“Almost.” I steered my fighter to follow the last enemy combatant, leaning to the right. “Almost.” I followed the Dark Fleet’s Scythe fighter back toward the planet surface, leaning to the left. He was headed into a deep ravine. One I’d flown into too many times before. And failed. The same ravine that had been the site of an ambush that had killed an entire squadron. “Oh no, you don’t!”
I fired without mercy, moving fast, so fast I knew there was a chance my ship might not survive when I tried to pull up out of the dive.
The enemy ship exploded in front of me. Red flames filled my screen.
Mia shouted.
Lily screamed.
I tried to breathe as I pulled back on the controller and flew straight through the debris on the screen. I was winded, and I had barely moved. “Holy shit. I made it.”
“You did it! You maxed your XP! You finished the training academy.” Mia’s voice was shaky, and I realized how much she’d been holding back. “You beat the game! You awesome, badass bitch, you did it!”
I flopped back in my chair. Stared at the screen.
“Did Jamie just say holy shit, or am I hallucinating?” Lily asked, knowing full well I didn’t swear. Except for now. Lily, on the other hand, used curse words in every sentence, the way a baker put frosting on a cake.
“Shut up, you foul-mouthed wench.”
Lily and Mia were both laughing as the music coming from the game went silent. The screen changed, and we all stared in rapt silence to see what would happen next.
Alex’s face filled the screen. This time he was smiling, although for him that was just the corner of his mouth tipping up.
“Congratulations, Starfighter. You defeated Queen Raya and the Dark Fleet. Your victory returned the Vega System to Velerion control.”
The view expanded to show Alex’s torso, and his hand came up, taking the crest from his uniform shirt and holding it out to me. “As stated in the training protocols, our Starfighter pair has been victorious. We have now been assigned a permanent partnership.”
“What?” Mia shouted, but I could hardly hear her over Lily’s squeal.
Next to him on the screen appeared the words Starfighter Bonding Ceremony.
Um, what?
“We have been paired through the Starfighter Velerion training program. We have spent many hours training together. Fighting together. Do you accept my crest as a sign of our permanent bond? Will you stay with me, Starfighter? Will you remain at my side and fight with me to the end of our days?”
“Say yes! Say yes!” Lily shouted.
I couldn’t say anything, my mouth hanging open. Alex was giving me his crest. From what I’d learned about Velerions in the game, they didn’t do anything by half. If Alex said this, he meant it. In the game, anyway.
“It’s just a game,” I murmured, feeling all of a sudden sad. This was just part of the game. Playing. He wasn’t real. I wasn’t real. None of this was real. I would have to go to bed, get up and go to work and load up my truck. Just like every other day. Alex and his sexy eyes and hot muscles would forever be on a flat screen.
I wanted Alex for real. I wanted to hear him tell me the same words himself. Mean them. I wanted him to want me. Love me. I wanted to be the awesome, amazing, kick-ass version of myself I saw on the screen. Not this… alone-on-a-Friday-night drinking-soda-in-stained-pj’s me.
“Just a stupid game,” I repeated as the man of my digital dreams stared at me and waited.
“So?” Mia countered. “Accept. I mean, you made him. He’s your ideal, even if it is just a game. If you accept, then when we start again next week, he’ll still be your wingman.”
I did want to keep playing with him. The idea of having to make another pairing was sad. Although I was sure I’d choose the exact same specs again because Alex was my ideal. But according to all the gamer chat rooms online, it wouldn’t matter.
I pressed the X button on my controller to accept.
A large crest appeared beside Alex. As I watched, the holographic crest rotated, shrank in size, and moved to emblazon the chest of my avatar’s brand-new Starfighter uniform. Both avatars turned to face the screen as an official-sounding narrator’s voice filled my headset. “This is General Aryk of Velerion. Congratulations, Starfighters. Your successful bond has been recorded in the Hall of Records at the Citadel. It is my honor to bestow upon you the rank and privileges of Velerion Starfighters.”
On-screen, Alex pulled me into his arms and kissed me like there was no tomorrow. I had never wanted anything to be real more in my entire life. Mia and Lily, whom I’d screen shared with, were fussing and clapping and enjoying the moment with me.
A faint buzzing noise came through the screen, and I stopped to listen. Mia and Lily went silent as we waited.
The screen flashed. A moment later General Aryk appeared in the middle, and the screen zoomed in on his face. He smiled, and I had to admit if I weren’t all about Alex, Aryk was smoking hot as well. “Welcome, Starfighter, to Velerion.”
Huh?
The screen made a popping noise and went black.
I frowned.
“What happened? That was one hell of a kiss,” Lily complained.
“I don’t know.” I climbed from my chair and turned the game system off and on again. Checked the screen’s power chord. “That’s weird. It’s like my entire system shorted out.”
“That’s okay,” Mia said. “I have to get some sleep. Lily, I’ll see you in chat tomorrow to start a new game where it’s my turn to finish my training. Okay?”
“Can’t wait!” Lily called to her, but we both knew Mia had already disconnected.
I sighed. Relieved and a little bit wistful. “Well, we did it.”
“We did.” I could hear the smile in Lily’s voice. “Like Mia said, new game next weekend? We should all be official Velerion Starfighters by then.”
“Sounds good. Can’t wait to see if Alex is still my wingman.”
“Lucky you! Maybe you’ll get some on-screen sexy times now that you married an alien.”
“I did not marry an alien.”
“Bonded? Recorded in the Hall of Records? Sounds like you’re married to me.”
“You’re crazy. You know that?”
She laughed. We said good-bye, and I grabbed my empty soda can, chips, and the water bottle I kept next to my gaming chair.
Now that the adrenaline rush of that last battle was wearing off, the long workday was taking its toll. My feet and shoulders ached, my hands were still shaking, and I couldn’t stop thinking about that on-screen kiss.
If only.
I made quick work of my bedtime routine and was asleep the moment my head hit the pillow. I was usually a light sleeper, and I wasn’t sure how long I was out when something loud woke me.
Was someone at my door?
I rolled over and blinked at my alarm clock. Three freaking thirty in the morning?
I must have been dreaming.
The pounding repeated, louder.
No one came to my door this late. Ever. Hell, no one came to my door at all unless I had a delivery or one of my neighbors needed something. I threw off my covers and slipped my toes into cold slippers.
“Coming!” Was my apartment building on fire? Was it the police? Had the neighbors been screaming at each other again? She really needed to kick that deadbeat boyfriend of hers to the curb.