I didn’t know what had shifted in Elliot’s head, but I was here for it. Because whether or not it made sense, I wanted more of Fallyn in my life even when this weekend was over. While I wouldn’t push her away based on someone else’s feedback, it would be a lot less stressful if Elliot liked the idea too.
Whatever weird sense of foreboding I’d had when I got out of bed was gone, replaced with a spark of hope and want that this was about to become something amazing.
18/
elliot
As Fallyn headed toward the other side of the house, I cut a straight line upstairs before Link could stop me. He grabbed one of the guest bathrooms, and the three of us got ready.
I was trying my hardest not to think about how that serious conversation had so quickly turned fun and casual. Avoiding the thoughts wasn’t the easiest, especially in the shower. It would be best if my mind was blank and the jumble stayed at bay. Because if I let the thoughts in, I’d wonder what I was doing with Fallyn.
And then I’d wonder why I was feeling jealously possessive of Link. He and I had both been with other peoplemanytimes over the years. We didn’t have the kind of relationship where jealousy was appropriate.
Once I pushed those thoughts aside, Fallyn would rush back in, and I’d end up bobbling between her and Link so much, my head might snap off.
Which was why I wasn’t giving either of them any brain space.
Nope.
Not a single second of my morning would go to thinking about the two of them. I was getting ready for work and nothing else.
When I got downstairs, Link was already getting King’s kennel ready for a couple of hours alone. I wouldn’t leave the dog here longer without company. Once I dropped Link and Fallyn off and did a short security stint, I’d come back here for a few hours, and Link would swap with me this afternoon, when it was my turn to go back to the booth.
The ringing of my phone finally blocked my rambling mind. Should I be grateful for the interruption or curse it? I glanced at the screen.
Fuck. “It’s the night crew.” The developers we had on call in case something went wrong. Which it had if they were calling me now. “Talk to me.” As I answered, Link’s expression shifted from light to concerned.
“We’ve had a cascading failure on the servers,” Tyler said. “One crashed and then the rest, one after another.”
That was what cascading meant, yes. I choked back the sarcasm. “Feed me the symptoms.”
As Tyler talked, I whispered to Link, “We need to go. Get my guest?”
He narrowed his eyes, but nodded and headed toward Fallyn’s room.
While I talked Tyler through a series of questions, I leashed up King and grabbed some things to take him into the office with me. Some issues could be troubleshot from home, but with the security problems we’d had, a lot of work needed to be done in-office, behind the protections Luna and Danny had put in place.
Speaking of, “Call Danny, give him the rundown. See what he says. Call Luna, tell her to get into the office. Call me back when you’re done.”
“All right.” Tyler disconnected.
I mentally ran through the list of what was happening, examining it from different angles, while King yipped and ran around, excited to be going outside and for a ride. Link and Fallyn met me at the car.
“Is everything all right?” She sounded genuinely concerned.
“It will be.” The words came out more clipped than I intended. I wasn’t being cruel, but I only had the brain space for this issue right now. There was definitely no time to appreciate how good she looked in what I was pretty sure was an outfit fromMy Dress Up Darling.A blue skirt that barely covered her ass, and a button-down white shirt, tied at the waist, and with a tie hanging loosely around the open collar.
Definitely couldn’t give that the mental power I wanted.
I took the return call from Tyler and put him on speaker, asked Link to drive, and we were on our way.
Was it a bad idea to let Fallyn listen in on this call? Maybe. She’d probably figure out most of it anyway, and I needed Link to hear so I could get his input.
As Tyler spoke, the scenario sounded more and more familiar. I put myself on mute, let him continue, and shifted in my seat to look at Fallyn. “Is it just me or…?”
She shook her head. “No. This is something you patched months ago in beta.” She’d found the bug and sent it to us through Nigel, so she should know.
Had we missed fixing it somewhere? Were the symptoms just similar?