As we crept down the road, a house number sign matching the photo on my phone appeared. “There. That’s it.” I pointed.
The driver slowed his already crawling car even more, and we headed down the driveway. As the trees parted, a large house came into view. It wasn’t quite a mansion, but it was the closest I’d ever seen outside of historical buildings.
Puff probably wasn’t some random help desk guy after all. Unless he was a trust fund baby.
We stopped at the head of the driveway, I paid, and I insisted I’d be fine if the driver left me here.
I wouldn’t be. I was going to hurl. Taking a few deep breaths, I approached the house and rang the bell.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” The voice that came through the speaker next to what was probably a camerasounded a bit like Puff, but a lot angrier, and familiar for a reason I couldn’t place.
This was a bad idea. Why had I done this?
Nope. This weekend was about embracing my online persona, and Online Fallyn would push ahead with no fear. “I’m Demon Kittie? I’m looking for Puff69.”
“Ha.” He let out a barking laugh. “No. Really. How the fuck did you get my address?”
I’d pictured dozens of scenarios about how this would go. He wouldn’t like my hair. I wouldn’t like that he lived in his parents’ pool house. We wouldn’t have anything to say to each other in person…
But this abrasive attitude wasn’t on the list. “You gave it to me? Puff?”
The speaker went silent.
Now what?
I was debating turning away or trying again, when I heard noise coming from the other side of the door, and it swung open.
Oh.
Oh, fuck me.
I was staring at a very familiar face. He was the head developer for the game we’d met in. I’d seen him in livestreams, but he was gorgeous in person. Tall with dark, messy hair. A jawline that could slice glass, and a hard, slender frame hidden under a fadedPlaid Peanut ButterT-shirt.
He was the kind of guy I’d stop and stare at on the street, while I fantasized about yielding without hesitation when he asked for my panties.
And I spent a lot of my show breaking his game.
If this was a movie, this was where I’d puke on his shoes, and the scene would cut to someone else. Instead, the best I could manage was, “It’s you.”
Elliot—Puff69?—rolled his eyes and let out a heavy sigh. “Go to hell, Fallyn.” He let the door swing shut on me.
That was that.
What was I supposed to do now? Get a hotel, probably. Given that reception, things probably weren’t going to work out with Puff69 and Archer.
Elliot and… one of his developers?
This was surreal. Sure, I played under an account that masked me, when I was playing for fun. It made sense they would do the same, because they wanted to watch people beta their game through an unobstructed lens. But what were the odds…?
It didn’t matter. Would he call the cops on me if I hung out here long enough to figure out my next steps?
I called the one person I knew in the city besides them, or at least knew well enough to have his number.Please let him pick up.
“Hello,” Nigel answered.
“Hi. It’s Fallyn.” I usually only talked to him—anyone—over chat, but he’d given me his personal cell because the office tended to screen my messages.
He was their Quality Assurance Director. The only person at AcesPlayed who talked to me like I wasn’t the scourge of the earth. “Hey. Are you okay? How was your flight?” He knew I was traveling here, but I hadn’t given him any details beyond that I was meeting friends, and I was looking forward to meeting him at RinCon.