“And I would take it one step further and allow for several users on one platform with the option of a multiuser program where they are competing in levels of educational games. Or we can go with split screens so each person can move along at their own rate.”
Ellie sat up on her knees. “Yes. That would be ideal. Then the kids who had more trouble wouldn’t feel left behind, but they’d have the option of learning from the others if they shared the program.” She gathered her hair and laid it over her shoulder. “This is so exciting, Dex.”
“These are only the bones, El. We’ll need finite details on the software you want to create and explicit goals, paths to learning, all sorts of things.”
“There are already tons of educational programs out there for kids. I really was hoping this could be something completely different. Not the kind of thing where kids feel like they’re learning, although they have to learn, of course. But gearing it toward real-life issues and settings. Real life for low-income kids, which is very different than real life for middle-income or high-income families whose kids probably have every system under the sun anyway, so they may not have interest in this type of system. But for kids who aren’t as privileged, getting to learn on a system that is geared toward what they recognize and feel safe around might just do the trick. I guess I need to do more research and talk with the staff, of course, and even talk to some of the parents to ensure we’re hitting our mark.” She caught Dex staring at her.
“What?” She felt her cheeks flush.
He shook his head. “You. Everything. I’ve missed you, Ellie. It’s been way too fucking long. Best friends should never be apart for that long.”
Best friends. She liked the sound of that. Almost as much as she liked being called his girlfriend.
An hour later, Ellie and Dex had showered and climbed into bed. Dex in his boxers and Ellie wearing one of Dex’s T-shirts. A cool breeze whispered across Ellie’s skin.
“I’m right here.” Ellie snuggled against him as she lifted her chin toward the open window. “I think you can close it.”
“Just because I let you into my heart doesn’t mean you can control my window,” he teased. “It reminds me of you. I’m not sure I even know how to sleep with it closed anymore.”
Dex held their notes in his right hand, and he draped his left arm over Ellie, pulling her close. A small reading light cast a yellow glow over the notebook, which Dex was once again studying. Ellie watched him for a moment and then was lulled into the rhythm of his heartbeat against her ear and the cadence of his breathing. She closed her eyes, and the last thought she had before drifting into the most blissful sleep of the last four years was, I’m sure of you. And you can be sure of me, too.
DEX’S PHONE VIBRATED at two in the morning. He started awake and snagged it, hoping it wouldn’t wake Ellie. Siena? Why was she texting so late?
Sorry about today. Dex rolled his eyes. That’s what was so important at two in the morning?
He texted back. No worries, but don’t ever say that again. You do know it’s 2, right? A minute later she texted back.
Who r u kidding? You work from midnight till morning.
He smiled as he typed his response, knowing it would make Siena squeal. Not when Ellie’s here.
He silenced his phone, knowing she could text all night, and a second later she did. Yay! Happy 4 u. I’ll bring the camera next time I see you 2. Haha.
He smiled at her response, then set the phone aside and curled his body around Ellie. He made a silent deal with God and the devil and anyone else who would listen that he would do anything if it would keep Ellie in his life. Then he closed his eyes and held on tight.
Chapter Twenty-Two
ELLIE SPENT THE next few mornings at Maple Elementary getting to know her coworkers and preparing for her first day with the students. Dex worked long hours in preparation for his release, and they came together in the evenings as if they’d been living together forever. They worked into the night, putting their thoughts for the educational software and platform to a coordinated proposal of technical and educational specifications.
Late Saturday morning, Ellie sat beside the glass balcony doors, the heat of the sun warming her legs. She rubbed her hand across the warm area on her thigh. She heard Dex talking on Skype while playing a game on his computer in the other room. His laugh sent a shiver down her back. When she looked at him, she swore she could feel blood pumping life into her heart. She loved knowing he was right in the other room and realized, as she sat listening to him laugh and then curse at his game, that she’d begun to feel things again—emotions she’d hidden from forever, and she wondered how she had gotten along without him for so long.
A knock at the door drew her attention. Before Ellie reached the foyer, Regina and Mitch walked in with four cups of coffee and a bakery bag.
“Hey, Ellie.” Mitch handed her a cup of coffee. He flinched and shot a look at Regina. “Oh, Reg, we shouldn’t just walk in anymore. Sorry, Ellie. We’re not used to the big guy having company.”
