Page 39 of The Easy Way
Was he drunk? Cam’s heart sank. Was Cort having a psychotic break, and all of this clearly-uncharacteristic sharing had been some type ofsymptom?
He rolled his eyes at himself. Fine. Not likely, but was itpossible?
[Cam:]Okay. Text slowly. Use small words. What is going on rightnow?
[Cort:]Ah, God! It’s happening! I’m dying. Everything’s gone gray. Goodbye Cam! Goodbye. Remember mefondly.
[Cam:]WTF?
[Cort:]Okay. Crisis averted. I’ve respawned. Now, how the hell do I getpaid?
[Cam:]Oh. My. Fucking. God. Are you playing a game rightnow?
[Cort:]Uh, yeah. Obviously. League of Legends. It’s the one you mentioned the other night,right?
[Cam:]((headdesk))
Not charming. Not adorable.Gahhhhh!!
[Cam:]I have work todo.
Cam’s phone buzzed again while he was in his weekly board meeting, also known as the longest hour of the week. The urge to pull the phone from his pocket was almost overwhelming, but he refrainedlike a grownup. The second the first person began pushing their chair back from the table, he was reading hismessages.
[Cort:]Cam, quick question: Do I get more gold if I kill thedragon?
[Cort:]Okay, I’m gonna assume bigger target, bigger payoff. I’m goingin.
[Cort:]Thanks a lot. I’m dead again. You are no helpwhatsoever.
Cam rubbed a hand over hiseyes.
Cortwasa big, playful, shaggy dog. He was funny as hell, hot as fuck, and infuriating beyondbelief.
[Cam:]I was in a meeting with the board of directors and twocongressmen.
[Cort:]Yeah, well, meanwhile I was DYING.Again.
[Cam:]Right. I’m sorry you died while I was just fucking around overhere.
Cam had walked the short distance back to his office before Cortreplied.
[Cort:]Forgiven. IF you tell me how to kill thedragon.
[Cam:]First of all, that was sarcasm. Second, why do you want to kill thedragon?
[Cort:]To get the GOLD,Seaver.
Margaret poked her head into Cam’soffice.
“Everything okay, Mr.Seaver?”
Cam glanced up at her, perplexed. “Yeah, why wouldn’t itbe?”
“You were laughing out loud, all by yourself,” she said, looking at him as if maybe he’d finally lost hismind.
And Cam had no explanation for that, since it was nothing less than thetruth.
[Cam:]You don’t get gold for killing dragons, Cortland. And at your level, you can’t do it without teammates. Who are you playingwith?
[Cort:]Eh. Pretty sure they’re middle-schoolers from, uh, Brazil? They speak Portuguese. I only understand the swearwords.
[Cam:]JFC. You get gold from killing the minions. The dragon gives you a statboost.
[Cort:]Oh. What about the big worm on the other side? Does he give memoney?
[Cam:]NO! Stop! Don’t go afterBaron.
[Cam:]Cort? Don’t go after the worm on your own. You’ll die again. Get the kids on your teamto…
[Cam:]You know what? Nvm. I’m callingyou.
