Loch nodded. “I’ll talk to her.” Soon. As soon as he got the courage to confess what an ass he’d been. He wasn’t looking forward to it, though. He picked up the check left on the counter and studied it, then looked at Rex. Uncouth or not, the man had been a good friend and a willing ear, and Loch appreciated it. “If all goes like I think it will, I won’t be in the city for much longer. Is there anything I can do to help you get back on your feet?”
Rex snorted.
“What?”
“Why are you offering? Because it helps me or because it helps you feel better about yourself? You think about that and let me know.”
The man was as prickly as a porcupine, but as usual, his barbs hit the mark. Loch nodded slowly, put the money for the check down on the counter, and left the diner.
As he walked back to the hotel, he thought about Taylor. He thought about what would happen if he told her the truth. He imagined her pretty face awash with tears, and the hurt he would see in her eyes. He didn’t want to do that to her.
Maybe it was better to just do as Rex said and pretend as if nothing was wrong. That he planned on marrying her for all the right reasons. She didn’t have to know the truth. There was no point.
He’d rather have Taylor smiling than unhappy any day. And when the divorce would come up . . . well, he’d cross that bridge when he got there.
For now, it was enough that they were happy and life was good.
***
Two days after the convention, Taylor noticed something was . . . off. Not with Loch, because he’d been wonderful and being engaged to him was like something out of a dream. Rather, it was silence that was bothering her. Silence from Sigmund in particular.
She checked her phone, in case it was messed up and his texts weren’t coming through. If that was the case, he’d be utterly frantic that she hadn’t been online for more than a pop-in here and there, mostly to check messages and to update her character’s “last played” notification so it’d look as if she were playing . . . when she really wasn’t. The convention had been nice, but being with Loch was nicer. Yesterday they’d gone to a rock-climbing gym and . . . she hadn’t hated it. After that, they’d gone out for dinner and then back to his hotel room to make love for hours.
She’d been so busy enjoying herself she hadn’t given a second thought to Sigmund and his neediness.
Now, guilt washed over her as she checked her phone and saw she had no messages from him except the one from Saturday night.
Sigmund: Congrats.
Well, the cat was out of the bag. She hoped he was just licking his wounds in private and would give her time and space. That . . . would be nice. Still, she had an uneasy feeling that it wasn’t the case. Taylor grabbed her laptop, settled it on her legs, and logged on to Excelsior. She really should have been spending more time in the game, but . . . being with Loch was so enticing. Maybe she could talk him into running his low-level toon through a few newbie dungeons. That would be fun.
Her character popped on and she automatically typed in a Hi, guys in the guild chat window.
Silence.
Huh. Maybe they were running dungeons and hadn’t seen her message. She did a guild lookup and saw six people online, despite the early hour, and three of them were sitting in Cityport. Okay, that was weird. If they were sitting in the city, maybe they were away from their keyboards. It happened. Sigmund wasn’t on, though. She drummed her fingers on her lips, thinking. Should she ask about him? Or would that just be encouraging his obsessive, stalkerlike behavior? She didn’t want him to think she was into his messaging, and she was enjoying the silence, so she said nothing. Instead, she started to run her Dragon Rider through the usual daily quests.
It was quiet. It was . . . nice.
She felt guilty that she was enjoying the fact that Sigmund wasn’t on. No doubt he was pouting after finding out that Brunhilde was a guy, and that she was engaged to him. The reveal itself could have gone better, but she’d been so happy that she hadn’t thought about texting Sig to do damage control. Now it was too late.
Nothing she could do but listen as Sig bitched at her and tried to make her feel bad for her relationship with Loch.
She poked around online but things were awfully quiet. It was strange. Normally there was guild chatter when there were even two people online. Strange. She checked her settings—all good. Hello? she typed again.
No answer. Well, that was weird.
She scanned the members list again. Madrigal was on, and so she decided to send him a quick private message.
HaveANiceTay: Hey, it was great to meet you at the convention. Thanks for being so nice to Loch and helping him out.
There was a long pause and she was wondering if her connection was bad, when he messaged her back.
Madrigal: Hey, Taylor.
Madrigal: So uh . . . this is awkward.
HaveANiceTay: What is it?
Madrigal: People are really upset at you.
HaveANiceTay: What? Why? I haven’t even been on!
Madrigal: It’s the whole Sigmund vs Loch thing.
She groaned aloud. Seriously? She was getting the cold shoulder because Sigmund’s feelings were hurt? What, was this a guild of adults or of twelve-year-olds?
HaveANiceTay: I didn’t know he was going to propose to me. I certainly didn’t know he’d do it at the convention. I wouldn’t have done that just to be a bitch to Sig.
Madrigal: I know.
Madrigal: I tried telling them that, too, but you know how attached Sig is to you.
Madrigal: Luckily he’s out of ICU now.
Wait, what?
HaveANiceTay: ICU? Is he sick?
Madrigal: Didn’t you hear? He tried to kill himself Saturday night. Took a ton of pills. PatsySue found out when she texted him Sunday morning. His mom texted her back. Apparently it was very touch and go for a while.