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“Okay, so if I want to move forward,” I said, hesitantly holding onto a toggle and waiting for my character to move. “That’s not the right one, uh-”

“Here,” Reid said, her voice suddenly so much closer. The warmth of her hands encircled mine, guiding my fingers to the correct controls.

My heart stuttered to a halt and then surged into a gallop, my breathing just a little too shallow.

“Oh,” I murmured, because it was all I could do.

“And then this is how you interact with assets,” she continued, her fingers brushing over another.

“Right.”

“You know,” she chuckled quietly, her voice still very close to my ear, “for someone who pretty much helped plan this game, you’re really bad at it.”

“Take that back,” I quipped, my words empty of any acid. “I helped plan this fornormalgameplay onnormalconsoles. You know, like computers?”

“If I recall correctly,” she countered, moving my arms to help me open my inventory. “You were the one who suggested releasing a whole line of VR-based games.”

“For other people to play.”

“Just relax,” Reid said, patting my upper arm gently. “It’s not as complicated as you think.”

With Reid’s hands safely back on the sofa along with her, I dragged in a lungful of air and turned my attention to the game.

REID

Mia staggered through the level, her movements a little clumsy with nerves.

I couldn’t keep the stupid grin off my face. My palms still tingled where they’d touched her, but I ignored the pleasant little flutter, flexing my fingers to rid my skin of it.

“Please tell me you don’t expect me to take this big bitch on,” Mia groaned. Her hands dropped to her sides, the controllers hanging limply from her fingers.

“Don’t be such a scaredy cat,” I teased, leaning back to get a better view of the screen so I could see what she was up against.

As I expected, her character stood in front of one of the final bosses that she’d helped create.

“I am not a scaredy cat,” she huffed, lifting her hands up like a boxer and squaring her shoulders. “The whole virtual reality of it all feels way too real, that’s all.”

“Then we’ve done our jobs correctly.”

“Yes, traumatizing the general public is always our top priority,” she muttered. She engaged the enemy, weaving in and out of the way and shielding more than attacking.

But the enemy’s HP bar slowly emptied.

Because of course she remembered that she’d suggested this particular game to tie HP and stamina together.

It did make for an interesting form of gameplay. It meant the interface and enemy stats were accessible by players of any skill level and preference.

It would also counter the trend of players ditching the game because the bosses were too hard to beat. There would be a significant decrease in abandoned accounts, whether players paid for their loot or were strictly free-to-play.

I’d been pleasantly surprised by her forethought; this had been the very first game she’d been comfortable enough to work on with me.

“Aren’t the weapons supposed to be free on backend betas?” she grunted, ducking just in time before the enemy’s strike swung over her character’s head.

“They are.” I chuckled. “Check your inventory.”

I watched as she played, wondering if that was how she felt while watching me. Gaming had become an integral part of my life despite running several other companies in different industries.

A soft knock on my door shook me from my thoughts and I glanced up, picking out Clara’s silhouette behind the frosted glass.