Page 9 of Beau & Autumn

SkyesAreBlue

Perfect. I’ll pick you up. I feel a trip to Verne’s is in order

GraysTheBoss

Red velvet, please

VirtualHero

Hey Numbnuts, you weren’t interested until Verne was mentioned

AuntPattiCanBake

Ooh, Beau honey, could you pick me up a half dozen lemon bars for the pottery class I have on Wednesday, I’ll fix you up

VirtualHero

I’m on it

GraysTheBoss

Suck hole

GabrielBassett

Back to work!

VirtualHero

Smell you all later ????

I click out and pull on my work shirt and a clean pair of jeans. I’m not usually in the customer facing areas of the distillery, so jeans work for me. I slide my glasses into the top pocket because I damn well keep forgetting them and I may be able to get some actual work done if I don’t leave them at home this time. I only need them when reading, and though I’ve had contacts on and off, I find them really annoying.

Before I log off, I check my other discord channel. I keep a couple with my gaming friends, and one with a buddy of mine that I’m working with. Fletcher and I are developing a new app where you can get paid for playing video games online. There are other websites out there, but a lot of the free games you can play suck ass. Who wants to play Angry Birds for two hours just to get a couple of points? We’re trying to get sponsors on board and get an active community interested because I know a lot of the gamers I talk to online want more options and better rewards.

My mind gets easily bored if I’m doing the same thing every day, so I like having different hobbies. I wish I could game more, but obviously I have to work so I can only do that at nighttime and on weekends. I admit, gaming has been a little bit of a crutch lately because I haven’t been out much in the last few months. Things have been hectic at work and the last thing I feel like doing after work is socializing. I’ll still go have a drink with my brothers and my friends once in a while so they don’t think I’m a total loser, but it’s been a hot minute since I went out looking for a cute chick to buy a drink. I palm the back of my neck. Why is my mind flicking to Autumn again? Her long hair. Her perfect skin. Her stunning blue eyes. Not to mention her laugh and everything else about her that’s perfect…

If I’m being honest, I haven’t stopped thinking about her since the auction months ago and I know I need to. Why now all of a sudden? She’s been in my life for a while now and wham, out of the blue, she’s the only thing I can think about. I’m not going to pursue her. For one, it’ll make her howl with laughter. She’ll think it’s a crush and probably squeeze my cheek again and tell me I’m hilarious. The humiliation would crush me. I might be the most laidback Bassett sibling, but that doesn’t mean I’m completely devoid of feelings.

Having Autumn think I was some kind of pervert crushing on her in secret would probably make her run a mile, and that would ruin the friendship. I don’t want to ruin that because I really like her. Even as a friend. I look down, annoyed that I’m getting a chub because I’m thinking about her. Get a Goddamn grip!

Autumn goes for guys that are well put together and can say all the right things. Not socially awkward gamers who call themselves VirtualHero and stays in most nights with a giant bowl of Cheerios and enjoy Cherry Coke. She’d laugh in my face if she found out. No, she wouldn’t do that, but she would give me a sympathetic look while she hunted for the right words to say to let me down gently. Then she’d never want to see me again. I’d ruin everything.

Laid.

I need to get laid, wash this nonsense out of my system and then I’ll be right as rain again. I won’t be imagining Autumn without clothes on, riding me on my gaming couch while I listen to her soft moans telling me to go harder. Nope. I won’t be doing that.

I text Fletcher. He lives across town and he’s the only friend I have who lives in Stoney Creek that isn’t family related. Maybe he’ll come out this weekend and we can scour Moose’s and the Piccolo Bar. Not that either of us could pick up a broad at the Piccolo, it’s where all the rich snobs go. Still. It could be worth checking out. Chicks think I’m pretty cute. Okay, chicks think I’m very cute. I’ve never had any complaints yet. In fact, I’ve had a couple of girls that lived out of town who wanted to take things further but I don’t wanna do long distance. That doesn’t interest me. If I like a girl and I want to spend time with her, it’ll be in person. Not virtually or otherwise.

I’d want to see her all the time. Cook for her. Make her laugh and make out on the couch. I don’t want to be jerking myself off over a phone or an iPad screen.

A text bounces back, breaking me out of my reverie.

Fletch

Sounds good. My cousin Janey’s in town this weekend, is it okay if she tags along?

Hmm. I don’t know that Janey could be any kind of wingman, but then again, she could be cute…