40. Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty
Cody
By the time Cody and Yana arrived back at the cottage, they were both starving. Morgan was sitting on the couch, reading one of Grandpa Sam’s romance novels. She jumped up as they entered and put the book down on the coffee table.
“I was starting to get worried!” Morgan said. “Is everything okay?”
Cody shrugged. “Okay enough.”
Morgan walked over and hugged him, but his clothes were still a bit damp, so it wasn’t a full embrace.
“You should probably change and get warmed up,” Morgan said. “I’d offer to make you something for dinner, but your way is probably faster than my way.” She gave the oven a pointed look.
“I can make something,” Yana offered. She was completely dry now, thanks to her elven magic, and she could use the game oven.
“That’d be great. Thanks, Yana.” Cody headed to the bathroom, and Morgan followed him in, which he didn’t mind.
She took a seat on the toilet lid and looked up at him. “Am I right to assume you were doing some sort of fetch questing for Gracie?”
“Yeah, some special raindrop gems that only respawn during a storm.” Cody peeled off his wet clothes, dumping them on the ground. “She was pretty upset. Did you talk to Doug?”
Before Morgan answered, he stepped into the shower and pulled the curtain shut. He turned the water on, and the sudden warmth felt amazing.
“Yes, I talked to Doug,” Morgan called over the sound of the shower.
Cody got started on lathering shampoo into his hair but peeked around the curtain. “And? Was he still pissed that I went along with Gracie’s game stuff?”
“He mentioned that. And he wants you to go fishing with him tomorrow.”
“What?” Cody ducked back into the shower, rinsing the shampoo out of his hair. “Do I have to?”
“It would be a good chance to earn another level with him.”
“I guess you’re right. There is that.” Cody grabbed the bar of soap and began to wash off all the bits of mud that the rain hadn’t washed away already. “But I also need to talk to Gracie sometime, with just you around. No Doug.”
“Is she asking you for fetch quests because of your game stuff or…?”
“I think there’s more to it.” Cody quickly finished up in the shower, and Morgan passed him a fresh towel. “The fetch quests help me level up her Friendship, but I definitely think there’s something else going on there.”
“Temica?” Morgan asked, her eyes instantly clouding over.
“Not sure.” Cody wrapped the towel around his waist, and they went to their bedroom.
Morgan sat on the bed as Cody found some clean sweatpants and a shirt and pulled them on.
“I think Gracie’s game might have something to do with Grandpa Sam.
Do you remember the two of them doing any game-like stuff, before…
you know, before Grandpa Sam passed away? ”
Cody had already come to terms with his grandfather’s death prior to moving to Cornerstone, but the way Gracie had talked about Grandpa Sam not actually being dead ignited a spark of hope inside of him. There was definitely something going on and he needed to get to the bottom of it.
“Grandpa Sam would babysit her sometimes and they’d play in the workshop,” Morgan said.
“And like I mentioned before, I notice she gets that faraway look sometimes, the exact same one you get when you look at your game screen. She also likes to collect things, rocks and shells and stuff. But lots of kids collect stuff like that. I have a shoebox full of shells in my apartment, somewhere.”
Cody sat on the bed next to Morgan. “I need to talk to her. Soon.”
“First, go fishing with Doug and talk to him. I’ll work something out so we can talk to Gracie.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
They could smell herbs and spices wafting from the kitchen, so Yana probably had dinner ready. They headed out to see a spread of baked trout, brown rice, string beans, and a big bowl of salad.
“That oven is crazy.” Morgan looked over the spread as she took her seat at the table. “Should we wake up Nyrah?”
Cody shared a nervous glance with Yana. They hadn’t had a meal all together since before the incident.
“Are you sure?” Cody asked Morgan. He slowly took his own seat, across from her.
“We talked,” Morgan said. “I don’t mind if she joins us.”
“You…talked?” Cody could hardly believe his ears. It had barely been a full week.
“We talked,” Morgan repeated. “Yana, why don’t you go wake up Nyrah and invite her to dinner?”
“Um…yes. Okay.” Yana shared another confused look with Cody before leaving the kitchen.
Cody regarded Morgan across the table from him. “You talked? Just the two of you, alone? And it went okay?”
“Yes.” Morgan grabbed the steaming bowl of rice and scooped some onto her plate before passing it to Cody. “And we need to have a talk, just the two of us, once we’re done eating dinner.”
