witless. You?â
She gave a little sigh. âBusy. Work has been a nightmare this week. I picked up an extra shift because my boss was pressing on me hard, but itâs eating up all my time.â The happiness in her voice was gone, replaced by stress.
âYou should go out to lunch with me, then.â
âI canât. Iâm on call. I have to stay here and work.â
âDinner, then?â
âIâm on call until midnight.â
âI can be over there at midnight,â he said, keeping his voice smooth. âThen we can grab a bite to eat somewhere. Someoneâs got to be open that late, right? This is a big city.â
Her little sigh was unhappy. âI wish I could, but Iâm just going to go to sleep at that point. Iâm sorry, Iâm not a very fun girl. I wasnât lying when I said I didnât have time for much of anything.â
âI know, but you canât blame me for trying. Tomorrow?â
âTomorrow nightâs the raid, and after last week, I truly canât miss it.â
âMmm, well, thatâs a shame.â She was blowing him off for a computer game. It stung his ego. âWant to hook up for some filthy, no-strings-attached sex after your raid? I can come over there.â
She giggled again. âIâd better not. I do appreciate the offer, though.â
Damn, there was no breaking down her defenses. âAll right, then. Well, if you want to get together, you have my number.â
âI do,â she said cheerfully. âIâm sorry, Loch. My life is just crazy hectic right now. You understand, right?â
âOf course.â He mumbled something about her having a good day and then hung up, frustrated. Normally women fell into his lap. The one time he was the one pursuing? He couldnât get her to leave her damned apartment.
He stared down at his phone, thinking. Actually, she did leave her apartment at least once a weekâfor the party thing she mentioned on Saturday nights at the pub. Odds were good that if he went there, sheâd be there.
Looked like he had plans for the weekend after all.
***
Taylor was not looking forward to the LAN party.
Saturday nights were supposed to be fun. It was supposed to be the time where she could unwind after spending a rough week in the tech-support mines. Sheâd worked two extra shifts, was on call for overnights, and had somehow managed to play her character daily so Sigmund wouldnât freak out. Now it was the weekend, and instead of being a relief from stress, it was just more stress. She didnât want to go to the LAN party. If she did, itâd mean socializing for hours on end. Theyâd run an instanced raid available only on the LAN, and then theyâd run a guild raid after the fact. Sheâd be out until three in the morning, at the very least, when all she wanted to do was sleep.
But if she didnât go, Sigmund would suspect she was out on a date again, and heâd been on edge all week.
Irony of ironies? She really wanted to go out with Loch again but had to turn him down. She was still thinking aboutâokay obsessing overâthe one-night stand theyâd had, and the fact that heâd called and texted her this week to get together again. Sheâd have loved to say yes, but every time she thought about it, she remembered Sigmund. Sigmund, who threatened to hurt himself on a daily basis.
She felt trapped. All the joy in
Excelsior
had been sucked out long ago, and now she felt obligated to play, and obligated to spend time with Sigmund, when all she really wanted to do was call Loch and tell him that she wanted him. Hell, sheâd even have considered jogging, and she didnât sweat for just any man.
But as long as Sigmund was pulling the strings on her day-to-day life, just the thought of trying to add another person into her day made her stressed out. Loch would just forever exist as the
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