After that desperate encounter, Ryker and I pumped the brakes on jumping each other at every possible moment.

If left to our own devices, we probably would have spent as much time as possible locked in his room or mine. I know I would’ve gladly signed up for that, because despite my resolution to not let it happen again, I want him so bad it drives me crazy when I can’t have him. And I’m starting to think my obsession is more than some physical dependency, which is something I really don’t need in my life right now.

Fortunately the Estalia Online expansion drops for VIP subscribers just two days after Ryker’s ill-fated stream—something I’m still low-key trying to process when my mind wanders. Right now, though, the bulk of my attention is on the new content.

I’ve taken my time and enjoyed a lot of games in my life, but Estalia Online is not one of those games. At least not during the launch of a new expansion and a new raid tier. The Cyclones have to hit max level as quickly as possible so we can start gearing up and getting clear times on the leaderboards for the bleeding edge content. It’s the only way to be invited to the tournaments.

And true, at this point we pretty much get an automatic invite. But that’s because they know we’ll put in the work and make ourselves ready to give a good showing at the competition.

Case in point, I had everyone catch some sleep the evening before launch so we were all ready to go at midnight. Coach Singh and I put together a leveling plan that will help gear us a bit, too, and basically involves running through the new dungeons over and over, in two different teams.

Since he’s my co-tank, I put Ryker in charge of the second team, and I actually don’t feel any hesitation about doing so. He’s really stepped up since starting here, and he was ready to go for our pre-launch stream, a big vat of coffee at his station.

He proves my trust in him is warranted, too, because as soon as the expansion drops, he takes charge and gets his guys where they need to go, following the beginning quest route I laid out to the letter.

“Ryker, does your team have potions and food ready to go?” Coach Singh asks, floating from station to station, dressed in all her Cyclones gear.

“Got it covered. I have five stacks of everything in my inventory.”

“God damn,” Rosa says. “Look at you getting your Boy Scout on.”

“Can’t ever have too many stamina potions,” he says with a wolfish grin.

There’s some quiet laughter from the team that—while good-natured—makes me wonder if they know something’s up. It’s not like Ryker and I were as quiet as we should have been. And I know we’re probably not as discreet as we’d like when it comes to exchanging glances.

It’s not something I can worry about right now, though. My focus shifts solely to my team, and I spend all night with them grinding out levels. Coach Singh makes everyone take a mandatory break for breakfast, stretching, and a bit of exercise time starting at seven, but we get right back to it by nine.

We start hitting the new level cap around noon. Most people won’t hit it until a few days from now—maybe even a week, for the casual players—but this is our job. Only a small part of it, too, because once we’re all max level, we have to shift to a gearing strategy.

While Estalia Online’s developers have unlocked the first tier of raid content right from the get-go, if we just walk in there now we’ll be massacred. The fight against the Leviathan gave me an idea of what would be needed gear-wise, and I sat down with Coach Singh once the information was datamined to figure out what dungeons we needed to run.

We spend the rest of the day doing that, and end up stretching it into the rest of the week, since we’re having awful luck getting what we need for every member of the team. While that’s going on, we keep one ear to the ground and monitor social media to make sure no one else has progressed further than us, but so far we’re miles ahead of the other teams.

It technically doesn’t matter. The teams with the best clear times by the cutoff date are invited to the tournament, not the ones who down the bosses first. But the more time we have to work on it, the more efficient we’ll be, and the better the chances of us bringing home the $50,000 grand prize from the Vyper tournament.

A week after the expansion drops, I call a team meeting in the rec room. Everyone sits down to some Mario Party first—we all badly need to play something that isn’t Estalia Online to help unwind—and then I stand up in front of the team and get down to business.

“Okay, so here’s where we’re at. The tanks and healers are geared, so are most of the DPS. Gabe still needs gloves. Aidan needs a helm. Jax, you’re missing what again?”

“Ring,” he answers. “I’ve been running the same dungeon with randoms and the damn thing still hasn’t dropped.”

“Keep that up,” I tell him. “Same with everyone else who’s missing gear. Let me or Ryker know when you want to run dungeons and we’ll get you a tank so the queue goes faster. In the meantime, we need to start getting the top tier consumables together. If you have the ability to spend some time gathering materials, please do it. Drop them in the guild bank—there’s a tab all ready to go. Crafters, fill the next tab in there with as many potions and meals as you can make.”

Estalia Online allows players to master two non-combat skills, and everyone on the Cyclones has coordinated so we can make what we need for raids. Some people mine ore, others pick herbs, and a few go out and farm meat. Our crafters take those materials and turn them into items we can use that boost our stats and give us a little bit more of an edge. Everyone does their part, and no one’s allowed to raid if they aren’t fully stocked.

