Gaming for Love (21 page)

“No further
questions, your honor.”

The prosecutor says
that he has no further questions and the judge calls for lunch
recess. As I’m walking from the witness stand, I see Yas walk
towards Amber, a steely resolve in her eyes. She reaches her just as
the bailiff takes Amber’s arm to lead her from the room. I reach
them just as Yas starts to speak.

“Listen to me, bitch.
This
fat chick
could
and will kick your ass if you ever come near the Griffin family
again. Especially Scott. He is
mine
and I will protect what’s mine to the death. Do you understand?”
The fierceness in my girl’s eyes is something I have never seen
before and I see Amber go pale. She nods as the bailiff takes her
away.

I grab Yas and kiss her
passionately.

“Damn that was hot!”
I hear Luke say. “You are one scary but hot woman, Yasmin.”

“She is
my
woman,” I remind him with a growl.

Ryan is the one who
answers. “We are all very aware of that, Scott.” He places a hand
on my shoulder and continues, “If we weren’t already, we are
now.” He looks at Yas with admiration in his eyes and I relax.

The prosecutor walks us
out and tells us that it went better than expected. Amber’s
outburst has pretty much sealed her fate. He won’t need me again so
he says that we can go back to Vegas. My parents and brothers are
heading back but I want to stay one more night. There is something
that I need to do.

We have dinner with
everyone at one of our favorite Chicago restaurants. After, my family
heads to the airport. Zane and Quinn head to work and John goes back
home. During dinner, I thanked them all for being there for me and
many hugs were shared before they left. I am truly lucky to have all
of these people in my life, especially Yas. Now it is time to take
her home. To my apartment.

Scott

After seeing Yas tell
off Amber, I realized that it’s stupid of me to keep her out of my
places. She loves me and I need to trust her, fully, with my heart. I
didn’t plan on going to my apartment, but I know that I’s time
for me to face it. With Yas by my side, I think that I can face
anything.

As we’re driving, she
notices that we are not turning towards the W. “Are we not going
back to the hotel, Pretty Boy?” she asks and I smile at the
nickname.

“No, baby, I wanted
to take you somewhere else if that’s alright.”

“Of course it is.”
She pulls her joined hands to her lips and kisses my knuckles.

As we pull up to the
underground garage, I let go of her hand to pull the parking card out
of the center console. I touch it to the sensor and drive in when the
arm lifts. I wave at Jerry in the security booth as I drive in. He’s
surprised to see me and waves to me with a smile on his face.

I get out and run
around to open the passenger door for Yas. I guide her to the
elevator and we take it to the lobby. As we step out, Bobby jumps up
from his seat. “Scott! It is so good to see you. It’s been too
long.”

I walk over and shake
his hand. “It’s good to see you too, Bobby.” I turn back to Yas
and can tell from the look on her face that she knows where we are.
“This is my girlfriend, Yasmin. Yas, this is Bobby, one of the
doormen here in my building. And a friend.”

“It’s great to meet
you Bobby,” Yas says walking to us and holding out her hand.

“Yeah, you too.”
Bobby looks at me with a curious expression on his face. “I don’t
know if I should let out this guy’s secret, but I have never seen
him bring a woman here.”

“It’s not a
secret,” I tell him laughing. “Yas knows that she is the first.”

“I do. But thanks for
telling me anyway.” She smiles at Bobby and then we say our
goodbyes as I take her hand and lead to the elevators. We get in and
I punch the button for my floor.

“Are you sure about
this?” Yas asks, placing her hand on my forearm as we step out into
the hallway.

I turn to her and cup
with face with my hands. “Yes, I’m sure. I want to show you my
apartment and when we get back to Vegas, I want you to stay over at
my house there. I love you, Yas. I should have let you in sooner and
I’m sorry that I made you wait. But, I want to share everything
with you now.”

She places her hands
over mine. “You are worth the wait. But, I am glad that you want to
share all of yourself with me now. I love you too and I can’t wait
to see your apartment and the rest of your place in Vegas.”

