“I hope everyone had a relaxing holiday,” I started, taking a seat in the conference room the next morning for our staff meeting.

When the door opened and Max came in, shifting into an empty chair, the chatter died down.

Since Tristan had been born, we’d settled into a groove at work. I was taking a tighter hand than the coders were used to, but it seemed to be helping. There was less slippage in schedules, and we were making up timing.

“I was going to do an update on Omega,” I told him. “But since you're here, if you want to do the honors…”

He launched into a rapid-fire discussion that would sound like a foreign language to most people on the street.

When it finished, the developers started to rise from their seats.

I held up a hand. “One more update. On Phoenix. As I mentioned in my email this morning,” I started, “Epic has secured a director. Next they'll be on to casting. I'll be coordinating with their team to ensure Titan gets the most out of this film. Any questions?”

Everyone dove in at once.

I answered what I could, deferred what I couldn’t. After the first five or six questions, Max nodded.

“That's all for now. Back to work.”

When the team filed out, I raised a brow at Max.

“We have a game to finish,” he said by way of explanation. “I don’t see where it gets us, distracting people with this movie.”

“Nice to see you too,” I offered. “Have a good visit with your parents?”

He shot me a look. “Tristan was actually a welcome diversion. They spent four days mooning over him.”

“Leaving you to slink around in the background,” I finished. “Come on. It must have been good to see your family.”

“It was alright. Now I’m glad they’re gone and I can get back to focusing on the game. Just like those guys need to focus on the game,” he said pointedly, nodding to the Pit beyond the glass walls.

I lifted my notebook computer, tucking it under my arm. “Max. You can’t blame them for getting excited. Besides, this is part of our business now. We need to explore more of these options, not less, if we want to offset the costs of this development.”

There was no one with better vision of a game, no better coder, than Max Donovan. In his world, he was the king.

But even the strongest king could be taken over if he didn’t look beyond his walls.

My friend reached for the glass door, his hand pausing on the handle. “If you want to sink time into the movie, make it work for us… that’s your call. But I need those guys to focus on this game.”

I watched him leave, wondering what the hell had gotten into him.

“I know I said you could come over tonight. But the offer’s improved.”

“Is that possible? I didn’t even put in a counter offer.” Sam’s voice on the phone had me grinning.

“That’s how good I am.” Anticipation buzzed through me. “I’m going to Hollywood. Tomorrow. Come with me.”

“What?”

“For two days. Epic needs some papers signed, and I want to check up on the movie. So I offered to do it in person.”

“Riley, I don’t think that’s a good idea. The insurance paperwork finally went through and I want to put it all behind me. But now I have almost nothing to sell. Everything went into that gallery show. I need to focus on making art.”

I sighed. “I didn't want to have to do this but our contact at Epic also promised two passes to the Ninja premier. New Years Eve in LA, Sam. I’ll take care of the flights.”

“Riley—”

“Come on. People in LA love your art too. They’re making a movie based on it. And aren't you a little intrigued about Phoenix?”

“The other day was…unexpected,” she said on an exhale, “but what are we really doing here?”

I could hear her shutting me down.

“You're overthinking this,” I said immediately.

“Am I?”

“I'm not asking you for anything but a weekend.”

“Then why are you pushing this.”

Why was I?

There were a lot of things I could say in answer to her question. That I wanted to show her LA. That I wanted to lose myself in her until we got sick of each other. That I wanted to escape reality, and there was no better way to do it than with her next to me.

Sex had always been a fun distraction, a perk of any relationship.

This was different. Partly because we weren't in a relationship. But more than that, I told myself it was because I'd waited a dozen years for this.

“Because if I go to LA, you’ll be a million miles away. And all I’m going to be thinking about is you.”

Silence came down the line.

“I’m leaving in the morning. There’ll be a ticket with your name on it. Think about it.”