Build a Nerd

by Wendy Smith

  Bridget owns me. I’m not sure if she realizes it yet, but I’m hers, and I’ve never been anyone else’s.

  I’ve spent my whole life running from intimacy. It scares me. For so long, I’ve been shut off, not known how to express myself. Being so open with Bridget is alien and strange.

  But little by little, she unlocks me.

  She’s buried so deep in my heart that I couldn’t remove her if I wanted to.

  Bridget rolls her tongue across the tip of my cock. When she lifts her head and meets my gaze again, my heart leaps.

  I love you.

  The words are on the tip of my tongue, but I can’t bring them out. Not yet.

  She lowers her head again, surrounding me with the wet heat of her mouth, and I’m lost. I lean back, close my eyes, and relax.

  Every stroke brings me closer to my climax.

  I’ll have a lot to make up for when I get back.

  I have to let go of my fear and trust myself.

  When she slips her hand down farther and cups my balls, I lose it. A loud moan escapes my lips when I come, rising off the seat again to meet Bridget’s mouth.

  I’m left drained, my breathing ragged when she finally raises her head. Her eyes flare with desire, and I want so much to be able to stop time and just be with her right now.

  “You’re incredible,” I say.

  “You’re not so bad yourself.” She smiles. I’m so in love with her that a big part of me wants to tell Molly she can wait. “I believe you owe me an orgasm now.”

  I laugh. “When I get back, we’ll take the next step. I promise.” I cup her face, slotting my fingers into her hair and pulling her close for a kiss. Closing my eyes, I linger on her lips to draw the moment out as long as possible. I’m going to miss her like crazy, even if it’s only for a couple of days.

  “Are you ready for that?”

  “I am. I’m sorry if you feel rejected by me. I want to be with you in every sense of the word. I’m just slow to get there.”

  She bites her bottom lip. “We’re like the tortoise and the hare. I know.”

  I lean in and give her a tender kiss. “Slow and steady wins the race from what I can remember.”

  “You won me quite a while ago.” Her eyes glisten with happiness.

  I grin. “Glad to hear it. I’ll text you when I get there, and let you know I’m okay.”

  “You’d better.” She wraps her arms around my neck when I drop my hand. “I’m going to miss you like crazy.”

  “I’ll miss you too.” I run my tongue across my top lip. “Meeting you has changed my life. You’ve made this move worth it.”

  Her grip tightens. “For what it’s worth, I’m glad you’re here, Jarvis.”

  “It’s not easy to say goodbye.”

  She lets go of me and shakes her head. “No. This is so freaking hard. And you’ll only be away a few days. Guess I got it bad.” Her smile illuminates my heart.

  “You’re not the only one.” I sigh. “We should get going before I miss the plane. Molly will kill me if I do that.”

  Bridget laughs. “You’re no good to me dead. Let’s go.”

  It’s with great reluctance that I leave the back seat and climb into the front passenger side.

  These next few days will be the most empty of my life.

  But she’ll be waiting when I come home.

  18

  Tom

  I miss Bridget.

  It’s not just because she gave me a blow job as a parting gift. I miss her smile, her laugh, and the way she makes me feel like I’m the only man on the planet.

  “I can’t believe you’re finally getting pussy.”

  I roll my eyes at Austin’s words. When I called Mark to say I was on my way, he offered me his spare room. I could have stayed at Molly’s place, but I’ve missed my friend. I haven’t, however, missed his boyfriend. Austin and Mark adore each other, and I’m happy for them. But Mark gets me on a level Austin never will.

  “Stop it. It’s more than that,” I grumble.

  Austin nods. “I guess with you it has to be. She’s the love of your life and then she’ll stick you firmly in the friend zone.”

  Mark elbows him. “Can you not?”

  He shrugs. “Sorry. It just seems to be Tom’s thing.” Austin forks a chunk of salad and crunches down on it, his mouth open. It sends a shudder through me. “Must be real love if she wants to have sex with you.”

