Page 30 of Boss Level

“You’re attached and in love too,” Judith said.

With one key exception. “We’re still fun.”

“That’s debatable.” That time Judith was definitely teasing.

Stepping behind her, Xander slid a finger up her bare back. She shivered as visible goosebumps rose on her arms above her gloves.

“No fun, huh?” His voice was a low growl.

“A little fun.” She relented.

I stepped closer, needing to feel their heat. “A lot of fun.”

“Not until later. I was promised.” She almost sounded disappointed.

The wait would be worth it.

We headed down to the AcesPlayed suite, whose theme was masquerade and karaoke. Despite being early, the line was already around the corner to get in, and there were almost as many people waiting to sign up to sing. I liked seeing this for Judith. She’s worked so hard and she deserved it.

Within the hour, the room was packed, the music was loud, and the mood was incredible. Everything felt so open. These were all fans of the game, or mostly, and that meant they were at least a little all right with open discussions of consensual sex.

No one here cared who danced with whom. Who made out with whom. I could dance with Judith and Xander and 8-bit Sephiroth and no one batted an eye.

Dancing with Xander—close, dirty, carefree—feltgood. When Judith joined us, it was even better. A twinge of doubt sparked in my chest that I should want them both the way I did, but the desire wasn’t anything new. I’d decided to embrace it, to see if I could get the two of them to agree, and there was no reason to let what others said influence that.

As the night flowed on, some of the singers were incredible and some of them were painful to hear, and all of them got their turn on stage. When Reese-as-Joan-Jett stepped to the front of the room, I expected a throaty, seductive rendition of… Well, anything.

“Hey, all.” That was herare you ready to rockvoice, but she wasn’t singing. “I promised my guys I wouldn’t hog the stage tonight, and as much as that kills me, a promise is a promise.Butour list for karaoke is empty, so this is an open call. Who wants to come up and sing?”

A few hands shot up. All from people who had already taken their turn, but I was pretty sure no one cared.

Reese must, because she looked past them at our group. “What about the lovely lady in red, Jessica Rabbit?”

“No.” Judith didn’t hesitate. “I promise, you donotwant me singing, unless you like the sounds of strangled dolls.”

Come to think of it, I’d never heard her sing.

“Come on.”

“It can’t be that bad.”

A wave of encouraging cries rippled through the room.

Judith held up her hands. “You all know I don’t have any fear of public performance. But I know where my strengths are.”

“We’ll go,” a voice called from the crowd, and a heartbeat later, Maddox was tugging Alys with him onto the stage. They’d come as the Mad Hatter and Alice in Wonderland. Because of course they had.

Reese clapped along with everyone else, but held onto the mic. “The rest of you better be signing up to go again, because I don’t want to break a promise, but I will if the stage stays empty.”

Reese promising to sing if no one else did seemed like a good way to keep the sign-ups low, but she was probably banking on that. Regardless, she handed off the stage to Maddox and Alys. Both of whom sang back-up vocals for Plaid Peanut Butter, in addition to playing, so we were in for a treat.

I was surprised and amused whenGirls on Filmstarted playing.

“This is in honor of the game that brought us here tonight, and the most awesome people in the world who built it.” Maddox’s words coaxed a loud cheer from the room, and he and Alys flowed into the song. Like so many singers tonight, they switched up the lyrics. Sometimes it was girls on film, sometimes boys, and sometimes orcs.

Later, as the energy in the room faded, and people drifted out to head home or up to their rooms, excitement crackled in my veins. I wanted this feeling to last. I wanted the night with Xander and Judith to last.

I pressed into Judith’s back as someone on stage sang a tortured rendition ofTruly Madly Deeply,and I made sure Xander was paying attention. “If I make you laugh, can we take you back to your room?” I asked.

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