Page 32 of Love at First Sighting
El’s lips turn into a smile. “Watch me. I can get whatever you need out of him.”
He opens his door a second later. El fluffs her hair one more time and sashays into the living room. When I first started talking to Leonard, I was expecting an odd old man who I had nothing in common with. I was not expecting a below-average-height, above-average-freckled twentysomething who lives in typically obscure nerdcore T-shirts and ill-fitting jeans. He cleans up after himself, doesn’t leave beard shavings in the sink, and I’m pretty sure he has a large fridge in his room, because heneverfills our fridge with food.
So, like, maybe he has his own fridge or he’s a vampire. But the vampire thing hasn’t been an issue for me so far.
“Hello, Carter and…maiden friend.”
I know nothing about Leonard’s love life, but I have to imagine it’s not terribly active. It’s not like he’sunattractive, per se, but he really does commit to the gamer lifestyle on top of a full-time job. I imagine the only women he has time for in his life are made of pixels. But even so, no one can tear their eyes away from El. She’s justlike that. Naturally, Leonard’s a little flushed when he sees her for the first time.
“Hey, buddy. This is El, uh…my friend.”
Who I am desperately turned on by.
Leonard…salutes.
Instead of being taken aback, El simply salutes back. “Were you playingSpirestorm?”
El slides into this role like an Oscar-winning actress. I’ve seen a few sides of her—glammed up, terrified, sated on thebest grilled cheese of her life—but I’m learning there may be no shapes El can’t mold herself into.
Leonard huffs. “Yeah, you knowSpire?”
El shrugs. “I mean, I’m no expert. Not like I’m sure you are, but I did a partnership with G-Babez a while ago, so I got to watch a bunch of matches and I was interested. It feels likeso muchto learn.”
El is so goddamn earnest it hurts my heart. This is why she has the kind of followers she has. There’s something about her that’s so authentically real, and I instantly think of the photos we took at the diner. If she were to post those, start building a brand that screamsElinstead of anyone else, I have no doubts she’d thrive in her own niche.
“It’s not that hard.” Leonard clears his throat. “I mean, it takes a lot of work building up those levels, but I think you can do it.”
Her smile isbeaming. I know she’s trying to woo Leonard, but she is wooing the shit out of me. “Really?”
“Absolutely. Do you want me to teach you?”
El’s lips part in a seductive and inquisitive gasp. “I…well, actually, there was something else I wanted to ask you first.”
“Anything,” Leonard replies instantly.
“Carter tells me…” she starts, gripping me by the tie and yanking me into her grasp. I collide with her side—a hard, toned body against mine. I drown in the little sigh she lets out when we come together. Her voice pitches up in a way that makes her seem clueless, but she’s in control of the whole charade. “…you can get us in somewhere we need to go.”
Leonard quirks an eyebrow. “Do you need a better DMV appointment?”
El laughs, throwing her head back. Her eyes glimmer withheart as she does. “No, I want something a little more. There’s an archive out in the mountains. Carter says PIS routes their files to it. We want to get in there.”
He stiffens and we lock eyes. It’s not a small ask, and that’s why I’ve brought El here. If I were to ask Leonard, it’d probably be asorry, dude, but no, but I have a lot of faith in her ability to sway anyone who’s interested in women. I don’t want to get Leonard in trouble, of course, but I bet no one at PIS would evenknowthey got hacked.
“What makes you think I’d do that?”
El strides over to Leonard and traces the shape of the Starfleet logo on his chest.
“Because it’s really important.”
Either the wordimportantor El’s placement of her fingertips on Leonard’s right nipple resonates deeply, because he pushes open his door and welcomes us into his room.
I’ve never actuallybeenin here. All I know is there are neon lights glowing from beneath the door frame at all hours of the day. Leonard’s room is dimly lit, with a massive gaming PC setup with three monitors. The center one is curved and the largest by far, with green LEDs flashing behind it. There are three tower fans, all aimed at cooling his rig.
His bed is small and set in the back corner, with a comforter that is so niche, I can’t even recognize where it’s from.
There’s no fridge, so Ireallyhave no idea what he eats.
“Welcome to the lair.” It smells like plastic and electronic heat in here, making me loosen my tie even more. “Have a seat wherever.”
