Page 58 of Knotty, Nice, & Holiday Lights
By the time the buzzer on the front door chimes, everything is set, and I leap up the stairs to get the door, finding Will already there. He turns giant blue eyes on me, I assume because of the huge haul of food that just arrived, and I grin. “Let’s take this downstairs.”
I thank the delivery guy, pass him an extra bit of a cash tip on top of what I charged to my card, and Will and I load up with plastic delivery bags and head downstairs, shouting for Iz and Asher to join us.
Once in the living room, Will stops short, staring at the TV a moment before absently making his way to the kitchen counter to put the food down. “What’s…” He blinks a couple of times then turns to me. “What’s all this?”
“Aww, Matthew!” Iz throws her arms around me, pulling me down to kiss my cheek. “This is amazing!”
The TV shows the loading screen forYavin-8,one of the co-op action role-playing games Iz’s former company made. I dug my current-generation console out of one of the boxes, and threw four game controllers on the charging station.
“I thought it would be fun to play together, instead of against one another.”
And that’s what the four of us do as we eat Chinese takeout on the couch together, running co-op campaigns, first in the sci-fi world ofYavin-8,then in the fantasy world ofFantasmaland.
You can learn a lot about people by the archetypes they play in video games.
Asher enjoys being a frontline protector and always plays a tank.
Will wants to soothe everyone around him, choosing healers.
Iz loves her DPS classes, embodying a fighter, whether it’s at range or up close—but I have it on good authority that magic-wielding is her favorite.
And, as for me, I’ve always been partial to stealth classes, preferring to play a dual-wielding rogue, sneaking in, slitting throats, then vanishing.
But tonight, I’ve done something I’ve never done before, choosing a support class that bolstered and shielded my team.
And you know what? I really fucking enjoyed it.
Chapter Forty
“Can we talk?”
Matthew’s eyes dart to me, like he’s scared, and I smile, although I’m not sure how happy I look with all this worry settling in my chest.
His demeanor changes immediately, and he spreads his arms wide for me to snuggle into him, wrapping myself into a ball on his lap on the armchair.
“Tell me.”
I position myself to look at him. “You and I already had this discussion a long time ago, but, I want to make sure you still feel the same now. So, what are your thoughts on kids?”
His brows hike up his forehead. “Like… creating them?”
This I laugh at. “Yeah. That.”
He’s back to looking worried. “Uh… I mean, the practice is fun as hell, but my thoughts haven’t changed about the procreation part.” He swallows. “Have yours?”
“Not at all,” I breathe, the tension in my shoulders easing a fraction. “But I’m worried about Will and Asher. I’ve never told them how I feel about it. What if they want a family?”
Matthew leans in to press his lips to my forehead. “You know how I feel, and I’ll always support you.” He sighs. “I honestly never even thought about it since becoming a pack. That’s… probably not good of me.”
I shake my head at him. “It’s never come up. Plus, you and I already had this talk at length years ago. I’m just worried their feelings are different than ours.”
“We’re going to have to talk to them. Gently.”
Another sigh from me. “I know.”
“Look. We’re fated to be together, right? All of us. Maybe that means we all think the same way about major life choices.”
“No kids means having you all to ourselves forever,” Asher says, that sexy smile on his face. “I call that a win. Besides, I’ve never honestly thought about having a kids myself. It was never an issue I’d faced.”
