Page 57 of One More Round

“So, what are we giving away?”

Link looks at our list of prizes to give away. There are still several on the list and we don’t have to give away all of them, but we have to be running giveaways, contractually speaking.

Link starts laughing and I look up to see what’s got his attention. He is reading the comments again.

“Talk to me, tell me what’s so funny,” I tell him.

“Well, seems as if the lady viewers are all in agreement on the next giveaway items.” He nods his head.

“And what is that?”

“They want dates,” he replies.

I lift my eyebrow and wait for an explanation.

“They want us to auction off a date with each member of the team,” he tells me and seems rather excited about it.

“Ah, well, I can’t speak for the rest of the team, but I can tell you that both Dex and I would have pretty upset girlfriends if we auctioned ourselves off for that,” I tell them honestly. Oh man, the drama. Poor Morgan would probably lose her shit and Dex wouldn’t know what hit him. Gia would probably be a little bit easier to handle, but I know it still wouldn’t go over well.

“Well, then, I guess since I’m the only one here, ladies … it looks like it’s just me up for sale,” he says with a colossal jackass smile.

“You’re really doing this?” I ask him.

“Hells yeah.” He pulls out his phone and looks through his calendar before continuing. “I’m going to make this a ‘ladies-only’ auction though, and if you plan on being at PAX in San Antonio in January, that’s when I’ll take the lucky winner out to dinner. We can even record it and post it on my channel.”

The comments go crazy with excitement. I just shake my head and tell him he’d better start the bidding higher than average if he wants to make a dime. His phone pings and it’s Dex, telling him he’s an idiot.

“OK, ladies, I’m gonna start the bidding at two hundred dollars. Would ComicGem68 like to take the first bid?” he says, awfully full of himself.

It’s quiet for a beat and I look over at him. I see a slightly disappointed look cross his face before he quickly locks it down.

“What?” I say, quieter than normal. I know the stream will pick it up, but maybe it will be a bit muffled.

“Nothing, it just looks like Ruby isn’t online anymore,” he mutters but then jumps back into charming mode and runs the auction, which is already past five hundred.

I could have called that shit from a mile away. We all know Ruby has a thing for Link and vice versa. We are just wondering when they will admit it.

About an hour later, I’m done for the night. I’m gathering a few things I brought down with me while Link talks to Bernie about what he is calling his “charity date.” He raised twelve hundred with his little impromptu giveaway. She smacked him over the head as soon as she walked in the door five minutes ago. But I’m not sticking around to hear her tell him what a stupid idea it was, I’m beat and I need to crash.

Several minutes later, I walk into my apartment and down the short entry hall and come face-to-face with the most beautiful sight: Gia is wrapped up in a blanket from my room, lounging on the couch and nearly asleep herself.

“Hey,” she says sleepily.

“Hey, G, I wasn’t expecting you, but I’m glad you are here.” I walk to her and lean down to kiss her. She accepts my kiss, but she looks a little sad.

“How long have you been here?” I ask.

“A couple of hours. Morgan came over around ten and I came with her. I missed you,” she says.

That must be it. We were going pretty hot and heavy at warp speed and now we haven’t gotten to see each other a lot.

“I miss you too. But I need a shower and sleep,” I tell her, pulling her up off the couch. The blanket falls from her shoulders and she smirks.

“A shower, huh?”

I groan, “G, I want to have hot sexy shower sex, but I need sleep. I’m going to take a lightning-quick shower, then meet you in my bed. Clothing is optional.” Always. Clothing with Gia is always optional. I thought she was beautiful when we were sixteen, but twenty-five-year-old Gia is sexy as fuck and I can’t get enough of her.

“I can’t believe you just turned down shower sex,” she pouts.

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