Dating and Dragons (Dungeons and Drama, #2) (59)

Everyone exchanges awkward glances, and the answer is clear.

“Can I see the comments?” I ask.

Sloane hesitates. “That’s not a good idea. Everybody says ‘don’t read the comments’ for a reason.”

But I’m already standing up. I know they’re probably right, but I want to see if I recognize the usernames or if these really are strangers trolling me. Both options are horrible. I stand over Sloane’s shoulder and scroll back through the chat. There aren’t a lot of comments, so the bad ones are easy to find.

@Tr_xp50: Some of this is cool, but the dwarf is the weakest link.

@dicehaven: The dwarf’s role-playing is the worst.

I scroll to the top of the chat.

@PLynn_: BEWARE of your dwarf. She’s Poison for DND.

@Fighter_CM64: I see she’s found a new group to destroy. Good luck to you all.

I suck in a breath and step back. My eyes meet Logan’s and he jumps to his feet. He strides around the table to read over my shoulder.

“I don’t think we—” Sloane begins, but it’s too late; he’s already seen.

He makes an angry growling sound in the back of his throat. “What the actual f—”

“They aren’t trolls,” I whisper to him, more tears threatening to come, and his face falls with understanding. He reaches for my hand, but I pull away. The last thing I need is for the others to figure us out at the same moment they’re reading these comments about me being a group killer.

Kashvi pushes her chair back, ready to stand as well, and Mark and Sanjiv are leaning forward with agitation. “What’s going on?” Sanjiv asks.

Everyone stares at me. It’s not hard to figure out the usernames. @Fighter_CM64 is definitely Caden. Fighter is his favorite class, those are his initials, and 64 is his favorite number. He didn’t even try to be creative or sneaky. Paige’s middle name is Lynn, so it isn’t hard to figure out who @PLynn_ is. The other two aren’t quite as obvious, but I’m guessing @Tr_xp50 is Travis, and maybe Makayla is @dicehaven.

Logan takes a small step closer, as if he can protect me, but I walk back to my side of the table. “The trolls are people from my old school. The ones I used to play with.”

Mark’s and Sanjiv’s eyes bug out since they haven’t heard about this before, while the others only look sad. I quickly catch the guys up, praying I never ever have to tell this story again. I’m tempted to make some edits, but I repeat all the details, including how Caden and I would flirt at the games and how they all turned against me.

“When I ran into Paige last Sunday, I blurted out that I was in a livestreaming game now. I’ve been scared this would happen, though I’m a little surprised they cared enough to go to this effort.” I push my unruly bangs from my face. “I’m sorry I brought all this to the group.”

“Don’t apologize,” Sloane says firmly. “Those comments are clearly from an impotent, bitter ex and his lackeys.”

“He’s hardly even an ex. But he’s definitely bitter.”

“I’m so glad you got out of that toxic group,” Kashvi says. Her eyes shine with rage.

Mark takes a swig from his two-liter of Mountain Dew. “They’re jealous that their group will never be as amazing as we are. Ignore them.”

“Absolutely. And you don’t have to worry about anything like that ever happening with us,” Sanjiv assures me, and looks to Mark and Logan for confirmation. “This is exactly why we have our group set up the way we do—so none of this becomes an issue.”

Mark burps as if that helps to make his point. “I love not caring how I look or act around you. I’m not worried about impressing any of you.”

“That’s good, because you definitely aren’t,” Kashvi says, and everyone laughs. “But I’ll agree that I like keeping this one part of life simple.”

Logan’s gaze burns into the side of my face. I can feel it as easily as if he was touching me, but I can’t look at him.

“I don’t know,” I say. My voice is weak. “Caden turned out to be a jerk, but it’s not always like that. I just had bad luck with him.”

“I don’t know, this one can be a jerk sometimes,” Kashvi jokes, and wiggles her twin’s arm. He groans in response.

“The important thing is that we have a group where everyone’s comfortable enough to hang out and role-play without being self-conscious,” Logan says. I play with one of my dice bracelets to keep my eyes from his. “Whether people are dating or friends doesn’t matter—the end of any relationship can be hard.”

“Sure, but dating always makes stuff worse. All those feelings and hormones and jealousy,” Sloane argues with a disgusted eye roll.

“None of which we have to worry about, thank god. I’m hungry.” Sanjiv pushes his chair out from the table like the conversation is over. “Quinn, forget it ever happened.”

Mark stands and Kashvi follows suit. They start chatting about Spider-Man movies again like it’s the most important thing happening in the world, and I glance around the table anxiously. Is that it? We’re done with the conversation?

There’s so much more I want to say—so many more arguments I want to give them for why dating someone at the gaming table doesn’t have to be a disaster—but they’ve moved on. If anything, the chat comments have only further convinced them that their original stance was correct. Caden and Paige couldn’t have chosen a worse time to pop back into my life.