Speaking of raiding…

“We’re going to start getting some work in on the first few bosses this weekend.” Even though we technically don’t work weekends, no one makes a fuss. We all understand the importance of this. “Gear will be divided the same way it usually is. Tanks and healers first, then DPS.”

No one complains about that, either, because without well-geared tanks and healers, the damage dealers will get flattened immediately.

“Everyone know what they need to do before Saturday?”

There’s a chorus of agreements and a few nods. Ryker’s trying to make eye contact with me, though, and I incline my head toward him.

“Aside from getting materials and running dungeons for people, what else can I do to help out?” he asks.

As much as I’ve come to trust that he’ll take this seriously, it still floors me that he’s sitting here listening like a good student, and taking the initiative to get shit done.

“Start working on an off-set,” I tell him. “It probably won’t be necessary, but just in case.”

As a tank, Ryker already has one of the most important roles. But everyone on the team has an off-spec, and it helps to gear them up so we have all our bases covered. I expected Ryker to just make damage his off-spec, but he went for healing—something I don’t even have the patience for.

He nods, and after a little more chatter, I let everyone get back to doing what they need to do individually. And—with a clear purpose and a path ahead—I’m able to focus on the upcoming raid, not on how much I want to spend my free time with a guy I used to despise.

* * *

Saturday morning, I forego my usual gym routine and go for a run around the neighborhood instead.

The October air is cooler than it has been in a while, a hint of fall nipping in. It won’t get very cold here—it never does in Florida—but it’s a big change from the oppressive heat and humidity we have to contend with over the summer. I’m able to run without getting absolutely drenched in sweat, and the sky’s so overcast that even as the sun rises through the morning hours, it doesn’t cast a glare into my eyes.

I listen to a podcast and just try to zone out. We’ve done this so many times before, but there’s a strange part of me that wants to show Ryker exactly what we’re capable of. It’s a long shot to think we’ll get the first three bosses down today, but I want to try. For some reason it’s important to me that he see us for everything we can be. And I wouldn’t mind putting in a good performance, myself.

I get a shower in after my run and sit down with the team for a quick lunch before we settle in. We’re not streaming our attempt—mainly because we don’t want our competition to see our tactics just yet—so everyone’s able to just relax and focus on the raid.

All twelve of us are ready to go, and we take on the first boss not long after starting. Like most first bosses, it’s basically just an intro to the raid and a gear check. We pass with flying colors, moving on to the second in just a half hour.

That’s when things start to get hairy.

The mechanics are more tightly tuned, and Ryker and I have to be on top of our game. We brush up against the boss’s enrage timer the first few times, and it takes us the better part of two hours to get it down, but we manage it.

If the second boss was a step up in difficulty, though, the third—the release version of the Leviathan—is an entire floor. Estalia Online’s raids are always like this. Each fight is increasingly more difficult until you learn exactly what you need to do or just out-gear it. And that’s just on normal mode. Once we finish this, we’ll need to get an item to unlock the hard mode of each boss, since that’s what we’ll be expected to clear at the tournament.

By the end of the night, we only get those two bosses down. Coach Singh and I agree the team needs Sunday off, but it’ll be our primary goal Monday. I can see us spending all day on it, since we spent most of Saturday on our first attempts.

Everyone’s dismissed to do their own things—even though most of us are just going to use that time to prepare for Monday—and I head up to my room. Not a half hour later, there’s a knock at the door.

My heart races as I cross the room to answer it, and I can practically feel every heartbeat in my throat when I open the door and find Ryker standing there. I’m also hit with a shot of lust that makes me a little weak in the knees, my dick starting to stir as I remember the other night.

But the look in his eyes tells me he isn’t here for that.

“What’s up?” I ask.

“You looked at the rankings yet?”

There’s agitation in his voice, and my brow furrows. “Not yet.”

I go back to my computer and pull up the page that shows what guilds have cleared what content. Earlier in the day, there were just a few guilds on there under us, all of them having only managed to beat the first boss.

Now there’s somebody in second place, with the same number of bosses cleared as us:

Victoria Aut Mors.

“Apparently they conned some pro from Korea into joining them, and the guy’s carrying their asses through the raid,” Ryker says, his voice devolving into a rough growl that’s more annoyed than sexy.

I look at the rankings again. I’d never considered Victoria much of a threat as far as tournaments were concerned. Ryker’s game was always on point, but the other guys dicked around so much they wouldn’t have been able to compete.

Without Ryker, they should be a complete non-issue. But I have this sinking feeling that’s not going to be the case.

“How worried should we be about this?”

“Half of those guys are completely incompetent,” he starts, though his expression hardens even more as he goes on, “but they can hold a grudge like nobody’s business. I’ve been getting shit from them since I left, and if they can face us at that tournament, you bet your ass they’re going to do it.”

I let out a breath and nod, resigned. “We’ve got some work to do, then. Pull up a chair.”