Dating and Dragons (Dungeons and Drama, #2) (80)

“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god.” I sink down into my chair and begin rocking like I’m possessed.

“Tell me that conversation wasn’t public for the entire internet to witness,” Logan says.

“I can tell you that or I can tell you the truth, but I can’t tell you both.”

The room fills with cussing and moaning, and I clap my hands over my face. Did I just tell Logan I love him for the first time in front of a live audience?

Kashvi holds up her phone. “Yeaaaaah, FYI, Andrew watched the whole thing. He texted to tell me what was happening, but I was too caught up to notice it.”

My mortification ramps up another notch, and I feel like I might be sick. My little brother heard everything? I guess I’m moving out of the house because he is never ever letting me live this down. I’ll be at my eightieth birthday party, and he’ll still be telling this story with gleeful abandon.

Kashvi hurries over to the laptop. “It’s okay, don’t freak out! He’s just one person, and he had a reason to stay logged in. I bet no one else saw it. They probably logged out as soon as they saw we weren’t playing.” Her voice is overly chipper. Sloane pulls up the session stats and I drag myself from my chair to look over their shoulder.

“Am I reading this wrong?” I whisper. “Does that say five hundred viewers?”

“Hey, that’s some good news, Logan! You finally got the five hundred viewers you were hoping for when we started the new campaign!” Sanjiv says with a laugh.

Logan drops his head into his hands.

“We more than quadrupled our usual viewership,” Sloane says. “And the chat blew up too.” They scroll through the chat and then freeze.

“Um, yeah, so one other thing…”

“Sloane, I can take no other things!” I practically screech.

“Remember how I mentioned that we invited Stephanie…”

“Noooooooo!”

Sloane leans forward and quickly skims the chat. “If it’s any consolation, it looks like she ships you two. And she says congratulations.”

I moan again and a hand touches my waist. Logan stands behind me, and I lean back against his chest without thinking.

“Whoa, the chat is insane,” Kashvi says. She keeps scrolling but never gets to the bottom. There are so many comments. Memories of the last time I was standing here, reading the chat, are way too vivid in my mind.

Logan wraps his arms around my waist and squeezes. “I know this is basically the most embarrassing thing that could possibly happen, but I don’t regret what I said,” he whispers in my ear.

I look back at him, his voice instantly tamping down my anxiety. “I don’t either.”

“Then it doesn’t matter what anyone else says. Don’t let the comments get to you.”

“Actually,” Kashvi interrupts with a chuckle. “The chat is pretty cute. They like you two together.” She scrolls more. “There are a few trolls and some snarky comments asking why we replaced the game with a soap opera, but overall…yeah, really positive.”

I glance up at Logan, a question in my eyes. “Do we dare to look?”

“I’m not sure we have much to lose, but it’s up to you. I don’t care what a single person has to say about us.” He looks to the others. “No offense.”

Kashvi and Sloane move out of the way so Logan and I can read the comments. Most of them are just as Kashvi described—nice or at least neutral. However, one username sticks out to me. Their comments are dispersed among the others, but I see them as if they were neon yellow.

@64CMscores: She’s ruining another one

@64CMscores: I TOLD YOU

@64CMscores: trainwreck

My stomach sinks. It’s Caden—he streamed the entire thing. He changed his username from last time, probably because he got blocked, but his initials and number are the same, so there’s no question it’s him.

Then I notice a reply to one of his comments.

@SmilingDM: Hey @64CMscores, go back to your cave with the rest of the trolls. No one wants you here.

I chuckle and point out the comment to Logan. “I think I might be loving the chat now. Is that actually the Smiling DM telling off Caden?”

Mark and Sanjiv come closer so all six of us hover around the screen to read.

“Yesss, I’m so glad you invited Stephanie.” Kashvi high-fives Sloane and Mark. “Wait! Quinn, oh my god, do you remember what we said at the end?” She grabs my arm and shakes it wildly.

I glance around in confusion. Everything is a blur. Then I remember and slap my hand over my mouth.

And the guy’s a horrible kisser, from what you said.

It was like he was trying to suction my lips off with his mouth.

Kashvi repeats it, laughing so hard she can barely stand. “I can’t believe he heard that!”

“Not just him,” I reply. “Everyone heard that.”

Sanjiv whistles low. “That’ll shut him up.”

“He’s a coward coming into our chat like that,” Logan says. He tugs me closer and kisses the top of my head. “He deserves whatever he gets.”

I can’t argue with that, but also…I realize I don’t care either way. It doesn’t matter what Caden thinks or what snarky comment Paige has. It doesn’t matter if I run into them next week or if I never see them again for as long as I live. They’re in my past, and that’s where I’m going to keep them.