“She’s not company. She lives here,” Regina corrected him with a stern voice.
Ellie froze. Regina had been so nice the other morning that her comment took her by surprise.
Regina elbowed her. “Relax. It’s the only way to clarify to him that you two are an item.” She pointed to her head. “Thick.”
Ellie let out a breath.
“I’m not thick up there. It’s down below you have to worry about.” Mitch winked.
Regina rolled her eyes. She handed Ellie a Danish. “Is he in the office?”
“Yeah. Come on back.”
They joined Dex in the office, where he was no longer on Skype but sat before three glowing monitors. He was playing World of Thieves II on one and watching a podcast on another. The third was set to a game-review site. He didn’t turn around when they came in.
“I’m leveling up. Give me a sec,” Dex said.
Leveling up. How many years had she heard him say that when they were younger? Ellie had spent hours sitting beside Dex while he played video and PC games. Had she paid attention, she could have memorized them, but games had never held her interest. It was the intensity with which Dex played that intrigued her. He didn’t just play the games; he seemed to live them. She used to love the way his muscles tensed and his eyes lit up when he played. And listening to his voice as he’d narrate while he played, explaining the storyline, or his hooting and hollering when he did something amazing in the game, had always soothed her, made her feel like she was part of his world.
Earlier that morning, when they’d made love, Dex had told her that he wanted a million lives with her. As corny as it was, it had made her heart soar, because in Dex’s gamer mind, things didn’t get much better than that. A little thrill chased the memory up the back of her neck.
Mitch took off his sweatshirt and tossed it on a chair. “Ellie, you don’t mind that he plays games?”
She shrugged. “He’s played ever since we were kids. Why would I mind?”
Regina poked Mitch in the back. “See, not all women mind.”
Mitch plopped into a chair in front of another computer. “Right. Well, I haven’t met the ones who don’t. They don’t mind for a day or two, but then they’re all, You never pay attention to me.”
Regina took a pack of Twizzlers from her back pocket and stuck one in her mouth. She wore a long-sleeved shirt that clung to her ribs and a pair of jeans littered with holes and cinched across her hips with a thick leather belt.
“How would you know? You never even date.” Regina turned on her computer.
“What? I date,” Mitch retorted unconvincingly.
“Right. Then you’re just not looking hard enough,” Regina said.
“Ellie’s off-limits,” Dex added before cursing at his game.
Ellie stood behind him with her hand on his chair, watching the figures on the monitor battle their way up a treacherously steep cliff. Lightning streaked the dark sky around them, and as they made their way to the top of the rocky ridge, his character made two forceful thrashes with his sword and then one final thrust through his opponent’s chest, sending his opponent staggering backward, blood spurting from his muscular chest. Two heavy chains crossed the long leather vest he wore, dripping with blood and clanking as he stumbled toward the jagged ridge. His arms pedaled backward as he teetered on the edge of defeat. Dex’s character took three determined steps forward and landed a hard sidekick to the man’s chest, sending him spiraling over into the dark abyss below.
Dex’s arms shot up in the air with a whoop. “Yes! The master wins again!” He pulled Ellie into his lap. “Watch.” He held her around her waist as the screen exploded in a flurry of flashing colors before going completely black and then coming back to life with his character walking through an elaborate iron gate. His powerful legs carried him through massive wooden doors of a stone castle. The words RETICENT HOLLOW were carved above the arched doorway.
Ellie gasped. She gripped Dex’s hand, his words whispering through her mind. Don’t go to your silent place. Don’t go reticent on me. He pressed her hand to his cheek, then kissed it with a wink and a nod. She watched his character take the stone steps two at a time to a dark room. In the center of the darkness was a woman, her arms wrapped around her knees, her head bowed. He stepped closer, and she raised her head, revealing beautiful green eyes and thick dark hair. The characters stared at each other for what felt like interminable minutes. The sound of two heartbeats melding into one echoed from the speakers. The character reached for the woman as the heartbeats faded in the background to a whisper of a pulse. A tear tumbled down the woman’s cheek as she rose to her feet and fell into her savior’s muscular arms. “You can always be sure of me,” he said.