Bodyguard by Melanie Shawn

49

Savannah

We were backin Crypt's warehouse, and I had to admit, it felt weird. Not to be back there, so much. We had just been there a few days before — damn, time was starting to blend together in a major way — but the fact that Crypt was no longer ignoring us. Ignoring me, specifically.

In fact, now that we were working on the gaming project together, he was laser focused on me in a way that felt almost uncomfortable. Because of his naturally curmudgeonly personality, I couldn't shake the feeling that he was always looking for an opportunity to bite my head off over the slightest little misstep.

Not that I cared about that for my sake. Obviously, it was never pleasant to get chewed out, but it was Crypt. I'd take any criticism he sent my way with a grain of salt.

No, I was worried that, if Crypt laid into me, then things would pop off with Gage.

I turned to look at the object of my concern. Yep. No change. He was still standing off to the side like a coiled snake, every cell in his body tensed to spring into action, incipient violent energy radiating off of him like heat waves.

Super comfortable for me.

But, even though it was distracting and nerve-racking...I couldn't help but admit that it was also kind of comforting. Kind of sweet, in a super overly-protective kinda way.

I wasn't going to let him get away with controlling my actions when what he wanted to control wasn't necessary to keep me safe. That was some bullshit. But...I liked that he wanted to.

I knew that was fucked up of me. I didn't care. I'd suffered for too many years without him, the ache of missing him eating me up inside like an acid slowly corroding my organs. If there was a little bit of pleasure to be taken now from his 'Me Tarzan, You Jane' attitude, then damn it, I was going to take that pleasure and not feel the least bit guilty or regressive about it.

"Okay, almost done," Crypt said. He was building my avatar.

We hadn't come here today in the hipster gear we'd worn the last time. In fact, we had tossed all of that the minute we'd walked into the safe house with it. One of the keys to being unnoticeable, Bear had emphasized, was to never repeat. Never let yourself be imprinted onto someone's brain because the image of you draws up a memory, so that even if they wouldn't have remembered you before, the very act of being reminded of seeing you by the repeat appearance makes you stand out as significant.

So, today, we were business people. Bear and Gage both had on dark suits. I was in a pencil skirt and silk button-down, with high-heeled pumps.

Crypt had taken one look at me and nodded decisively. "Yep. That'll do," he said, and went to work building my avatar.

"Are gamers really into businesswomen?" I'd asked incredulously.

He'd looked up, confused. "Aren't you supposed to be a sexy librarian?"

That had been the first time during our visit that I'd thought he was in danger of being punched in the mouth by Gage. It hadn't been the last.

Crypt looked at me now. "Big tits or small?"

"Big," Bear and I answered together, at the same time Gage growled, "Small, God damn it."

Crypt shook his head. "Yeah. Big. Stupid question. It's gamers. Fuck sake."

With just a few more keystrokes, he was finished. He hit the last key with a flourish, clearly proud of himself.

When he turned the monitor to face us, I could see that he had plenty of reason to be.

The avatar looked like me — but also not like me. Her eyes were over-exaggerated, her hair was darker, her lips were brighter. Her cheeks had a rosy glow. And, yes — her tits were about triple my size.

But, all in all, it looked like the kind of avatar that a lonely gamer kid whose most recent human interaction had been with his stoner pot dealer would find very appealing.

"Damn," I said, not even bothering to hide how impressed I was. "I'd hit on her."

"Great," Crypt said, cheeks flushing with pleasure at the compliment. "Then let's get started."

I allowed myself a small, secret smile. If my charms, rudimentary as they were, had that kind of effect on someone as grumpy and easily annoyed as Crypt, then I figured putting the moves on Barlowe's kid would be, if not easy, then at least completely possible.