Level Me Up (Gamer Boy Book 1)

by Lauren Helms

  Moments later, I break away from his mouth to catch my breath, and he moves his sinful mouth down to my chest. I try to form the words I want to say, but his hand starts wandering down my stomach, and I'm distracted. Between ragged breaths, I finally manage, "Dex, I'm ready."

  His hand doesn't stop its descent past my belly button, but he lifts his head and looks down at me through lust-filled eyes. His breathing is just as rough as mine. "What?" he asks.

  "Sex. With you. I'm ready."

  His hand stills right where I want him to be. "Are you sure?"

  I dig my heels into his ass and lift my head to his ear and whisper, "I want you inside me. Now."

  I didn't think it was possible, but his erection resting between us gets even harder the instant the words leave my mouth. He nods his head, clears his throat, and in an almost giddy tone says, "Yeah. I totally support this decision."

  I laugh as he climbs off me and grabs a condom out of the nightstand drawer. Quicker than I thought possible, he has the condom on and is back on top of me. With a seductive smile, he says, "Looks like I win."

  ***

  Later that night, lying in his arms snuggled under the covers, I wonder what took me so long to pull the trigger on going all the way. We could have been doing this for the past few weeks. Maybe it was all worth it, the buildup because tonight with Dex is the best sex I've ever had.

  The moment we'd joined; it was like time stopped all around us. Even our breathing, for a short moment. Not to sound cliché, but it felt like we were made for each other. Something I didn't know I'd lost had suddenly been found. It was fierce and all-consuming. Looking into his eyes, I could tell he felt it too.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Dex

  It’s early on a lazy Saturday. I haven’t had this kind of relaxing weekend morning in a long time. I can’t actually remember the last time. But now that I know what I’ve been missing, I might just become addicted. Lying on the couch tangled up with Morgan, I find myself lazily playing a video game while she reads on her Kindle.

  What is so crazy about this, though, is that while I play video games professionally, I play Call of Battle, almost exclusively. Very rarely do I have the time to play a game other than CoB. But this morning, I’m getting to play a game I haven’t played in a while and I have no desire to try and beat…anything. I’m just playing, and it’s fun. Relaxing.

  What makes this whole situation better is that Morgan is the cause of it. She stayed over last night, which is becoming a common occurrence. Over a couple bowls of cereal—God, that girl loves her cereal—she said all she wanted to do this morning was be lazy and read. Her wish was my command. And now, for more than an hour, tangled on this couch is where we’ve been.

  “You’re staring at me again,” she says sweetly without looking at me. And I was, I must have gotten distracted last time I looked over at her and just didn’t stop.

  I chuckle, “Sorry, can’t help it. You’re distracting me.”

  “How? I’m reading and literally doing nothing else.”

  “Oh, just you being here is distracting,” I tell her bending down to place a light kiss on the top of her head.

  She turns in my arms and looks up at me with a seductive grin on her face, “So, you’re not bored?”

  “No way, I’m loving this right now. Hanging out in my pajamas, playing a video game with a sexy reader girl in my arms. How is that boring?”

  She giggles, and dammit if that sound doesn’t turn me on. Then she pushes up slightly so her lips brush mine, “So, you wouldn’t want me to do this?” she whispers as she presses in closer. Instantly, I kiss her back and can feel the smile on her lips. She seems innocent most of the time, but she has got one hell of a sly, sexy side to her.

  I waste no time deepening the kiss causing her to emit one of those moans that make my dick twitch. The controller I am holding falls to the floor with a thud. I reach between us and snag her Kindle and lightly drop it on the floor behind her. I scoot down on the couch a bit so we are now evenly facing each other. She wraps a lean, smooth leg around my hip, and with a low throaty moan, I pull her closer to me.

  I know we are on the couch in the living room and the apartment isn’t empty right now, so this make-out session can’t go any further, but I can’t stop myself from sliding a hand beneath her shirt. Again, I’m rewarded with sexy little moans.

