Chapter 22
“T, you have another one.” The low female voice coming through my headset made me refocus on the chat log running along the left side of my screen.
Sure enough, Cynna, my moderator, was right. Another rando with a blank profile pic was talking shit and defending Valor in all caps.
STOP WASTING VALOR’S TIME
MAKE ME A SANDWICH BITCH
I usually loved my job, but I hated cowardly assholes like these. Anonymous pricks who typed whatever passed through their tiny minds. I’d been distracted tonight after Mase dropped me off, but I wasn’t imagining the sudden influx.
“Don’t worry, I’m blocking him,” Cynna assured us.
Cynna Mendoza had been with me from the beginning of my streaming career.
She was a fifty-something mom with a mouth like a twelve-year-old boy.
She’d been playing computer games since they were text-based, and she knew everything.
We’d never met in person because she lived in California, next door to her son, his husband, and her grandpuppies.
My channel would be nothing without her. During live streams, like tonight, we sat in a private chat channel while she kept an eye on the comments, drawing my attention to anything I should address. She also kicked anyone acting like a dick.
The comments abruptly stopped, and the chat returned to its normal flow.
Tonight was a shit show. Valor’s plan to use our publicity was backfiring hardcore on me and my co-host. I usually only allowed my subscribers to attend live streams, but at Valor’s request, we’d made this one public.
Viceroy—Vice for short—and I were supposed to be commenting on a random game video of one of last year’s Citadel winners.
We couldn’t get through two sentences without Cynna alerting us to another interloper. Only Vice and I could hear her, but everyone could see the comments until she took care of them.
“Damn,” Vice said in his Australian accent, “that was a bloody good move there. Full slide into a headshot.”
I hadn’t seen the maneuver, but I pasted an impressed look on my face and nodded. “He’s sneaky, I’ll give him that. The thermal scope is an interesting choice with the plasma rifle. It negates the AOE effect but lets him hunt the bushes.”
“Too right,” Vice agreed. “I’d have gone with the AR sniper he passed in the last town. Distance and accuracy.”
The gameplay in front of me caught my attention, and I saw what we’d both missed.
He was heading toward The Woodlands—a heavily forested area surrounding a cloudy green lake.
The citadel was almost always on dry ground, but one time, I’d found it in the lake.
The hard part was making it into the underwater castle without being able to see the monsters in the water about to attack you.
I smiled, knowing exactly what the player was doing.
“Smart. So smart. The citadel’s in the lake.
It hasn’t been found yet, and see how he keeps glancing up at the map?
His character’s special ability allows him to see other players’ trails after a bit.
He’s already ruled out the other usual locations.
That’s why he grabbed the thermal with the plasma. He can clear the lake.”
Vice let out a low whistle. “Fucking brilliant.”
The chat filled with questions and comments about the unusual strategy, so Vice and I tried to answer them as they came. Cynna kept the lines clear for the real fans, but I could feel my attention wavering again.
I’d told Mase I’d be finished with this live by the time his game was done, but we were overshooting by a little bit. Despite the headphones covering my ears, I was straining to listen for the sound of the door closing downstairs.
The video was thankfully winding down as the player did exactly what I’d predicted—cleared the lake and took the hidden citadel underneath. Vice asked me my final thoughts, and I had to think fast.
“His character was a lucky choice for that particular map. Without the rare citadel lake spawn, he’d have had trouble competing with some of the more deadly characters in direct combat.
Granted, he took the lucky break and came up with a really smart strategy, but I wouldn’t depend on a strategy with so many points of failure to work consistently. ”
The chat exploded with peoples’ comments on my controversial hot take. Cynna winnowed out the ones she wanted me to respond to, but I stopped interacting all together when my door swung open.
I purposely had my set up facing into the room so any recording I did at my computer had only the wall as a background. My gaze tracked over my screens to the large hockey player tiptoeing into my room and quietly closing the door. Our eyes met, and Mase sent me a slow grin.
My breath caught, and for a moment, I forgot I was streaming live to an unruly audience.
Until Cynna barked my name. My gaze snapped back to the screen, where I caught the tail end of Vice doing the usual like and subscribe spiel.
I added my own, but I couldn’t help being super aware of Mase setting something down against the wall, then slowly moving through my dim room toward the bed.