  “Austin.” Mark glares at him. “I’m sorry, Tom.”

  I sigh. Mark is one of my best friends, but I’d really rather he not share my personal details with his partner. I guess I should have learned that lesson by now.

  “It’s okay. I know Austin has this pre-occupation with my sex life. Or lack thereof.” I meet Mark’s gaze, and he breaks into a smile.

  “Just ignore him. It’s good to see you. How long are you here for?”

  I shrug. “I’m not sure. Just a few days. I’m working on something with Miranda.”

  “Is that it? Can’t you do that remotely?”

  I shake my head. “No. We’ve got a leak and she wants me to try and find it.”

  Mark’s eyes widen. “A leak?”

  “Someone’s sharing confidential game information.”

  “Woah. That sucks.”

  “It really does.” I let out a long, frustrated sigh. “The merger had gone so well, but maybe there’s more resentment out there than we realized.”

  Mark nods. “Some of those Psycom guys have a real stick up their butts. I’m guessing that’s where you want to start.”

  “Probably. I haven’t had much time to think about it since Molly only told me this morning I was coming here.”

  He smiles. “I’ll help wherever I can too, now I know something’s going on.”

  “It’s just gutting. But I’m sure we’ll get to the bottom of it.”

  I’m sure we will too, but the whole thing leaves me with a sour taste in my mouth.

  What are we going to uncover?

  I head to bed early to spend some time working on Brad’s code. It’s been at the back of my mind this whole time, but I’ve had so many other things going on, I haven’t spent a lot of time of it since that first night four weeks ago.

  That makes me smile.

  Old me would have worked relentlessly to unlock the cypher to the detriment of everything else in my life. I would have ignored everything and everyone to get to the bottom of it.

  Now, Bridget occupies my thoughts.

  I flop on the bed and pull out my phone.

  Me: Miss you

  It doesn’t seem like only hours ago that we were in Bridget’s car, her mouth and hands on me.

  Bridget: Miss you too.

  Me: Wish you were here.

  Bridget: Me too. But I’ve settled for Chinese food and a night in front of the television.

  The thought makes me smile.

  Me: I’ve got some work to do. Have a good night and I’ll talk to you tomorrow?

  Bridget: Okay. Good night.

  Sitting up, I grab my laptop bag from the floor beside the bed and pull it onto my lap.

  I have to get to the bottom of this one way or another.

  I won’t let go until I’ve cracked it.

  I yawn as I walk into the kitchen in the morning.

  Austin stands at the counter, sipping his coffee and flashing me a bright smile.

  “Good morning.” He takes a big breath. “Sorry about last night. Mark told me I was over the top and to stop picking on you. I never meant to upset you.”

  I shrug. “I’m fine.”

  “Yeah, but I know how sensitive you can be, and it sounds like you’re dealing with some crappy stuff right now. I can’t believe anyone would leak info from Mollab. You guys are so tight.”

  I pick up a coffee cup and move to the machine on the counter. “That’s the awful thing about it. The company’s grown and grown, obviously, but the level of the leak is concerning. I hope we can get to the bottom of i
t quickly.”

  He walks to the table and takes a seat as I pour my coffee. “Well, I hope you catch the asshole who’s doing it. I love the Mollab games as much as anyone.”

  “We all love Mollab’s games.” Mark walks into the room, beaming a smile that’s much too bright for this time of morning. “What are you two talking about?”

  “Just about this leak thing.”

  Mark nods. “It sucks. That’s for sure. Do you want to head into the office with me?”

  I nod. “Are you going soon?”

  “I’m grabbing a coffee, and we can get out of here.”

  It’s a long commute to the office. I’d forgotten how awful the traffic could be, and it makes me think of home.

  Nettle Downs is home now.

  The thought makes me smile. Home, where Bridget is waiting for me.

  “Did you know that Molly has about a ten-minute drive to work these days?” I ask.

  “Really? No shit.”

