Page 46 of From Drummer to Gamer

“See you,” his gruff voice replied somewhere in the back, but I was already halfway out. I felt dejected all of a sudden.

Matty probably just saw me as Raphy’s bothersome sister that he couldn’t wait to get rid of. I knew he was nice and kind to me, but that was who he was. He was kind and nice to everyone, but I wasn’t anything special.

He probably admired strong, elegant, level-headed independent women who had their shit together. Someone who worked out a lot and ate healthy shit, and probably had a classy, reputable job.

Not a gamer girl trying to win her mother’s approval with a quirky personality, bad eating habits, and even worse fashion sense.

“Careful,” ordered a gravelly voice before a large, rough palm slammed over my forehead. So warm that the heat seeped into my skin with a burning touch. “Watch where you’re going, Sierra. You could’ve hurt yourself.”

Only then did I realize I would have walked straight into the edge of the door that I didn’t even remember opening.

My eyes flew to the presence behind me, and they widened when a pair of sea-green eyes stared at me with a look in them I couldn’t decipher.

My heart thudded so loudly in my rib cage that I could almost hear it through my heavy breaths.

He still didn’t remove his hand, and his touch wasn’t just burning a hole through my forehead, but my entire body was aflame.

I could feel the flames licking the surface of my skin like an inferno, painting my skin scarlet.

“Sorry.” I jumped away, shifting my gaze from his piercing eyes. “I wasn’t looking.”

“That much was clear,” he said dryly. He slowly dropped his hand and stepped forward, opening the door farther as he gestured for me.

“Thanks,” I mumbled, embarrassed as I scurried out.

He followed me and closed the door behind him.

“I’m heading to the studio.”

“Okay,” I muttered, hiking my bag high on my shoulder as I hurried away. I’d embarrassed myself enough for the day. Matty was never going to consider me as a possible counterpart in this universe. It would be sad to wipe away that dream from the back of my fangirl mind.

“You’re quiet.”

I jumped when his voice called out to me. I twisted to see that he hadn’t moved an inch and was regarding me with his unwavering gaze.

“You’re not usually quiet. Is everything okay?” His brows pinched in a frown as he asked.

Ideas started floating in my head at his question, like maybe he cared for me. But who was I kidding? Of course he did. I was his responsibility, and he was the most responsible man I’d ever met.

“I’m fine.” I mustered a wide smile. “Everything’s okay. Just the morning I guess.”

He had the same impassive look on his face, giving nothing away.

I sighed. “I gotta go now. Bye, Matty.”

He slowly nodded. “Bye, Sierra.”

Raphy and Matty were both home by the time I got back. I could feel a slight cramp forming in my wrist from all the training I did today as I entered the living room.

“Hey, Si.” Raphy hugged me from behind and ruffled my hair.

Matty gave me a curt nod before going back to his phone.

“I’ll go change,” I mumbled, feeling gloomy as I swatted Raphy away. My hair was a fucking mess by the time I made it to my room. I swear I was going to fucking murder my brother one day.

Thankfully, I inherited my mother’s genes when it came to my hair. It was smooth and silky straight, and so thick that it hurt my hand to comb it down sometimes. It hardly gave me trouble unless a pest like my brother fucked with it.

I stopped short when I noticed something different in my room. The once-empty desk that faced the window wasn’t empty anymore. Instead, it was set up like a gamer’s dream with a sleek monitor, a GPU with a twenty-four-core processor attached, and a cooling system matching the golden yellow color of my beloved mechanical keyboard and mouse I brought from home.