  I don’t know how much time goes by; it’s like this whenever I kiss her. Nothing else around us matters and time seems to stop until I hear a throat clear somewhere behind me. My hand stops but the kissing doesn’t.

  Then Link yells from further away, “Uh, I’d like to enter the room, but dirty things are happening, and I don’t want to be scarred for life.”

  At this, Morgan slowly pulls away. There is heat still in her eyes as she rolls them but shyly smiles when she looks down and sees my hand still cupping her breast under her shirt. Tugging her shirt down, she mutters loud enough for Link to hear, “What are you, like five?”

  I can hear the mirth in his voice, as he replies from somewhere in the hall, “What are you guys? Like sixteen? Making out on a public couch.”

  She doesn’t reply, but bites her swollen, pink bottom lip and looks up at me and grins.

  I wink at her, “Link, you act like you never got caught making out with a girl on the couch,” I say as I adjust my pants. With some minor maneuvering, we are back to our starting position.

  “No, I did, but I was sixteen,” he states as he walks in the room and straight through to the kitchen, “which was my point.”

  “Maybe, but being caught by a roommate is much less embarrassing than being caught by your best friend’s mom.”

  Beside me, Morgan snorts as she tries to hide her laughter. I keep going, “She spent a couple hours cleaning that couch. Kept muttering something about these boys being the death of her someday, and that you weren’t even hers. She just didn’t understand.”

  Morgan hands me my controller and sets her Kindle back in her lap. I give her another kiss on the forehead and resume my game. “Why in the world were you making out with a girl on someone else’s couch, Link?” she asks.

  He walks in and plops down on the chair. With a shrug, “Mine was occupied. And we needed a couch.”

  Morgan just shakes her head.

  “In my defense, I didn’t think Mrs. Roberts was there. And she had always told me to make myself at home. So, I was just doing what she told me to do.”

  “Wow. ” Morgan’s jaw hangs open but she doesn’t seem to be able to say anything else to that.

  He sits there for a while and talks to me about one of his upcoming YouTube streams. Then he gets bored and heads back to his room.

  “Do you want to pick up where we left off?” I whisper in Morgan’s ear.

  “Yes, but not here. And I want to finish my chapter first. I’ve got like four more minutes left,” she distractedly replies. But I know how to get her attention, so I lean down and nip at her earlobe, placing sweet kisses behind her ear.

  “Hmmm,” comes out of her mouth as her Kindle drops in her lap.

  Just then, I hear the front door open. With a sigh, I stop the progression down her neck. As payback, she wiggles a little against my hard-on, and I can’t help letting a groan out.

  “Dude, are you guys getting dirty on our couch?” Simon says from the doorway.

  Dropping my forehead to Morgan’s I growl out, “No.”

  “Right,” he drags out the word as he enters the living room. “Are you playing Rocket League?” I can hear the glee in his voice but it doesn’t mix well with the other emotions I was experiencing just a few moments ago.

  “Yeah, it’s been a while. I’d forgotten how much fun this game is,” I reply. Morgan sighs beside me. She then snuggles back into me as she picks her Kindle back up.

  “Mind if I jump in?” he asks but grabs a controller from the charging station before I can respond.

  ***

  An hour or so later, M
organ gets a call from Gia and escapes to my room to talk to her. Normally, she talks on the phone around me but since Simon is in the room I guess she wants a more private setting. I understand, because things get awkward when we bring Gia up around Simon. Actually, shit gets almost hostile. Heck, we haven’t actually all hung out as a group since that first night they met—well, reunited? Gia’s devil-may-care attitude was subdued when Simon was around. She became quiet and tried to just blend into the background.

  “Where’d Morgan go?” Simon asks five minutes later, just realizing she’s no longer in the room.

  I take this opportunity to put out some feelers. “Gia called her,” I reply, focusing on him and not the game. And, sure enough, he straightens up and clenches his jaw. But he nods.

  “So, uh, want to tell me what’s up with that?” I ask cautiously.

  “With what?” he glances at me.

  “With that reaction. Every time someone mentions Gia’s name, you get all broody.”