  “Because there are about five cars on the road between her place and work.” I laugh. “I might be exaggerating slightly. There’s no rush-hour traffic though.”

  He sighs. “Sounds wonderful.”

  “The house I’m going to rent isn’t far either. And it’s close to everything as well. There’s one bar in the whole town, and the food is amazing. You guys would love it.”

  He grips the steering wheel. “You don’t have to sell me on it, Tom. It sounds like paradise.”

  “I’m glad I moved there. That’s for sure.”

  “I am too. It seems to have been a good move for you. Doesn’t make me miss you any less.”

  “I miss you too. But I’m finding I don’t miss my old life as much as I thought I would. Meeting Bridget’s stopped me being so unsettled.”

  He smiles. “I’m really happy for you.”

  When we finally get to work, Mark pulls into his car park. It’s weird. This place already feels foreign to me when it was home for so long.

  “You’re in early.” Jason, one of the former Psycom employees, greets Mark as we walk in.

  “Yeah. I thought I should try and get Tom to work on time.” Mark laughs.

  “I thought you’d moved to Nettle Downs,” Jason says.

  “I have. But I still work here.”

  He blinks a bunch of times. “Of course. I just thought that you’d be working out of there from now on.”

  “I am, but some things are a lot easier to deal with face-to-face.” I smile. “Besides, I think it’s good for me to touch base with everyone now and then.”

  He nods, and taps his coffee cup with his index finger. “I’m sorry if this seems like an interrogation. It’s too early in the morning, and I haven’t had enough coffee yet.”

  “That’s perfectly understandable. I’ll be grabbing some more myself soon enough.”

  As he wanders toward the kitchen, I watch him leave. I’m not sure what to make of that reaction, and I hate that I feel I have to suspect everyone. But I guess there’ll be a level of distrust until we get to the bottom of the leak.

  “Tom.” Miranda beams a bright smile at me as she walks through the office. At least she’s glad to see me. “Let’s go to my office and catch up.”

  “I’d like that.”

  She wraps her arms around my chest and gives me a big hug. Miranda’s become like a sister to me over the years, and she’s one of the few people I don’t mind physical contact with. It’s comforting. “I’ve missed you. We all have.”

  I plant a kiss on the top of her head. “I’ve missed you too.”

  She nods as she lets me go. “Did you have a good flight yesterday?”

  “Wasn’t too bad. I’m staying with Mark, so we caught up last night.”

  “Come on.”

  She leads me back through to her office. It’s Molly’s old one, and it’s a little weird to see how organized it is. Molly’s desk used to be a mess in what she called organized chaos. Miranda’s one of those people who color codes everything—a woman after my own heart.

  “Your office is looking good,” I say.

  “It’s a big change.” She grins as she sits on the couch in the corner. I sit beside her. “I’m really glad you’re here.”

  “So am I. I want to nail this down as much as you do.”

  She nods. “I hate the feeling that someone’s that unhappy. Or angry. Or greedy enough to breach their NDA to sell secrets.”

  “Me too. How far back do you think it goes?”

  Miranda sighs. “I don’t know. That’s what worries me. I mean, we suspected something based on Psycom’s obvious plagiarism at times, but there was nothing concrete. This time’s different.”

  “Molly said someone approached you?”

  She stands, walks to her desk, and picks up a file. “I received an email from a contact I made recently over at Pelorus Games. They haven’t been around for that long, and I met a couple of their people at a trade show. Anyway, this is what they were offered.”

  I take the file from her as she hands it to me and open it up.

  My stomach lurches. Detailed information about our next game is in here. We haven’t even started development on it yet. “Where on earth did they get this?”

  “That’s just the teaser, Tom. The person who offered it to them has it all. Either someone external has hacked the network, someone internal has hacked the network, or someone who touched these documents is out there trying to sell them.”

  I frown. “They don’t know who?”

  “They were contacted anonymously.” She sits down and lets out a long breath. “The FBI are involved too. I did that yesterday. This is corporate espionage.”

