Single Player (22 page)

His last thought before falling into a deep, dreamless sleep was that maybe love could start with something as simple as a one-night stand in the coatroom of a club.

When Matthew woke up
the next morning, he blinked blearily at the space next to him, where Silas was snoring lightly into his pillow. In his bed.

He smiled. He hadn't expected to feel this sort of affection for the guy, but what had started out as simple teasing and sex had somehow morphed into something deeper. He hadn't gone into this looking for a boyfriend, but it had happened anyway, and now he wasn't sure he minded at all. Even if Silas did come with some baggage, he seemed to be working through his issues, and hey, Matthew wasn't perfect, either.

Silas looked like he could use the sleep, and it was only nine, so Matthew got up quietly and went into the other room. Zuul was lying in her crate, despite the open door, preferring the nest of blankets to any of her other options for sleep. She woke up when he walked by, opening one eye to watch him, and then let out a piteous meow and zombie-crawled over to her empty food dish. Chuckling, he refilled her dish with a can of wet food for kittens. “You eat more than any of us, you know that?” he said, reaching down to pet her behind the ears. She flicked one ear at him as she devoured her food. The vet said kittens could eat twice as much as adult cats, but he wasn't sure where she was putting this vast quantity of food to be eating as much as she was. While Zuul ate, Matthew opened up the new coffee brewing system he'd ordered and set it up to make some coffee as a wake-up surprise for Silas.

While the water heated, he sat down at the computer and checked his email, first personal, then work. He sorted and deleted his new work emails, leaving the internal job posting memo at the top of his list. After a moment's indecision, he opened it back up to read the specifications. It was a lot of work. It was more money, too, but it was a ton of responsibility. There was something permanent about a leadership role that Matthew had never considered before he was facing one, but stepping into that position felt like saying, “Yes, I'm going to be here for my career.” And that's what he wanted, wasn't it? To stay a programmer? His life would change. Become more settled. First a boyfriend, now a promotion? What happened to the player who had hookups and a fun, social bartending job? He'd have to give up Gigi's; this was a job that would likely spill over into some night and weekend time, especially when there were deadlines coming up. He liked the club
.
He was working another shift there tonight, and he was looking forward to it. Giving up Gigi's felt like saying goodbye to a big portion of his life, and he didn't want to do that just to prove to Silas that he was a grown-up. No, he didn't need to prove that to Silas, though. Silas liked him exactly as he was.

Right?

When Zuul finished eating he set her up in her wheelchair, and by that time the teakettle had begun to whistle, so he got up to grind the beans and prepare the coffee.

“Is that a Chemex?”

Matthew turned, hearing Silas's groggy voice behind him. Silas was rubbing his eye with the heel of his hand, looking half asleep and much younger than his years.

Matthew stepped aside, revealing the hourglass-shaped glass coffee brewer. “It most certainly is.” He gestured proudly to the contraption.

“When did you get one of these?” Silas wandered past him, looking at the pile of fresh coffee grounds in the cone-shaped filter, blooming with the small amount of nearly boiling water Matthew had poured on them to (according to his Internet research) help them release their oils.

Matthew measured out the correct amount of water for two cups. “This week. I ordered it online. You were talking about coffee so much I thought I should get a good coffee setup instead of what I've been drinking.” He poured the hot water over the damp grounds, watching the rich coffee drip down into the bottom of the beaker. “I remembered you showed me one of these.”

“It's my personal favorite.” Silas inhaled and sighed. “God, that smells good. I love coffee.”

“I know you do.” Matthew took the unguarded moment to check Silas out, his hair askew, wearing a loose pair of Matthew's sweatpants and nothing else. Silas probably had no idea how handsome he was. With the coffee brewing behind him, Matthew moved in to kiss Silas on the mouth, gentle and soft.

Silas disengaged. “I have terrible morning breath.”

Matthew laughed. “Yeah, me too.” He kissed Silas's jaw instead. “Is this better?”

“Mmm, yes.” Silas tipped his head to the side. “This isn't a bad thing to wake up to. Kisses and hot coffee.”

“Did you sleep well?” Matthew drew away reluctantly to get mugs for the coffee.

“I did, actually. Best I've slept in a while.”

Matthew set the mugs down next to the Chemex. “I'm glad. I didn't want to wake you; looked like you could use the sleep.”

“Thank you.” Silas looked at the clock on the microwave. “I never sleep this late. You have anything here for breakfast? I'm starving.”

Matthew checked the fridge and freezer. “Got eggs, some cereal, and freezer waffles. Any of those sound good to you?”

“Cereal's fine.” Silas yawned. He poured himself a bowl of Mini-Wheats and sat down at the kitchen table to eat them while the coffee finished. Matthew poured them each a cup when it was done and brought them over to the table with his own bowl of cereal. This was domestic, the kind of domesticity he had never actively sought, but he didn't mind it with Silas. Found he quite liked it, actually. The guy was surprisingly easy to share space with.

Silas paused in his cereal to take a sip from his cup of coffee, and an expression of bliss came over his face.

“Wow, that good? I usually only see that look on your face during sex.” Matthew sipped his own coffee, and yeah. “Oh yeah, you're right, that's fucking great.” He sipped again. It was hot and smooth and strong, but with none of the bitterness or acidity that he'd come to expect from coffee. “Doesn't even need milk and sugar.”

“I know.” Silas smiled, eyes closed, as he took another sip. “Nectar of the gods.”

“I only wish it didn't take so long to make.” Matthew shoveled in another bite of cereal.

Silas shook his head. “That's the beauty of it, though. You can't rush it. This is a coffee to be savored. Like a fine wine.” Then he paused. “Even though I don't like most wine.”

Matthew laughed. “I'm not much of a wine guy, either.”

