Page 27 of Demon's Heart

Ollie:

Really? You don’t have a band you run with?

Dante:

No, but it might be fun for our characters to meet.

Ollie smiled, his insides churning as if Dante had suggested something far more illicit.

Ollie:

We’re definitely meeting up. I’m recruiting you to my cause.

Dante:

We’ll see about that.

Ollie:

But you said you wanted to play something different tonight?

The three dots appeared, telling Ollie that Dante was typing, only for them to disappear and reappear. Ollie waited, grinning until the message came through.

Dante:

Yeah, maybe there’s something else we can play together?

If you’re free. Sorry, I didn’t ask if you were busy.

Ollie bit his lip, trying to temper his smile.

Ollie:

I’m not busy. I got off work early. How about Spacewalk?

It was another popular online game that boiled down to warring between space stations as aliens took over.

Dante:

Let’s do it. I haven’t played that one in ages.

Ollie got up and turned on his PlayStation. He grabbed his headset and controller, then detoured to the kitchen for chips and a soda.

He settled on the couch, stomach flipping. It was weird as fuck that he had butterflies over this. He wasn’t even meetingDante in real life. But the happy fluttering inside him hadn’t stopped since Dante’s first message.

These really weren’t friend feelings, but whatever. Ollie’s emotions didn’t rule him.

Logging in, Ollie created a new mission and invited Dante to join. It’d be better for them to play against the game rather than join a bigger group in one of the battles. That way, Ollie could talk to Dante without anyone else around.

He texted Dante the details and checked his weapons.

“Hello?” Dante’s tentative voice called through Ollie’s headphones.

“Hey, Dante. Welcome to my raid.”

Dante chuckled. “Glad to be here to assist. I’ll follow your lead.”

Having Dante’s voice in his head did nothing to quell the fluttering plaguing Ollie’s insides. “You ready?”