Before he could respond, Yana returned with Nyrah.
She was in her human form and wearing a blue sundress that was having great difficulty holding in her cleavage.
She glanced at Cody and he gave her a nod.
And then she glanced at Morgan, who smiled and also gave her a nod of approval.
With that silently sorted out, Nyrah sat down at the table.
An uncomfortable silence filled the kitchen as the four of them politely passed the dishes of food around the table, each serving themselves.
Nyrah took a tiny piece of fish and some rice.
Cody felt it really was strange how little she needed to survive, especially compared to her friend.
Yana had eaten a huge lunch at the diner, but she was still piling a mountain of rice onto her plate.
Cody dug into his food, quietly observing the three women at the table.
He really wished he had Knife to confer with about his current situation.
Although, Knife would probably encourage Cody to embrace the harem that was quickly forming around him.
Not that that would be the worst thing that ever happened to Cody.
He could not deny that all three of them were beautiful, and that he cared about each of them.
He looked over at Yana, who caught his eye, but immediately looked away. She was blushing, and Morgan definitely noticed. Cody looked over at Morgan as she quirked an eyebrow and tilted her head.
Cody sighed. The women weren’t trying to kill each other, but this dinner was still awkward.
No one was talking. It felt like everyone was trying to be extra careful around each other.
But he wasn’t sure what he expected. A little over a week and one little talk wasn’t going to completely fix things.
We need more time, he told himself. The four of them peacefully co-existing felt crazy, but then, so was the rest of his life.
An hour later, Morgan was changing into a little green cotton nightdress as Cody got comfy in bed.
She had packed up a bunch of stuff from her apartment and was already making herself at home in the cottage.
It probably wouldn’t be long until she was completely moved in.
Cody liked that, the idea of her being there, sharing the cottage as their home.
Morgan joined him in bed, climbing in under the covers.
Her strappy nightdress did little to stop her breasts from swaying enticingly, and Cody couldn’t help but admire them.
He ran a knuckle over the fabric, and her nipple instantly hardened, poking at the thin fabric.
She gently grasped his wrist and pushed him away, smiling.
“Focus,” she said. “We talk first, and then you can play with my tits however you want.”
Cody sighed and dragged his eyes away from her impressive cleavage. “Okay, yeah. You and Nyrah getting along is really weird. And I have something to tell you, too.”
He absolutely knew he needed to tell Morgan about Yana levelling up to be Romanced and how she tried to kiss him, but he also really wanted to know about what had transpired between Morgan and Nyrah while he was gone. They both seem uninjured, so that was a relief.
Morgan’s blue eyes were intently focused on him. “You have something to tell me? Is it something about Yana?”
“Yeah…”
“I want you to go first.”
“Okay, well…as you know, both Nyrah and Yana are Romance options in the Cottage Country game. Today, while I spent time with Yana, she completed all her Friendship Levels.”
“Oh,” Morgan said, but she kept her face completely unreadable. “Go on.”
“So, now she’s like you: Romanceable,” Cody explained slowly.
“Have you started Romancing her?”
“What? No! But turns out her Friendship Levels were gained every time I did something that made her um…fall for me? After I told her she levelled up, she tried to kiss me. I’m sorry. I pushed her away. I didn’t kiss her back.”
“Hmmmm…” Morgan smiled softly, which Cody felt was a pretty cryptic response. “I like Yana. Do you like Yana?”
“As a friend? Yes. But I don’t feel comfortable ‘Romancing’ other women when I’m very clearly dating you.”
Morgan reached out, tracing her finger along the side of his face. “I mean, I get it. You’re a nice guy. You’re attractive. And you have a Heart of Gold. It totally makes sense to have three beautiful women all vying for your attention.”
Cody sighed. “Maybe we cut the sarcasm while having this conversation?”
Her eyes snapped to his. “I’m not being sarcastic. This is exactly what Nyrah and I talked about today. The um…harem stuff.”
“You can’t be fucking serious.”
This was not where he thought the conversation was headed.
This is what Nyrah was pushing for, not Morgan.
Not Morgan, the woman who fought for him.
Not Morgan, his monogamous girlfriend. Not Morgan, who he had dreamt about returning to.
They were meant to be together. Just the two of them. Or…so he thought.