They ate in companionable silence for a little while, and then Matthew let Silas take the first shower. Silas emerged a little while later, startlingly good-looking in Matthew's shirt and his jeans from yesterday. It was a little weird to think Silas was wearing a pair of Matthew's boxer briefs under there, but also perversely hot, just like the way the shirt stretched across Silas's chest. Yes, he wouldn't mind getting another piece of that at some point, especially if it was anywhere near as amazing as yesterday. He'd had hopes about bondage being something Silas would enjoy, but he hadn't expected the fireworks that had resulted, and it had been pretty freaking fantastic.

“How was your shower?” he asked, spinning around on his desk chair.

“Good. I feel more awake than I did before.” Silas yawned, spoiling the image, and then laughed at his own yawning. “Okay, despite that yawn, I swear I'm awake. The coffee helped.” He put his hands in his pockets and looked around. “So, you have things to do today? I don't want to be in the way.”

“Nothing at all today, actually.” Matthew smiled and folded his arms behind his head. “I've got a shift at Gigi's tonight, then going to go visit my folks tomorrow, but nothing until then.”

“Oh.” Silas looked hesitant. “So, should I stay then?”

“Yeah.” Matthew put his arms down. “There are a lot more games I have to teach you. I thought today we'd do some dungeon-crawling games by jumping you right into the
Diablo
series, and then maybe give you a go at some PI Games pieces now that you're a bit more seasoned. What do you say?”

“Sure.” Silas smiled.

“I'm going to shower.” Matthew got up from his chair. “Feel free to screw around on the Internet, or whatever.”

While Matthew showered, he hummed a song to himself, feeling unusually cheerful. The prospect of having a new gamer under his tutelage was making him positively giddy, excited in a way he hadn't been in a long time. Gaming was fun, but nothing beat gaming with someone else, especially someone who was getting to experience the joy of it for the first time. Dungeon-crawling games were some of his favorites. There was nothing like looking for the perfect gear set for a build, searching for just the right pieces of armor and weaponry while destroying monsters at every turn. He hoped Silas found
Diablo
as much fun as he did. The guy would probably be killer at strategy games, since he was one of those analytical types by nature, but maybe they'd get there next week.

After his shower, he emerged from the bathroom refreshed and ready for a day of teaching Silas to loaf properly. Silas, as he predicted, was on the computer. He took a minute to set Zuul up in her cart so she could roam more freely. Then he pulled up a chair alongside Silas.

Silas had the internal job posting from Will up on the screen. Matthew felt his guard go up immediately, especially at the expectant look on Silas's face.

“Is this something you're considering?” Silas shifted in his chair to face Matthew. “You changed the subject pretty quickly last night.”

“You shouldn't be reading my email.” Matthew minimized the window, suddenly feeling tense.

“You had it open on the screen already.” Silas looked at the blank screen, then at Matthew. “Have you applied yet?”

“I haven't made up my mind.” Shit, he did not want to get into this right now. “Come on. Let me show you
Diablo III.
It's what we call a dungeon-crawler game because mostly you're fighting your way through dungeons. You kill monsters and get treasure to upgrade your character.”

Silas frowned, but he didn't object as Matthew opened the game and got him started on an easy level. Matthew watched Silas play, eyebrows drawn together in concentration, and hoped that the game would be enough distraction for Silas to avoid bringing up the promotion again. He wasn't sure why he was so averse to talking about it, but it was a decision he wanted to make on his own.

After Silas cleared the dungeon, he let out a deep breath. During the game, he'd come to lean forward toward the screen, and now he relaxed back in his chair and dropped his arms to his side. “Okay,” he admitted, nodding. “I can see the appeal. It has a clear goal and reward system, with enough frequent positive reinforcement to be addicting.”

Matthew rolled his eyes. “Yeah, we all understand the psychology. But was it fun?”

Silas looked back at the screen and pursed his lips. “Yes, I suppose it's fun. But do you only play games with explosions and blood?”

“Oh my god.” Matthew looked up at the ceiling. “Do I need to put the parental controls on my systems for you? It's a cartoon, Silas. It's not real blood. They aren't real demons, either.”

Silas sighed. “I know, Matthew.” He rested his arms on the desk chair, turning back and forth in thought, before looking over at Matthew again. “So you're working at the bar again tonight?”

“Yup.” Matthew gestured to the screen. “You want to try a harder level?”

Silas ignored the attempt to deflect the conversation, staring thoughtfully at the screen for a minute, before turning back to Matthew. “You know, if you got the promotion at your job, you probably wouldn't have to bartend anymore.”

Matthew felt a mounting wave of annoyance. “I like bartending. It's fun.”

Silas drummed his fingers on the chair. “Is that why you do everything? Because it's fun?”

The annoyance was progressing to irritation now, and a twinge of defensiveness. This was not a conversation Matthew wanted to have. “I don't do everything because it's fun. I do responsible things, too. I have a good job.” Yeah, he sounded
really
defensive now. It was hard not to, though, with Silas's tone. “Are you going to play the fucking game or not?”

“I don't understand how you think you can give your all to two different jobs.” Silas's stare was neutral, matter-of-fact, which seemed ludicrous considering how Matthew's anger was growing by the minute. “You should choose one. If you're going to do programming, at least you could put your heart into it. Apply for the promotion.”

Fuck, no, he was not going to talk about this with Silas. “I'm not having this conversation now. Let's just stop.” Matthew got up from the chair, pacing into the kitchen to get a glass of water and calm down. His hands were shaking, and he pressed them down on the counter to steady them, his back to Silas.

He heard the creak from the desk chair as Silas got up, and felt him enter the kitchen. “Why are you running away? I don't think I'm being unreasonable. You have a very good opportunity here if you're willing to take it. Are you afraid of failing? Is that it?”