
He looked over at Morgan, who was still dancing away with her niece. She seemed to be coming out the other end of the dark tunnel she’d been stuck in. He’d keep an eye on her, make sure she didn’t slip back there, but otherwise he was feeling confident that she was going to be okay.
He hated not being able to actually do something when it came to Temica.
He hated that she was always…around. But the more time went by, the more he was convinced that Knife was right about her, and she was a mere demon, not an all-powerful goddess.
Or at least, he was hoping that was true.
The alternative was almost too depressing to think about.
He didn’t want to be stuck in a game forever and he definitely didn’t want her hanging around Cornerstone, haunting him and Morgan for the rest of their lives.
By early evening, the dancing and the party came to an end. Morgan kissed her niece goodnight, and they shared a big hug before Doug took Gracie inside. Morgan looked over at Cody, smiled, and started walking over.
“Ready to head home?” he asked her.
Morgan yawned. “Yes. I’m ready. I’m all danced out.”
They held hands as they walked down the dirt road, the occasional, yellow-lit fireflies illuminating their path.
“I like that, by the way.” Morgan rested her head against his arm as they walked. “Home.”
“You are more than welcome to move in with me.”
“Really?”
“Of course,.”
“And Cody?”
He gave her hand a squeeze. “Yes?”
“You want to have kids, right?” Morgan asked.
When he had dreamt about returning home, to her, having kids was part of the whole package.
It would be nice to have one or two kids running around the cottage, playing outside, or swimming in the lake.
He could picture himself teaching his future son or daughter how to fish, with Morgan at his side. He wanted that stuff. All of it.
Cody slipped his arm around her waist, pulling her in close and kissed the top of her head. “Definitely.”
“Like…four? Or five?”
Cody swallowed the nervous lump that had risen in his throat. That…was not exactly what he had been picturing. He couldn’t tell if she was messing with him or not.
“Are you being serious right now?” he asked.
“I mean…you did say you inherited a bunch of money from Grandpa Sam, right? We could maybe add an extension onto the cottage? A few more bedrooms? For the six babies we’re going to be having?”
“Six?” Cody suddenly broke out in a sweat under his collar. “How did you jump to six?”
Morgan giggled. “I’m just teasing. Three or four would be enough.”
“Or two,” Cody said, attempting to bargain.
“Two?” Morgan pulled away, mock-shocked. “You only want two?”
“Two or…three?” He guided her back to his side and kept her close. “But in all honesty, I don’t think I can handle more than three.”
“Three. Okay. I think I’ll be happy with three. But I still think we should look into adding an extension to the cottage.”
“We can do that.” Cody liked that idea. They had the land and the money, and the cottage as-is was fairly small.
He liked this planning for the future stuff.
It made everything feel so much more real and absolutely possible.
All he had to do was finish the game and defeat Temica, and then all he’d ever wanted would come true.
Easy-peasy. It felt so close, but he knew it was still so far away.
“How exactly did Grandpa Sam wind up with so much money?” Morgan asked.
“I have no idea. He never once mentioned it to me. No one in town knew, either?”
Morgan shook her head. “Nope. He didn’t tell a soul.”
“Weird. I guess we’ll never know.”
Cody Hampshire Player Stats
Friendship Moments: Gracie: 3/5, Lexi: 1/5, Bob: 1/5, Nyrah: 4/5, Yana 2/5, Doug: 1/5
Full Friendship: Doris, William
Romance Moments: Morgan: 7/10
Relationship Status: Planning for the Future