I let go of her face
and walk to my door. I take a deep breath and unlock it.

* * *

Yasmin

Scott holds the door
open for me and I walk past him into his apartment. I know that this
is a big deal for him, so it is a big deal for me too. The setup here
is similar to his guest house in Vegas. It is definitely a guy’s
place with modern furniture and some cool metal sculptures. I walk
over to one.

“That’s Owen’s
work.”

“Wow! I didn’t know
he was a sculptor!” I am amazed that someone I know made this
beautiful piece of art.

“He paints too. His
pieces are in our company’s buildings around the world.”

“That is so cool.”

I must sound too
excited because Scott pulls me against him from behind and whispers
in my ear. “Computers are cooler.”

I laugh. “I don’t
know about that but a certain computer guy I know is pretty cool.”
He kisses my neck. “And sexy.”

“Sexy, huh? How sexy
is this guy?” He moves his hands down and starts unbuttoning my
blouse.

“So sexy that I think
my panties melted the first time I met him,” I admit, shivering as
he pulls my shirt out of my skirt and rubs my stomach.

He spins me around,
mischief in his eyes. “Even though I tried to steal your pen?”

“Even then,” I tell
him, honestly.

“Well, then I should
probably confess that this sexy, pen loving bookworm I know made me
harder than I have ever been in my life the day that I met her, too.
I had to go next door to the coffee shop for a cold drink to cool
off.”

“I wanted to grab you
and push you against the bookshelves and kiss you.” I can’t
believe I just told him that, but it’s true.

“You did that a few
weeks ago.”

“I know and it was
better than I imagined. You are better than I could have ever
imagined.”

“I feel the same,
Yas. So, what do you think of my place so far?”

I walk around and look
at everything. It is so
him
and I love it. I’m about to tell him this when I round the corner
of the kitchen island and see it on the lower counter. The little
black velvet box. I can’t resist picking it up and flipping it
open. One of the most beautiful rings that I have ever seen stares
back at me, sparkling in the light. I don’t know how many carats
the round diamond is, but it’s huge. It’s definitely not my style
but I can appreciate the beauty of it.

“Baby, you didn’t
answer me yet. Do you like—oh shit!”

“It’s beautiful.”
I’m trying to breathe normally. I know I’m being stupid. He’s
with
me
. He brought
me
here. But, seeing
the ring that your boyfriend was going to give to another girl is not
exactly easy.

He takes it out of my
hand and closes the box. “It’s way too big and just, ugh. I mean
yeah, it’s from a fancy jeweler and technically it’s pretty high
class, but I only bought it because I knew that she wanted it. I
wouldn’t have bought something so flashy otherwise.” He opens a
drawer and throws it inside. “I need to have John return that for
me.”

He runs his fingers
through his hair and I can tell that he’s frustrated and nervous.
“How about you show me your bedroom?”

He smiles, taking my
hand and leading me up the stairs. His bedroom is all black and grey.
There is no desk here or computer parts. Just a giant platform bed, a
dresser and some side tables. Oh, and of course a giant TV. “I know
it’s not fancy. I wasn’t sure how I wanted to decorate it, so I
didn’t.”

“You don’t have to
explain to me. I’m not interested in you for your design skills.”

“Oh, really? What
are
you interested in me for?” he asks, moving close.

I spend the next few
hours showing him a big part of what I am interested in him for. We
go back to the hotel and cuddle for the rest of the night before
heading to the airport to take the jet back to Vegas. We’re settled
with drinks and snacks when Scott reaches into his messenger bag. He
turns back to me with a bunch of pens arranged in a bouquet.

“I thought that you
would like these better than flowers.” He smiles at me, looking a
little bashful.

“You know me so
well.” I look at them closer as I take them from him. “Wait,
these are from the places we visited in Chicago. Oh my God, thank you
Scott.”

“Yep, they are. The
plain ones are from Mrs. J’s and the courthouse. They didn’t have
any special ones there.”

“You stole me some
pens?” I ask laughing.

