Chapter 3
Rohan
“Is he gone?” I whisper, peeking my head out from the backroom.
Lila just laughs. I have no idea what’s so funny.
I hate that Tyson comes here every fucking day.
Of all the cafes he could’ve fallen in love with, it’s the one I happen to work at?
Get real. And all he ever gets is a fucking americano, they taste the same everywhere.
I swear to God he’s stalking me for real.
It feels like he’s everywhere and I hate it.
“Yep, he just left.” She laughs.
“It’s not funny! I really fucking hate him, seriously.”
“I know, I know. And I don’t get it. He’s hot,” Lila says, swaying on her feet. “And he’s a big tipper. I think he’s rich … Between the tips and that watch.” She whistles.
“If he’s rich too, I’ll literally fucking die.”
Especially seeing as I’m already pissed off, he seems like he has a good job; he always comes in with his black, expensive dress shirts pressed perfectly.
I can always smell his woodsy, high-end cologne lingering even after he’s gone, too.
Meanwhile, I’m stuck working at this cafe where I leave smelling like milk and irritation.
“Why? Cause he’s perfect?”
“He’s not! He’s a complete asshole, you have no idea!” I huff, pulling on my apron and tying it around my waist tightly. “He literally doesn’t have a personality, Lila!”
“Yeah, he does. You know what I think?” She says, and I turn to glare at her, “I think you just never got a chance to know him.”
“Yeah, see, I don’t want a chance to know him.”
What makes it worse is that every interaction I’ve had with that man has been aggravating.
I swear he gets a hard-on from pissing me off.
One time I was forced to do a panel with him at a gaming event, and he spent the entire time trying to get under my skin.
He sat way too close, and that stupid sideways smile he always gives me makes me shudder.
Being near him made me forget everything I had practiced.
I looked like a complete idiot up there. Stumbling over my words.
“Right,” Lila drawls. “They ship you guys online, you know?”
“First off, why the fuck do you know that? And second, those fans are absolutely delusional.”
“I don’t know, I think you got it all wrong, Ro. I know you guys play against each other and everything, but maybe you should give him a shot.” Lila giggles, wiping down the counter.
“Last time I gave him a shot, he snatched my title that I worked so hard for from me, so fuck no. Besides, he really is a fucking jerk. You just don’t know him.
” I roll my eyes. I don’t get why she likes him so much; besides his looks, Tyson is the worst fucking archetype of a person.
I never understood why everyone fawns over the bad boy.
His lips, brow, and nose are pierced.
Like come on, he’s such a try-hard.
He’s not all that.
“Sure, well, I’m going to keep kissing up to him cause the tips, hello?” She grins.
“Yeah, I mean it’s nice, I guess.”
It’s the least he can do.
“So, speaking of all this, I saw you guys won! Congrats. Does that mean you’re going against Ty again?” My brows furrow at her shortening of Tyson’s name.
Lila doesn’t know much about Seeker, but she tries to be as supportive as she can, which I appreciate. I even tried to teach her a while back, but she wasn’t super into it, I think. At least she tried.
“Yeah, his team made it to the finals, unfortunately.” I scoff.
“Well, I mean, this is good though, isn’t it? So you can get a chance to get your top spot back, right?”
“Yep, and I plan on doing just that,” I say as I stock the fridge with milk from the cases that came in this morning. A customer walks up to the register, and Lila takes her order before returning to me. “Well, you know I’m rooting for you! Even though he’s hot as fuck.”
“Oh god, Lila!” I roll my eyes.
“What! Seriously, come on, admit it!”
“I never said he wasn’t!”
* * *
Finals are tomorrow, and we’ve been running practice matches back to back to back. We’ve even faced off against teams we’ve already knocked out of the competition again just to be sure we’re ready. Milo pulls off his headset next to me, and I just know he’s about to run his fucking mouth.
“I got more kills than you.” He says, sticking his tongue out at me.
“Yeah, for once. Thanks for pulling your weight.” I roll my eyes.
“Hey! I always do!” Milo pouts, and Lucas laughs quietly next to him.
“Right.”
“You guys are ridiculous. Come on, let’s do another round,” Zayne says, shaking his head.
“Another one?” I quip back, irritation peeking through my voice.