Cynna damn near shouted in my ear. “Taryn Levine. Respond to your fans.”
“Sorry everyone, minor technical difficulty on my part. Thanks, AlexRose, I can’t wait to see what you come up with in the next variation, and yeah, I’m excited for the Citadel tournament. It’s been a while since I had any real competition.”
The last comment was directed at Mase, who was listening in rapt attention. When I glanced up, he raised a brow and crooked a finger at me. I shook my head ever so slightly. He’d have to wait to make his rebuttal.
Vice chimed in, taking another comment. “No worries, RaptorRoni. It takes a lot of practice to get on the circuit.”
“The biggest challenge,” I added, “is not getting distracted. You need one hundred percent focus for the entire game.”
As if he knew I was referencing him, Mase slowly lifted his shirt.
He trailed a hand down his tight abs to the waistband of his sweats, where he paused.
My heart pounded an uneven rhythm, and my inner core clenched.
I tried not to let the distraction show on my face as I forced my attention back to the stream, but Cynna knew me better.
“What is going on behind your screens, T?” she asked suspiciously.
Do not blush. Do. Not. Blush. Fuck. I could see the pink creeping up my cheeks on my self-view. I couldn’t keep my eyes on the screen any longer when Mase ripped the shirt over his head and began sliding his pants down over his hips.
I couldn’t see much lower thanks to my set-up, but I was suddenly much more motivated to end the live as soon as possible.
“Looks like we’ve gone over a little tonight, so I’m going to call it here. Thanks for watching, and remember, Valor Legion is giving away free tickets to a few lucky subscribers on their channel in the next week, which we’ve linked below.”
Cynna closed out the stream for us before signing off, and I let out a sigh even though I still had to finish up with Vice. Against my will, I peeked past my monitor again to find Mase holding his sweats out with one hand, the other disappeared under my line of sight.
There was no sign of underwear.
Vice, alone on my screen now, shook his head with a grin. “I see why Valor wants you. Good head on your shoulders, mate. If you’re ever in Australia, come by for a pint.”
I jerked my attention back to him. “What?”
In the room beyond, Mase’s arm moved in a smooth up and down motion even as he frowned at Vice’s suggestion. I licked my very dry lips and ordered my brain to get out of the gutter for two more minutes.
Vice laughed. “No offense meant.”
“How did you know about Valor?”
“They’re not exactly keeping it a secret. They’ve been sniffing at you for months. Don’t think those fucktarts in the comments were an accident either. Did you notice they were only targeting you with the Valor bullshit? No one gave a single shit about my team. Cunts.”
Mase eased his way back to splay on the bed, and I finally got a full look at him. Jesus, he was big everywhere. His tattoos swirled down his arms, over his shoulders, across his chest.
“Umm,” I hummed stupidly.
Vice continued as if I weren’t having an out-of-body experience. “My opinion? Tell Valor to fuck off. You can do better than those twats. Anyway. This was fun. I’m in if you ever want to do it again. Cheers.”
“Sounds good,” I mumbled. “Thanks for joining.”
He signed off, and I couldn’t rip my headphones off fast enough. Vice probably thought I was a moron at the end there, but I didn’t care. The cord tangled around my chair, and I fought with it for a second, cursing loudly as Mase chuckled.
He put one arm behind his head, while his other hand slowly stroked his cock. “Have fun with your friend?”
“Not nearly as much fun as I’m about to have.” My clothes went flying, and finally naked, I crawled across the bed toward him.
His gaze tracked me, predatory despite his relaxed position. “We can do as much or as little as you want tonight. Just say the word.”
My path brought me face to face with him as I gave him back his words from earlier. “I want everything, Mase. Consider this enthusiastic consent.”
Mase tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear, then threaded his fingers through the mass to cup the back of my head. He brought my mouth down to his and surprised me with a gentle kiss. I braced myself with one hand on his chest as I melted.
This kiss was vulnerable, needy. His mouth moved on mine in a slow seduction until the world narrowed to only him and the fire burning in my blood. I trailed my hand down his impressive chest, traced his abs, and followed the V to where he still stroked himself.
He’d selflessly taken care of my needs last time, holding me steady while I broke apart under him, and I wanted the same experience. I wanted him helpless and wild under me.