“
No
,
I asked for them. I promise. I don’t want the bookworm pen police
after me.”

I punch him in the arm
and then start taking the bouquet apart to look at each pen.

A Water Lilies pen from
the Art Institute.

One with the giant
Ferris wheel from Navy Pier.

A Nintendo themed one.
I look up at him, “From your room?” He nods and I kiss him
lightly.

A plain black Bic.

A ship themed one with
the logo of the cruise company.

A Windy City Tats
silver one with the swirling logo.

A plain blue Papermate.

One from the restaurant
we ate at with his family and friends.

A fancy brown one. I
quirk an eyebrow at him. “Oh, that one’s from Bobby,” he
explains.

Finally, there is one
from the W.

“Best. Boyfriend.
Ever.” I lean over to kiss him. We make out for the rest of the
flight as Velvet keeps herself busy in the front of the plane.

* * *

Scott

We’ve been back from
Chicago for two weeks now. I jumped right back in to the software
project and Yas has been taking care of things at the bookstore. We
alternate our nights between her place and mine and things are as
good as ever. My dad and Ryan didn’t want me to stress out about
the project in case I had to stay longer for the trial or go back
again so they pushed back the release date of the program. Amber was
convicted last week and is awaiting sentencing. I am not going back
for that. I said all that I had to say. I have a month before the
program has to be ready but I’m still on track to have it done in
two weeks. I asked to meet with them today at the new Vegas office to
talk to them about something that I would like to do.

My dad’s secretary,
Angie, shows me into his office where they’re both waiting for me.
“Wait, are you Scott? My brother? I think it’s you but between
your computer and your girlfriend, I haven’t seen you in a long
time,” Ryan jokes.

“Shut up smart ass.
We just had dinner with everyone last night.” I punch him in the
arm which hurts me more than him. Damn, my brother is
built.
All that construction work he did for a few years hasn’t
worn off, I guess.

“I know but I had to
give you shit. I’ve never seen you this way before. It’s actually
pretty cool. Yasmin’s pretty cool.”

“Yeah, she is. She’s
also the reason that I wanted to talk to you guys today.”

“Is everything
alright with her, son?” My dad asks, concerned. My mom and he have
really taken to Yasmin and I know they think of her as part of the
family already.

“I don’t think so,”
I tell them honestly, pulling on my lip ring with my teeth. “I
don’t think the bookstore is doing well. She doesn’t really talk
about it with me. I offered her money but she said no. So, I have
another idea to help her.”

“My opinion of her
just increased. I knew she was a good person, but to refuse your
money when your relationship is so new and you seem to think that she
needs it, just tells me how good she is. You want to give her the
program don’t you?” Ryan says.

I look at them both and
sigh. “Yes. I know we lowered the price for independent bookstores
and agreed to give it to them early but I’m not sure that she can
afford it, even at the lower price.” I take a deep breath and
continue. “I will have it done in two weeks. I would like to give
it to her then, before everyone else.”

I wait anxiously until
my dad speaks. “I wish we could, son. But, we can’t show blatant
favoritism like that. I am perfectly fine with you giving her it for
free, though. That is you giving a gift to your girlfriend.” Ryan
nods his agreement.

“Thanks, guys. I knew
giving it to her early was a long shot. And, I can pay the fee for
the program myself if that would look better.”

“No, it’s fine. You
created it and you should be able to have at least one free copy,”
Ryan says.

“I just had a
thought. We’re having that joint birthday and project completion
party for you in three weeks. Why don’t you give it to her then if
it’s done? If you ask her not to use it yet, I’m sure that she’ll
agree. Do you think she will agree to the program if she wouldn’t
take your money?” my dad asks.

“Yeah, I could do
that. That would be cool. She
is
the best present I’ve ever gotten. I hope that she’ll take it. I
haven’t talked to her about it. She is not very computer savvy. Do
you think Mom would be okay with me inviting her friends that she
works with and maybe her other friend, Candi?”

“Are you kidding? You
know that your mom loves entertaining, as long as it’s casual and
not our business associates.”