I’ve never been very good at real life romance. So when I befriend Smolder, a charming man in the video game Star Search, I feel like I’ve met my match.
But Smolder doesn’t know what I look like. He has no idea I’m a curvy, shy nineteen year old wannabe programmer.
He could be a six-foot hunk with a smoldering expression to match his name. Or he could be some troll in his mom’s basement.
When he asks to meet I run scared. He deletes his account, and I’m sure I’ll never see him again. Until he appears at my doorstep.
“I’m Smolder,” my dad’s best friend tells me.
I must still be in the video game…
Maxton Miller is forty-three years old, carved like a Greek god, with peppered hair, and a fierce way of looking at you. He’s been friends with my dad for as long as I can remember, and I used to have a major crush on him. He and dad built Star Search together, among many other games, making Maxton a multi-millionaire.
I think he must be here to tell me we can’t do this.
But he’s here to claim me, calling me his.
I melt for him, but when we emerge from our steamy haze, we’re left with a question.
When the virtual world meets the real one, is someone going to get hurt?
Will it be me when Maxton realizes I’m a naive virgin and can’t fulfill his needs?
Or will it be my dad, when he finds out exactly what we’ve been doing behind his back?
I only know one thing for sure.
Real life is way more complicated than a game.