Page 6 of Just Watch Me

Once he left, Ben spoke with awe. “Chad’s face was priceless, man.”

“It’s bullshit to assume everyone is straight.” I frowned.

Ben gave me a friendly smile. “Damn right. Nice shirt by the way.”

I glanced down at the forest-green T-shirt under my open flannel that had a drawing of ominous mountains and read “Middle Earth’s Annual Mordor Fun Run.”

“Thanks.” I smiled, put my noise-canceling headphones on, and lost myself in my work. Putting Chad in his place, even if it was in a tiny way, had been a nice win to start my day. The afterglow of a good orgasm didn’t hurt.

When my smartwatch buzzed with the meeting reminder, Ben and I made our way to the large meeting room that fit all one hundred plus employees. The room was about half full, so we snagged open seats in the back row.

“How bad do you think it’s gonna be?” Ben asked in a whisper.

“Our jobs have to be safe. No way will they’ll be able to build the game with a smaller team.”

Ben winced. “That’s what I’m worried about. We’re already running a skeleton crew. They’d better not come at us with some ridiculous expectations and have us working eighty hours a week.”

“That would be brutal. I know they’ve got a reputation for helping companies kill it with game launches, but how often do we hear underdogs like us singing their praises from those companies?”

“So true. It’s probably a circle jerk of executives and consultants making each other feel great while everyone else does the real work.”

I smirked at Ben. Though the image of some of our executives participating in a circle jerk left a lot to be desired.

It was hard to guess what the consultants would recommend because the my bosses hadn’t hired consultants at that stage before. At least not during my years there. Normally, they brought in consultants to help with a specific phase of game development or for evaluation and testing, but bringing in consultants before we even began the predevelopment phase was new.

I assumed the overpaid consultants were going to feed the execs a heap of bullshit about how we weren’t working hard enough, fast enough, or smart enough. Or they would just say the same things we, the lowly worker bees, had already been saying for ages, but they would get paid a ton more for it. Not like it mattered anyway. I would suffer through the consultants’ platitudes during the meeting and do my job. Maybe it was time to start looking for game design roles elsewhere. Getting Chad’s endorsement to move to another role in Rose City Digital Entertainment was about as likely as waking up in the Shire.

I studied the cluster of suits at the front of the room. One guy, in particular, caught my attention. His back was to me, so I got a good look at his broad shoulders. His tailored suit, the color of the TARDIS, hugged his hips perfectly. His thighs seemed strong, sturdy, like they could give a good poun—

“He’s hot.”

“He is,” I agreed. “Shall we place bets on how many times they’ll use the word ‘synergy’?”

Ben chuckled. “If it’s over five, I’ll buy lunch. Under five, it’s on you.”

“You’re on.”

We debated which food cart to grab lunch from until the vice president for game development clapped her hands and called the meeting to order. All her words went in one ear and out the other as soon as Mr. TARDIS Suit turned around.

My neighbor. No fucking way. I’ve been watching too much science fiction and am stuck in some sort of dream hellscape because there’s no way my hot neighbor is one of the enemies.

Of all the consultants in all of Portland, he had to be one of ours. Our VP introduced the consultant team and explained that they were there as project management consultants but may be brought in later during game development for their digital entertainment expertise. They were supposed to review current processes, make recommendations, identify vulnerabilities, blah, blah, blah. I held my breath when she introduced my neighbor so I didn’t miss a syllable. Skylar Behnam. I repeated the name a few times in my mind to test it out. I liked it.

I couldn’t take my eyes off him. He fiddled with the laptop connected to the projection equipment while one of his colleagues outlined their plans in vague generalities clearly aimed to soothe our hackles. I’d been through consultations before, and they always led to temporary reprieves and long-term stress. It was all about efficiency, efficiency, efficiency.Why would Skylar’s group be any different?

I thought about the warmth in his eyes, and a little voice said,Maybe he’s different.That little voice could go sit in the corner and think about what it did.

“Skylar is our tech specialist and will work most closely with the programming arm of the studio.” The older man who spoke stepped back, and Skylar took the vacated spot as the center of everyone’s attention—where a gorgeous man like him deserved to be.

He commanded attention. Instead of jumping right in to fill the silence, he took a moment to straighten his jacket and scan the room. My pulse quickened as I waited for him to notice me, hoping for a smile. I’d never needed something more desperately in my life. I squirmed in my seat and ignored Ben’s attention on me.

Skylar paused for a fraction of a second when he spotted me. He blinked, and his nostrils flared ever so slightly before he continued his visual sweep.

That’s it? No smile, startled gasp, ripping off his shirt and charging toward me?We were in a professional setting, butcome on. I’d seen him come. Twice.He’dseenmecome twice.

My stomach twisted. He was embarrassed. He didn’t want anyone to discover we knew each other, let alone had seen each other’s dicks. Of course he was embarrassed. He was a ripped, tall, dark, and handsome man who could pick up anyone he wanted with the snap of his fingers. I was a tech nerd with an unhealthy interest in science fiction novels.

“I’ll meet with everyone in programming individually over the next week because I’m here to advocate for you to your company’s leadership. I know this industry has a reputation for tight budgets, small teams, and long hours.” Skylar paused. “TheLegion of Tomorrowproject might be the biggest in many of your careers. Let’s work together to ensure the game is not only incredible but that we don’t burn out in the process. Yeah?”

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