Page 41 of The Biker and the Gamer
Squeezing my thighs together, I curse under my breath. There are so many things wrong with me being wet as a fountain right now while there’s an infant asleep on my chest.
Gingerly, I slide off the couch and navigate to Neo’s room, setting him down in his crib. Then I have a cold shower to wash away all those dirty, filthy thoughts of Alec from my mind, and count down the minutes until Grunt and Toni get home.
~
The following couple of weeks are sheerbliss. Alec has quickly become a new obsession of mine. My new favorite person. I haven't slept alone since that first night. Either he's at my place or I'm at his. Though I’ve found that he opts to sleep at my place ninety-nine percent of the time because he’s guaranteed Leyana’s tasty breakfasts when he wakes up the next morning. She’s spoiled him. He’s a glutton and she’s a giver. They both annoy me.
We lunch together every day, and on my days off, I'll hang out with him and the team. The more time we spend together, the more I struggle to remember what life was like before him.
He's light and laughter and tranquility, and he makes my heart so, so happy.
We’ve grown so close, gotten so obliviously caught up in each other, both of us refusing to acknowledge the giant elephant standing in front of us.
Time.
We don’t have much more of it left. Half of the Vaughn and Drake Entertainment team has already moved back to their HQ in Silicon Valley. In two weeks, the rest, including Alec, will be joining them.
Alec has tried to bring it up at least twice, but both times, I deflected. Mostly because I don’t want to think about him leaving me, let alone talk about it. I knew coming in that this would be a short-term fling. I knew we were on a time-limit. Had no problem with it. But whenever I think about him leaving, I become depressed. So depressed that I actively avoid all conversations surrounding that topic.
Late one night, after a particularly steamy session at Alec's loft, I pad downstairs to the kitchen for a drink and stumble into Cedric who’s burning the midnight oil at the rustic peninsula, his open MacBook casting a glow over his bespectacled face.
I don't acknowledge him because he's made it clear on multiple occasions that he’s not a fan of me, and I'm cool with it. I respect him for being honest about his feelings upfront rather than being two-faced.
Yanking the fridge open, I get out a bottle of Mountain Dew—Alec started stocking them for me—then knee the door shut, twisting the cap off as I turn around. Not surprised to find Cedric staring at me with curious eyes and steepled long fingers.
I daringly meet his stare and take a gulp of my drink.
"So, tell me, Kendra," he begins, breaking the tense silence between us. "How do you see this ending?"
"See what ending?"
"You and Alec, of course."
I shrug. "It'll end how it’ll end. He moves back to California and we both carry on with our lives."
"Hmm." He makes a slight shake of his head and takes off his glasses. "Would you say, after the past six weeks of being in La La Land together, that you know him very well?"
What the hell’s he getting at?"Well enough."
He lets out a loud and dramatic sigh as he puts his glasses back on and redirects his attention to his computer screen. "He can't say I didn't warn him."
Now what'sthatsupposed to mean? Not that I'm going to ask him. I'd die before I let this pompous ass think he's gotten into my head.
When I make it back upstairs, Alec is fast asleep. I sit at the side of the bed and watch him as I sip my Mountain Dew.
Do I know him well? Maybe not. We've been dating or whatever for six weeks and six weeks isn’t enough time to know someonewell. But what I do know is that he's become very important to me. I know he loves Salmon and would eat it for breakfast lunch and dinner if he could. I know he doesn’t eat meat because he cares about the animals, and his fish has to be wild-caught. I know he mumbles in his sleep—like he’s doing right now. I know his parents are his heroes and his brothers are his anchor. I know he’s kind and patient and tender with others. I know he’s generous and giving. I know he’s positive to a fault and tries to find the good in every bad. I know his favorite thing to do is laugh and make others happy. I know he makes games more for theloveof it and less for the cashflow. I know he’s passionate about nature and life and people. I know he only avoids his parent's calls because he misses them too much and is training himself to learn to be a man without them, not because he's annoyed with them. I know he likes to have his scalp rubbed.
I know he likes to tickle me, touch me, tease me. I know he likesme. Very, very much.
But most of all, I know thatI...have fallen for him.
Deeply.
Something I never, ever, intend on letting him know. Because what does it matter? In less than ten days he’ll be gone. He’ll go back to his sunny, high-profile California lifestyle, and I’ll go back to my dull, grayscale, routine life.
Falling in love with him was never supposed to happen. But it did. And I don't regret it. Because loving Alec is the only thing that's ever made my heart sing. He’s sunlight in my dark, dark world and I wish I could keep him in my sky forever.
But alas, at some point, the sun must set.
