"Adam?" She said with obvious surprise. "What are you doing here?"
"Waiting for you," he said.
"I was going to get a shuttle..." She stammered. "I thought you were, um, out."
"Yeah, well, I've been waiting all day and I couldn't wait another minute, so I figured I'd catch you here." He took a deep breath. "And I wanted to talk to you as soon as possible, before you made any decisions."
"But I've already..."
"Just...please," he interrupted. "Hear me out, okay?"
Throngs of people moved around them, like currents around a rock. He didn't care.
"I had dinner with Casey. And it made me realize some things."
Her face fell. "You don't have to tell me. I'm not basing my decision on...whatever it was we have. Had," she corrected herself.
"Have," he said, his voice emphatic. "That's what I'm trying to tell you."
He framed her face in his hands, then leaned down and kissed her--firm, insistent, pleading. After a second, he heard her drop her roller bag as she wrapped her arms around him, pulling him tighter. Grateful, almost delirious, he melted into her.
After what felt like the world's longest moment, he heard applause. He pulled back to see a small crowd had gathered. "That's how you do it!" an old codger said, with a creaky laugh.
"I'm next!" a girl said.
He felt his cheeks heat, and Tessa smiled sheepishly as they moved off to one side. "I had to tell you that I'm falling in love with you. First, I just thought you were a way to help make mortgage, when you first moved in. Then I realized you were a good roomie--and really, a good friend. Then something just happened, and I found myself looking forward to seeing you at work and at lunch and having dinner with you, and even watching TV and then we slept together and it was like, Jesus, I found it, the complete package. This is what I've been looking for my whole life."
She stared at him.
"I know you're looking for more," he said quickly. "I respect that. You want to be respected, and you deserve to have the job you want. I don't want to be the guy who stood in the way of that. And I thought if I just let you go, you wouldn't resent me, and I wouldn't be that guy...the guy who asks you to give up your career so you can be with your boyfriend." He paused. "Incidentally, I'd like to be your boyfriend."
She let out a surprised giggle.
"Right. We'll put a pin in that one. But what I meant to say was, if you've decided to go to San José, I'll wait. We can do the long distance thing, if you're okay with it. It's a short flight," he said, as much to remind himself as her.
"You'd fly down to San José?"
"Or fly you up here," he said. "Absolutely. And I've never really done phone sex before, or sexting, or whatever, but I'm willing to try."
Now her giggle was a full blown laugh. "Thank you?"
He stroked her face, her hair. "You're worth it. And I'm not just going to quietly let you go. I'm fighting for this one, damn it."
"That's very...forceful of you," she said. "Very alpha."
He froze.
Her smile was like the sun. "Is it bad that I find that kinda sexy?"
He kissed her again, and felt her smile against his lips.
"I called them tonight, before my plane took off. I turned down the job.'
Now it was his turn to be stunned. "Wait. You what?"
"I realized I'm more of a people person than I thought," she said, with a rueful laugh. "I would've missed so much from up here. Rachel, Hailey, Kyla, Stacy. Hell, even the guys. And I would've missed just having time to live. I would've been working my ass off to prove I was the best, to people who wanted me to fail. I realized I don't want to live like that."
He swallowed. "That's great."
"Most of all," she said, stroking his face, "I don't want to give up on what I found with you. I'm willing to see where it goes if you are."
He kissed her, lightly, then rested his forehead against hers. "How'd they take it?"
"Pretty well," she said. "Of course, I also told them their product was shit and they were trying to lowball me in case it failed."
He choked.
"Holy wow." He thought about it--her typical, no-holds-barred delivery. "Bet that went over like a lead balloon."
"Apparently, I still need help with my people skills."
He laughed.
The snuggled like that for a moment. "So...I'm your boyfriend now, right?" he said hopefully.
She kissed him, hard. "Drive me home," she breathed, "and I'll show you just how much of my boyfriend you are."
Tessa quickly straightened out her hair and then answered the persistent ringing on her computer. "Hello? Hello! Yes! I'm here!" she said quickly, turning on her webcam.
Ani looked at her from the computer screen, obviously amused. "We were supposed to Skype today, right? Is it a bad time?"
"No! No, it's fine," Tessa said. "Just...um, distracted."
"And how is Mr. Adam?"
Tessa's answering smile was broad.
"That good, huh?"
Considering they'd barely kept their hands off each other since she got home from San José a week prior, yeah, she'd say so. "He says hi."
"Tell him I can't wait to meet him when I come in for my convention," Ani said. "And how about work? You regretting not taking the San José job?"
"Not at all," she said. "Apparently, the guy who offered me the job was trying to save his own ass, set me up as a fall guy. His boss took the project away. They're pushing out the deadline--and get this. They're subcontracting it to Mysterious Pickles."
"Wow," Ani said.
"It'll be great," Tessa said, "since Abraham told them to hire me as his next engineer. He said that anybody--woman, man, or kangaroo--that could out code him in a straight head to head, without 'being an asshole about it,' was someone he could work with. I start on the engineering team Monday. So it's all working out."
"That's fantastic. I love seeing you so happy." Ani winked. "It looks like you're finally getting that life, after all."
"I'm leveling up," Tessa said, sighing.
"Well, pick me up at SeaTac, and then see if you can rustle me up a guy, okay?" Ani said. "I could desperately use a quick, fun bounce boy. I haven't been laid in a decade."
Tessa chuckled. "Well, I'll see what I can do.'
"Oh, and Tessa?" Ani smirked. "I love that you combed your hair, but couldn't bother to put on a shirt." Then she hung up.
Tessa covered her bare breasts. "Damn it," she said. "I thought the camera was angled up higher."
Adam, who was buck naked, walked out. "Ready for the Sherlock marathon?"
She grinned. Naked Netflix marathons. It was like Christmas.
She hopped into his bed, letting him turn on the TV. Then she paused it, straddling him.
"You know," she said. "Maybe we can start in a minute."
"I deduce you're right," he said, and kissed her.
Level Up: A Geek Romance Rom Com, Book 1 (Fandom Hearts) Page 16
