1. Chapter One #3
He wrapped his robe around himself and hurried down the hall to the bathroom.
As he peed, he realized the bathroom was spotless and his dirty clothes were gone.
Morgan must have taken care of it. His stomach twisted, hoping he hadn’t made too much of a fool of himself the night before.
He finished up and walked out to the kitchen.
He was surprised when he saw Morgan seated at the table, a steaming mug of coffee in her hands.
“I went out and picked up a few things. There’s coffee if you want some,” she said.
Cody breathed deeply. The smell of fresh brewing coffee was near orgasmic.
They didn’t have coffee in Velasarin. He fixed himself a cup, black with way too much sugar, and then sat at the table, across from Morgan.
There was a bowl in the center of the table with some fruit, so he grabbed an apple and bit into it.
“So…do you have a story for me that explains what was wrong with you last night?” Morgan asked. “Did you do some sketchy drugs or something? Because you were totally out of it. And covered in shit and blood.”
Cody looked across the table at her. He had no idea what to say.
But wow, she was beautiful. Those dark blue eyes behind the frames of her glasses, her delicate nose, her full, pink lips and the dusting of freckles on her cheeks—all of it was pure perfection.
He was even into the glasses and always had been.
He’d met a lot of women in Velasarin, even saved a pretty cute maiden or two, but none of them came close to having Morgan’s natural beauty.
Say something. Anything, Knife said. Tell her that her tits look nice in that shirt.
She was wearing her black polo work uniform again. It was nothing special, but it skimmed her curves nicely. Cody blinked a few times and pushed Knife from his mind. When he had full Stamina, it was much easier to ignore him.
Morgan was being incredibly understanding and helpful, all things considered.
He knew it was partly because Grandpa Sam had recently passed, and partly because he’d been so obviously fucked up the night before.
But the last time he’d seen her was at Grandpa Sam’s funeral, years ago—no, it was actually a few months ago, he reminded himself.
“I was…not feeling well,” Cody said lamely. “Thanks. For um…everything.”
“You’re welcome.” Her voice lacked emotion, as if she only helped him because she felt like she had to, not because she wanted to.
He took another bite of apple, savoring its freshness.
But he felt himself fidgeting under Morgan’s scrutiny, not being able to come up with anything more to say to her.
He’d spent so much time thinking about coming back here, to Earth, to be reunited with his lost love, and now that she was in arm’s reach he had no clue what to say to her.
There was too much, and it felt like his brain wasn’t ready to process it all and come up with even a single, helpful sentence.
“So, are you feeling better now?” Morgan asked. “Because I need to get to work.”
“Yeah, I’m feeling better.”
“Okay.” Morgan stood up to deposit her empty coffee mug in the sink and saw herself out.
And then he was surrounded by silence. Not completely; there was birdsong, the sound of rustling leaves, and the gentle lapping of waves just outside the kitchen window.
Cody finished up his apple and went to the patio door, coffee in hand, and headed outside to the sandy beach.
He looked across the blue lake, sunlight sparkling on the crest of waves like gems. The lake was roughly five kilometers long.
Its northern and southern ends tapered into marshland, where the water grew shallow and the shoreline dissolved into reeds and mud.
The middle section formed the actual lake basin, bordered by sandy beaches.
It was small, as far as lakes went, at least when you were only seventy kilometers east of Lake Huron and surrounded by the rest of the Great Lakes.
He sat down on the sand, marveling that he was back.
When he first found out that Grandpa Sam was secretly a millionaire and that all the money, plus the cottage, had been left to him, his very first thought was to move here and enjoy the peace and quiet.
To get away from the city, the crazy ex-girlfriends, the shitty factory job, the smog, the traffic, the…
fucking everything. He wanted to get away from it all.
To be here, surrounded by complete serenity. It was perfect.
Except you’re completely alone, Knife said. That kind of sucks. I don’t think that Morgan chick is into you. Sorry, bro.
“I’m not alone. I have you, asshole,” Cody muttered, and took a sip of his coffee.
Morgan was still living in Cornerstone. He could at least try and mend that bridge, despite Knife’s depressing observation. She had been his shining beacon calling him home, after all. It’d be moronic to choke up at the finish line.
And then a notification screen popped up. Cody flinched, spilling some coffee on his robe. He swore and set his mug down on the sand and looked up at the notification screen in confusion. The ones he used in Velasarin were usually blue, but this one was pink with white text:
[Welcome to Cottage Country. Would you like to begin the tutorial? Yes/No?]