Page 29 of Demon's Heart

“The best,” Dante said, seemingly without sarcasm.

Ollie had been joking. He wasn’t that entertaining. “I love how different you are playing this game thanSpacewalk. I was dying of laughter last night.”

“I don’t know how to play that one without laughing,” Dante admitted. “The story’s not that deep, and there’s not as much of a sense of duty inSpacewalk. Not likeWorld’s End. But that’s whySpacewalkis good. Sometimes you want to switch off and shoot alien dicks.”

“Words to live by.”

Dante snorted.

Harper appeared in Ollie’s peripheral vision like a phantom, and Ollie jumped, letting out an involuntary squeak.

“What was that?” Dante asked.

“Harper startled me. I didn’t hear him come in with my headphones on. What time is it?” Ollie flipped his phone over. “Wow, I had no idea it was this late.”

“Do you need to go?”

Ollie didn’t let the disappointment in Dante’s tone change his mind. “Yeah. I’m supposed to cook tonight.”

“I should probably eat too. Catch you later?”

“For sure.” Ollie exited the game, finding Harper watching him with an intrigued little smile. “Want to play while I cook?”

“No.” Harper shook his head vehemently, eyeing the controller like it might bite him.

Ollie took pity on him. “You don’t have to try this game.”

“True. Maybe I should practice racing before Sunday.” Harper took the controller from Ollie, still weary. “You don’t need help cooking?”

“Na. Sorry I didn’t get anything going earlier.” It was already eight o’clock, and now that Ollie wasn’t distracted, he realized how hungry he was.

“Don’t worry about it.” Harper paused. “You having fun gaming with Dante?”

“Yeah.” Ollie’s cheeks heated. He hurried off the couch so Harper wouldn’t notice. “He’s more of a gamer than I’d have guessed.”

“It surprised me too. I never thought Ash or the other…of his friends would be into games.”

Ollie’s brow crinkled at Harper’s odd phrasing. “I mean, nerds can be ripped too.”

Harper choked on a laugh. “True.”

“But Dante’s not a casualWorld’s Endplayer, he’s like expert level. People would totally watch him stream if he was into that.” Ollie could easily see Dante being a popular streamer. He was funny, hot, and his character had to be one of the highest levels anyone could achieve.

Would Dante be interested in streaming? Part of Ollie wanted to keep Dante’s game commentary all to himself.

It wasn’t wrong to want a small piece of Dante to be only his, even as a friend, right?

Gaming together became a regular occurrence.Not every night. Ollie had boundaries and all that. But he looked forward to meeting up with Dante and his fire mage and didn’t end up doomscrolling on nights they played together.

Almost two weeks later, Ollie was curled up in the armchair watching a movie with Harper and Ash, who were snuggled on the couch so sweetly it made Ollie’s heart hurt.

He didn’t begrudge Harper for having a boyfriend. He wished he could have someone too.

Maybe one day he’d be able to balance a healthy relationship with his independence, but that felt so far off. He didn’t trust himself to not fall into the same bad patterns and still didn’t want a relationship enough to risk it.

The movie was a little slow and Ollie couldn’t help scrolling on his phone as it played. He came across aWorld’s Endmeme and sent it to Dante.

As soon as the message sent, Ollie frowned at his phone.