  He rolls his eyes, “Don’t worry about it.”.

  “Well, since she’s my girlfriend’s best friend, I kinda have to,” I add.

  Swearing under his breath he throws himself back into the chair and scrubs a hand down his face. He takes a moment, but I think I’m going to finally get some answers. “We grew up together and then we didn’t. She made some bad decisions. I honestly didn’t think I cared about it anymore, but apparently, it still pisses me off.” He takes a breath, “I’d rather just leave the past in the past, with her. I don’t particularly want to see or talk about her but I get that she is now in your life, so I’ve gotta find a way to deal with it. And I will. But, it’s gonna take some time.”

  Now I’m even more intrigued. But, he surprised me by giving me an inch, I’m not gonna ask for a mile. “I get it. I’ll back off, and I’ll say something to Link to as well. But, please try to tone down your distaste for her in front of Morgan. I think it makes her feel bad. Like Gia isn’t welcome here…but she is. So, maybe keep that in mind.” I say seriously. I’m trying not to be a dick about it, but I hate that Morgan feels like she can’t even talk about her best friend when Simon is around.

  He sighs deeply, “Dammit, I know. I’m being a dick. I’ll try and reel it in.” He lifts an eyebrow, “Does Morgan…know? Like, does she already know what I just told you about me and Gia?” he grimaces. Dang. What did that girl do to him?

  “No, she was just as confused about this as I was.”.

  “Huh. That’s…kind of interesting.”

  I chuckle. “Yeah, guess so. Whatever happened between the two of you must have been a doozy.” I mean, if Gia won’t even tell her best friend about it, then it must have been something big. I stand, set my controller on the coffee table and head to my room. “Well, I’m done here. Gotta go be dirty with the hot-as-shit girl hanging out in my bedroom.”

  Simon snorts. I clamp a hand on his shoulder as I walk by, and it isn’t until I get to my closed bedroom door that I hear the game resume playing.

  Chapter Twenty

  Morgan

  It’s Wednesday, and Dex is flying out tomorrow night with the team for a tournament. It’s the first time he will be traveling since we started dating, so I’m a little nervous about it. I’m doing nothing more than aimlessly wandering around, tidying the already clean apartment. I’m thinking about how boring my weekend is going to be since he won’t be here. Then my phone rings. The caller ID shows it’s my dad.

  “Hey, Dad,” I answer.

  “Hey kiddo, how are you doing?” He sounds happy. Hmm. Not that he isn’t allowed to be happy, but he normally just sounds tired. But then, I would be tired too, if I was a workaholic.

  “I’m good. How are you?”

  “I’m pretty good. Work is keeping me busy, and I’ve decided to remodel the kitchen.”

  “Uh, what? What’s wrong with the kitchen and how do you have time for that?” I ask as I scratch my head. I mean, he barely spends anytime at home, so why does he need to remodel the kitchen?

  The unfamiliar sound of his laughter comes through the phone, “Nothing is wrong with the kitchen, Morgan. It’s just a project I’ve been wanting to start. Last weekend, I replaced the front door and installed new lighting over the entry way.”

  What the hell? Who is this I am talking too? And what did he do with my dad?

  I sit down at my desk and take a long, deep breath. “Dad, I’m really confused. You work eighty hours a week at work. And then, when you are home, you work. The only time you’re not working is when you’re watching football. Why did we need a new door?”

  He sighs, “Morgan, I know I’ve always worked a lot—”

  “No. You started working a lot after mom died.” I hear a pained groan from his end when a thought occurs to me. “Wait. Do you have plans to—are you selling Mom’s…Dad! Tell me you are not selling the house.”

  I find myself unprepared for this conversation. Him selling the house never crossed my mind so the panic rising up from my stomach through my chest is almost unbearable.

  He doesn’t say anything right away. Oh my god, he is selling the house. I hear him take a deep breath.

  “Morgan, kiddo. Calm down. I’m not selling the house. Well, not yet. But maybe someday soon. It’s just, you’re right. I don’t spend a lot of time here, and it has a lot of memories that I don’t really like to think about.”