  Nodding, I take another look at the file. It leaves me heartsick.

  “Now, there are a limited number of people in the company who have access to the drive this was stored on, but enough that it’s difficult to narrow it down. Everyone who has access has a reason for it, so it’s not a simple answer.”

  “Made worse by the Psycom merger, as more people are involved in game development.”

  She gives me a short, sharp nod. “That’s right. More suspects. But the FBI means they’ll have their forensics team looking at everything. Either way, it’s upsetting. I can’t believe that any Mollab employee would do this to Molly.”

  “Me either. What do we do next?”

  Miranda smiles. “Well, you and I are going for coffee to talk about your love life, because I hear you have one now.”

  I roll my eyes and laugh. “Word’s spread, huh?”

  “Molly and I speak every day. You don’t think we just talk about work, do you?”

  Miranda’s the best. She and I have been here longer than everyone else, and if Molly’s like my sister, so is Miranda. The three of us were the original core of Mollab, and we know we can trust one another.

  It’s heartbreaking to think that there’s someone out there we can’t.

  We have to solve this leak.

  “Tell me about her,” Miranda says, taking a sip of her coffee.

  “Molly’s doing well. She’s settling in and …”

  Miranda rolls her eyes. “You know who I mean.”

  I chuckle. “Yeah, I do. Bridget’s amazing.”

  “I’m so happy for you, Tom. It’s been a long time coming.”

  “It really has.” I lean back in my seat. “You need to check out Nettle Downs. I think you’ll love it. Such a big change of pace from here, but it’s nice. The people are friendly.”

  She runs her tongue across her top lip. It’s the Miranda move when she’s about to be a smart ass. “I’m sure they are, seeing as it took you, what … a week to get a girlfriend?”

  “I knew you were going to go there.”

  Miranda tuts and shakes her head. “No, you didn’t.”

  “I know you too well, Miranda Clarke.” I laugh. “To tell you the truth, I didn’t want to come back even for a little while because I’m happy for the first time in forever. But now I’m here, I’m
glad to get some time with you.”

  “Your girlfriend’s not going to be jealous?” Miranda flutters her eyelashes and it just makes me laugh harder.

  “Bridget knows where she stands with me. I’m in love with her.”

  There. I’ve said it. Not to Bridget, who’s the one I need to say it to, but it feels so good to admit it out loud.

  Miranda’s expression softens. “Wow. I’ve never heard you say anything like that about anyone before.”

  “I haven’t even told her yet.”

  “Then we need to get this sorted so you can go home and tell her.”

  My heart warms at the thought.

  “Now. We need to talk about this leak.” She pauses. “And this needs to stay strictly between us.”

  “Mark knows.”

  Miranda’s eyes widen. “How?”

  “I told him last night. I’m guessing from the expression on your face that was bad?” I grimace.

  She sighs. “So, Molly didn’t pass on that we decided that only the three of us were to know about it.”

  “Shit. No, she neglected to tell me that part.” My stomach churns. “I told Mark because I know I can trust him, but if I’d known Molly wanted this just between us …”

  Miranda shrugs. “Too late now.

  I play my bottom lip between my teeth. “I’m so sorry, Miranda.”

  “It’s okay, Tom. You didn’t mean any harm. We can make this work.”

  “What do you need from me?” I don’t like seeing her so tense. Tension’s crept back over her since our conversation about Bridget, and her tight expression says it all.

  “We need to set up a project to handle this. The FBI need access to everything, and we also need to keep a lid on it.”

  I nod. “Okay. How are we going to do that?”

  “Over the next few days, I need you to liaise with them. They’ll be sending a small team in to mirror all our internal network data, and hopefully something in there will lead us to the perpetrator.”

  I blow out a breath. “They’ll need time to do that.”

  “They will, and they’ll need access. They’ll come in like normal contractors who need to do some work in the data center, and you can point them in the direction of which servers they need to copy the data from.”