Page 36 of Sloth
“You just said AIMI isn’t supposed to do anything unless you tell her to.”
She punched the emergency button again, but no response.Dammit.
This was hopeless. She leaned her forehead against the cool mirror in an attempt to abate the sweat prickling her neck. Her reflection wavered, the air in the room disappeared and she had to gulp in a few breaths from underneath the shroud of her hair. It was all too much. The room too small. She hated being forced into a situation she wasn’t ready to face. She hated it. Damn Tony. Damn Parker. She should have stayed in her nice cozy little apartment.
She missed Luna.
Max got up and stepped toward her. “Hey. It’s fine. We’ll get out of here.”
“When?” she asked. “When Tony decides he’s played enough games?”
“I guess when we’ve sorted our shit out, as he so eloquently put.”
She sighed. Right.
The two of them leaned on opposite ends of the elevator, staring at the other, neither willing to take the first step. The man in front of her had broken her heart. She’d had so much anger for so many years and, yet, she found none in her now. No fuel to light the fire, nothing to start the conversation. The man in front of her was exactly like the one she’d fallen in love with. Kind, attentive, supportive.
“Do you remember that time we camped out in our rooms for a twelve hour video-chat?” he asked.
“Which time?”
“The first one. There was that special event on with that game we were playing”—a crease deepened between his brow—“I can’t even remember which one, but it all started because you got it in your head that between the two of us, we’d win. You’d just received that light-up cat’s ears headset and wanted to test it out.”
“You bought me that headset.” She realized with a start, remembering how random she’d felt to receive a gift in the mail from this guy she’d been hanging out with online. “I remember thinking the first time I used it should be with you.”
He smiled affectionately. “The call started out with us playing the game, but eventually, even when it was over, we kept talking, telling each other our secrets. You liked playing games because you felt like a different person in there, that your gender wasn’t a factor in your success.”
She frowned. “Why are you saying this?”
“I want to know if you miss us. I want to know if I meant anything to you at all.”
“This is not the time, Max.”
A cruel laugh huffed out of him, and he glanced around the elevator. “I’m pretty sure now is the perfect time.”
What was his problem? Why was he pushing this?Hewas the one who broke up withher. Yes, of course she missed him. She ached from being in the same room as him. Her lungs burned from breathing the same air. Her heart felt bruised and squeezed. Her body wanted him back. It remembered that night everything changed between them. That twelve-hour long video-chat.
Yes, you stupid man.She’d yearned for him for years. She’d cried herself to sleep because she’d wanted him so much.
Max pushed off his side and came to stand next to her, shoulder to shoulder. He took a deep shuddering breath. “After how things ended, I know I shouldn’t, but I’ve missed you, Sloan.”
She squeezed her eyes shut. Don’t cry. Don’t give him the satisfaction.
She ground out, “Are you trying to rub salt in my wounds?”
“You’re the one who started dating someone else.”
“Dating someone else?” Was this guy for real?
“That loser geek guy I saw you with at the gaming convention. He had a ridiculous goatee and”—he waved around his head—“the stupidest green hair.”
“Thatloser guydidn’t last long, and… wait, are you jealous?” Max had no right to be. Why was he jealous?
“Damn straight I was , Sloan.” He slammed his palm behind him, vibrating the mirrored wall, warping their reflections. The air between them thickened, and she had to suck in a breath from the force of his glare. “Seeing my woman, the one I wanted to marry, with some other fuckwit…”
The blood drained from her face.
Sure, they talked about starting a life together, even the whole kid business. Both of them had been a resounding, not yet, but maybe one day. He made it sound like it was a given.