We’ve been going at it for hours in this fucking basement.
I’m ready to hit my bed, maybe talk to my little internet fling who hasn’t been online lately.
I wonder what he’s been up to. But I guess it’s been okay since Zayne has been running us into the ground.
“Listen, we need to be sure. I watched Tyson yesterday, and he’s not fucking around.”
“Okay, and I am? Besides, I did fine, actually more than fine, the few times we had practice matches against them.” I scoff.
“That’s not what I’m saying, Ro. I just wanna make sure. You’re the only one who can take him.”
I’m well aware of that. That we’re betting on me being able to handle Tyson during the match. The rest of his team is pretty evenly matched with ours, but he’s someone only I can take on.
And it’s no pressure; I’m ready for him this time.
“Nah, I get it. Sorry, I’m just ready for this match.”
“I know you are. I know how much it means to you,” Zayne says, smiling at me.
“Oh, you have no idea.” I smile back.
“We got this!” Milo yells back from grabbing snacks. He passes chips and a few sodas around to us. I rip the bag open and pop the salty snack into my mouth.
“So another match?” Lucas asks. He doesn’t talk much, so when he does, we always snap our attention straight his way. His eyes are so blue; it’s almost scary sometimes.
“Yeah, I suppose. But that’s the last one, Milo’s tired.” I chuckle.
“Huh, no, I’m not.” Milo frowns.
“Yes, you are. You get restless like a little puppy who hasn’t had their nappies when you get sleepy.”
“Isn’t he always like that?” Lucas chuckles low, wiping crumbs from the side of Milo’s mouth, earning him a grin.
Gross.
“Nah, this is different,” I say, and we all laugh except for a very confused-looking Milo. Really, it’s me who’s tired. Though I’m not too far off about Milo, his leg is bouncy crazy as we start the next match, so he’ll be crashing any time now.
“Alright, last one, boys,” Zayne declares.
“Aye aye, captain!” Milo grins, putting his headset on.
* * *
By the time I’m back home, the sun has long gone, and my eyes are burning from staring at the fucking screen for hours.
I pad into my room and sit down in my gaming chair.
Even though this is the last place I want to be.
But I want to see if he’s online tonight.
I need to unwind and talk about something other than espresso notes and Seeker.
A smile blossoms across my face; he’s on.
Zero: hi
Starryeyes: where you been?
Zero: sry, work’s been crazy.
Starryeyes: oh, thought you had a secret family to take care of or something
Zero: wtf lmao no i’m only 25 i told you that.
Starryeyes: ;p right because you definitely couldn’t be lying
Zero: i could be.
Starryeyes: exactly.
Zero: were you waiting for me?
Starryeyes: every night :(
Zero: good boy.
Starryeyes: ……
Zero: i’m just playing lol
Starryeyes: what if i don’t want you to be playing?
I know that’s such a risky move on my part, but I really can’t help flirting with him, and technically he started it this time.
My kind of unintentional drought isn’t helping.
I can’t even remember the last time I was remotely interested in a guy, let alone got into bed with one.
But I can’t say I don’t miss being touched because I do.
So much. My body feels hot as I lean forward, waiting for his response.
I chew on my bottom lip when he doesn’t type anything back for a while.
Maybe that was a little too much.
Zero: r u single?
Starryeyes: yea…
Zero: nice.
Starryeyes: are you?
Zero: lol yea.
Starryeyes: oh….good.
Zero: it’s kinda late wyd tomorrow?
Starryeyes: oh um … i have to hang with my friends but i can be on if you are…
Zero: yea … i’ll just be late but i’ll be on, promise.
Starryeyes: okie <3
Zero: night cutie
Starryeyes: niighht :)
I jump up from my chair, my face burning.
He called me cutie. I’m going to fucking die right here and now.
I flop down onto the bed and roll around for a bit before staring at the ceiling.
I have a crush on a fucking stranger on a mmorpg game.
Am I going to be one of those people who meet their husbands on the game?
My laugh echoes off my bedroom walls just thinking about it.
Maybe tomorrow I’ll try asking him to voice chat while we play, and maybe I can at least try to get to know him better.
I wonder what he looks like.
The way he talks to me, I can’t imagine him being anything other than hot and dreamy.