Page 25 of More Than an Ex-Girlfriend

I shake my head. “I never told her I moved to be closer to you.”

A grin spreads across his face, and he nods toward the adjoining door. “You achieved that. Closer to me, I mean.”

“I was shocked when I saw you on the porch. Living on opposite sides of that door wasn’t part of a grand plan or anything.”

“Just luck, huh?” The crinkles near his eyes are a giveaway for his teasing.

I stand and pick up the plates. “I like to think so.”

He grabs the other dishes and follows me back to my side. “Smoke is mostly cleared.”

“We could play a game after I’m done with the dishes. I mean, if you want.”

Leaning on the wall, he crosses his arms. “You remember our old Minecraft world?”

“We spent hours mining and building.”

“When we should’ve been studying.”

“Yep. That seems like a lifetime ago.” I rinse the plates and start loading the dishwasher.

He’s quiet for several seconds while I work. Then he walks toward his side. “I’ll connect my old console and see if it still works. If it does, we can do that if you want.”

“That’d be fun.”

I’m not sure who to hug and thank for my ending up living next to Archer, but I’m happier than I’ve been in years. I’ll find a way to be content with only his friendship. Because I’d rather be close to him like this than apart from him.

A short while later, I walk into Archer’s living room. “Your grandmother’s couch.” I’ve been here before, but we haven’t talked about it.

He nods and hands me a controller. “I guess the outdated floral print gave it away, huh?”

After he sits down at one edge of the couch, I sit on the other. As much as I want to sit right beside him, I’m trying to give him space. I can’t expect everything to be like it was just because I made him his favorite meal.

I move my character through the world. “This looks exactly like I remember.”

“I haven’t been in this world since right after you broke up with me.”

The beats of silence that follow are heavy, so I say something that I hope he’ll find funny. “You got in and griefed my stuff, didn’t you?” I’m laughing but stop when he doesn’t say anything.

He shoots me a sideways glance. “I did, but then I felt so awful about doing it that I logged back in and built it all back the way it was. But I threw your diamonds down the waterfall. Sorry about that.”

What a gem. Only Archer would take the time to fix everything.

“Archer, I’m sorry. And I don’t blame you. I deserved it, and you had no reason to believe I’d ever play this with you again.”

“All true. But I’ll go down into the mine and see if I can find you more diamonds.”

We both go down into the elaborate labyrinth of mine shafts we created long ago and start digging. It’s quiet for a bit, the only noises coming from the game.

But then Archer bounces in his seat. “Found some diamonds. And redstone.” He’s hacking away at the stone, cheering whenever he finds something else. He digs down another level. “Crap!”

I glance at his side of the screen and see his pickaxe, diamonds, and other gemstones strewn on the ground of a large cavern. “You found a cave.”

“Grab my stuff before it disappears.” His character respawns, and he hurries back to the mine.

Just as I gather the last of his stuff, a creeper approaches, then explodes. And I laugh.

Archer makes it back to the spot in time to get our stuff before it vanishes. “I’m starting to think diamonds are bad luck.”

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