  A stray tear runs down my cheek, “You mean you don’t want to think about Mom anymore.” A whimper escapes me.

  He swears under his breath, “No Morgan, it isn’t that. I think about all the good times we had in this house with your mom. All our memories of you growing up. But the painful ones are what cloud my vision when I’m in this house. I’m just ready to move on.”

  I don’t bother trying to focus on everything he just said. I zero in on the last part. “What do you mean you are ready to move on?” I can tell by my voice that I’ve started to enter the “daughter is freaking out; father cannot compute” stage. “What are you telling me, Dad?!”

  “Calm down, Morgan. I’m telling you that I’ll probably sell the house. I don’t know when, but I’m making some needed updates here and there for when the time comes.” He sighs. He’s back to his normal, tired tone when he speaks. “Look, kiddo, I’ve gotta run. I have a work call I need to take in a few minutes. I’ll talk to you soon, alright?”

  It’s my turn to sigh. This is typical of him, to back out of a conversation by bringing up work. It’s disappoints to me, but it’s not a surprise. “I love you, Dad. Have a good call.”

  “Love you too, kiddo. Tell the girls I said hi.” The phone goes dead.

  I just stare off, focusing on nothing for who knows how long. Our phone calls are normally short; he always has some work…or thing he needs to do. We talk about nothing; I tell him about work or the girls. Whenever I bring up the topic of Dex, I can tell it makes him uncomfortable. We never, ever talk about Mom.

  Great. Not only will I will be stressed over missing Dex this weekend, but now I’ll have the added discomfort of this conversation, relentlessly replaying itself in my head. This weekend is going to suck.

  A couple hours later, Gia comes home from the grocery store. I’m out in the living room watching Gilmore Girls reruns.

  “Is that the episode where Dean gives Rory the car he built her?” Gia asks from the kitchen.

  “Yup. I love Dean. He was always my favorite boyfriend.” I sigh.

  “No way. Jess was the best. Bad boy writer,” she says. “Always thought he was perfect for Rory.”

  “I guess we only agree on the fact that rich-boy Logan was a tool.”

  She plops beside me on the couch. “So, you sound…bummed. Are you dreading this weekend?” She grabs the remote and turns down the volume a bit.

  I shift around on my cushion. “Yeah, but I’m not sure why.” I clear my throat, “We don’t see each other every day, so going three days without seeing him shouldn’t be a big deal.”

  “T
rue, but it’s kinda different with him going out of town. He won’t be here…in the city.” She chews on her thumbnail.

  I let out a big sigh. “That’s probably it. At least I’ll still be able to text him, and he will call when he can.” I hope.

  “Luckily, you have me and Ruby. We’ve been known to show a girl a good time,” she says with a laugh.

  I smile at that, at least I do have them. I won’t be lonely.

  We sit there in silence for a few minutes before she asks, “Ok, something else is wrong. You look like someone knocked your ice cream cone on the floor.”

  With a look of resignation on my face, I lean over and pause the show, and tell her, “My dad called. He is thinking about selling the house. He wants to move on from the memories the house holds.”

  Baffled, Gia asks, “What? That’s crazy. What do you mean he wants to move on?”

  “My thoughts exactly. He is remodeling the kitchen.”

  “I didn’t know your dad was the handyman type,” she says, skeptical.

  I let out a laugh. “I didn’t know either.”

  She picks the remote back up and fiddles with it, tossing it from one hand to the other. “Morgan, do you think he is seeing someone?”

  I hate hearing it out loud. I’m not going to lie, I had a similar thought, but I didn’t want to continue down that path. With a groan, I say, “Maybe. But he didn’t say anything about it.”

  She nods. “Would it bother you if he was?”

  “Honestly? No. I’d be happy for him. But what I’m not happy about is how he told me he is selling the house. And what if this person…”

  “A woman, it would be a woman,” Gia interjects.

  “Whatever. What if this woman is the one telling Dad to sell the house? That, I’m not ok with.” I feel quite agitated now.