Page 234 of Better When Shared
“I mean, they approve of my success,” I said, laughing.
“Kiaan.”
“It’s good. Maybe a little more distant than I’d like, but good. I bought my sisters a house, and I paid off their student loans. Paying for my little brother’s college. I still don’t feel like I fit in, not completely, but I know they love me, and they were trying their best. They just don’t get me like you and Ryker do.”
“All this—” she gestured around the opulent restaurant, “—doesn’t change how I see you. I’m thrilled that you found success, but you’d be my best friend either way. I’d be proud of you either way. It doesn’t change who we are to each other.”
“Even who we are to each other in private DMs?” I asked, thinking of the dark, sexy topics of our more recent conversations.
She bit her bottom lip, meeting my eyes. “Give me a little time, okay? I… I just need to process all of it. My grandmother’s little surprise threw me.”
I nodded, feeling a little less nervous as our food arrived. I let the conversation drift back to safer ground—startup horror stories, MMO raid fails, the time a bug in the Twin Blades codebase made her guild leader avatar spontaneously combust on camera. We dined on extravagant poke and melt-in-your-mouth sashimi.
I poured us another glass of champagne, then another, and watched Skylar grow more relaxed and chatty. The air shifted between us—gamer banter tangled up with something hungry and unspoken, tinged with memories of our online flirtations. For a few minutes, I let myself imagine how easily I could pull her into my lap, taste the champagne on her tongue, strip away all the armor she wore for the world. But she had asked for time and space, and I gave it to her.
By the time dessert arrived—some molecular gastronomy confection that looked like a dragon egg and oozed molten chocolate when cracked—Skylar was laughing and swearing and making me forget every date I’d ever been on. She was sharp, bright, present—utterly herself. When the check came, she tried to reach for it out of pure stubbornness, but I blocked her with a shake of my head.
“Not a chance,” I said. “Let me do this for you.”
Her gaze softened. “Okay. But the next round of pizza and beer is on me.”
My chest stuttered at the implication—next round. We returned to the helipad, the city gleaming below us, wind whipping her hair messily around her face. This time, as the helicopter lifted off, she leaned against me without pretending it was an accident, and I closed my eyes and let myself enjoy the simple touch, waiting for her to make the next move as we flew back towards the island.
She was quiet as I picked up a rental car at Friday Harbor’s tiny airport and drove her back to her cabin. I’d spent a small fortune today trying to impress her, and as we approached her front door, I turned to her, asking her if she’d enjoyed herself.
The smile she gave me as we walked up the path was more polite than dazzled—and I worried it was the kind of smile you’d give someone who brought you an overly expensive gift you didn’t actually want. It stung more than I wanted to admit.
“Thanks for today,” Skylar said. “It was... different.”
“Different good or different bad?” I couldn’t help asking, needing some validation that the day hadn’t been a complete waste. What if I’d been the only one feeling the warmth between us at dinner?
She shrugged, that half-smile playing at her lips again. “Just different. I’ve never been in a helicopter before, so...” Her voice trailed off as she pushed open the door and froze in the entryway.
I peered over her shoulder, then felt my stomach drop.
Ryker knelt on the hardwood floor of Skylar’s living room, surrounded by tools and wood shavings, carefully installing a shelf in a unit that ran along the back wall. Had he built that all today? As far as I could remember, there’d been nothing but a pile of junk along that wall.
The golden sunset streamed through the windows, catching on his tousled blonde hair and illuminating the fine sheen of sweat on his forearms as he worked. He looked up at our entrance, a streak of sawdust across one cheek making him appear younger, almost boyish despite his imposing size.
“Oh,” he said, pushing himself to his feet and wiping his hands on his jeans. “You’re back. I was hoping to have this finished before you got home.”
Skylar stepped into the room, her mouth falling open as she approached the shelving unit. It was a masterpiece of functionality—perfectly sized sections for game cartridges, special angled displays for the rarer items, even subtle LED lighting built into the top shelf.
“Holy shit, Ryker,” she exclaimed, rushing forward to run her fingers along the polished wood. “These are perfect! Where did you get the tools to make this?”
Ryker waved her off like it was nothing. “Makai let me use the shop at his house. It’s really just a simple design; it only took about eight hours.”
Eight hours. While I’d been showing off my wealth in Seattle, Ryker had been here, building something with his hands. Something that couldn’t be bought, only created with time, care, and attention to what she loved.
“This is what I needed for my collection,” Skylar beamed, already reaching for a box of vintage cartridges she kept under the coffee table. “Look how the Super Nintendo games fit in these slots!”
I stood awkwardly in the doorway, feeling like an intruder. The intimacy between them was palpable—not sexual, but something deeper: friendship. Friendship. Ryker knew what mattered to her. He knew how to create something that would bring genuine joy, not just impressed politeness. I forgot all about the warmth in her eyes at lunch as panic washed over me in sickening waves.
“I can help you organize them,” Ryker offered, kneeling beside her as she began sorting through her collection. His large hands moved with surprising delicacy as he lifted a cartridge, examining the label before placing it in a designated spot.
The jealousy that scorched through me was so intense I had to look away. Not just because of how easily Skylar smiled at him—the real smile I’d been trying to earn all day—but because of how competent he was. How effortlessly useful. While I’d been building empires in the digital realm, Ryker had been learning to create tangible things that actually mattered in the physical world.
I forced myself to move deeper into the room, setting my keys on the counter with a deliberate clink. “Nice work,” I managed, the words tasting like ash.
