Boy Meets Nerd (15 page)

was

home.

He

recognized the little red Honda with the bumper sticker that read
I’m a
teacher, what’s your super power?

He’d showed it to her online because he’d thought it was cute, and would’ve gotten it for her if she’d given him her address.

He’d been stalking the

outside of the condo for twenty minutes now. Nobody had come in or gone out. He couldn’t even see in the window and trying to was starting to feel creepy. If Em were here, she’d be making fun of him.

His cell rang, making him jump and hit his head on the roof.

Annoyed, he looked at the incoming number. Darren. He’d been ignoring his texts for days now. It probably looked suspect at this point. With a sigh, he answered the phone.

“Hey.”

“Jesus!” Darren yelled.

“No, it’s just me.”

Darren ignored the joke.

“Where have you been? Why aren’t you answering my texts?”

“Sorry. Things got a little…

crazy.” To say the least.

“Hmm.”

He

paused

a

moment. “Crazy like call me daddy crazy? Or like stalker with a knife crazy?”

That hit close to home. No need to mention he was being the stalker now though. “Crazy like I found out Heidi was cheating on me then fucked Emerson crazy.”

Silence. “Jesus.”

“No, Emerson.”

“Who the fuck is Emerson?”

Levi growled.

“Oh. Hacker Girl. Well she was hot, in a geeky kind of way.

Why do you sound like a sullen bastard? You got laid, didn’t you?” The idiot was missing the point. “Darren, do me a favor and just pretend to have a heart.”

“Sorry,” he said, sincerely.

“So what are you doing now?” He eyed Heidi’s door. Still no movement. “Sitting outside Heidi’s condo, working up the nerve to end things.”

Darren laughed. “You gonna

leave a note and run, pussy?”

“Shut up.” He’d thought of that already.

“What about Emerson? Are

you dating her now?”

“No. Yes.” He banged his head against the steering wheel lightly. “I don’t know.”

Last night, he and Emerson had watched the Sci-fi Channel late into the night, laughing at the cheesy effects. On the third B-rated movie, Emerson had fallen asleep, her head resting on his lap. He wasn’t even sure how she’d gotten there.

For months, he’d pictured blonde hair draped across his thigh as he ran his fingers through it. But last night, short black hair had felt just fine. Better than fine. He’d woken up, smiling, hoping to find her there sleeping sweetly, but she’d

been

gone.

It

had

disappointed him more than he wanted to admit.

He liked Emerson, more

than just a close friend, but now was not the time to start a new relationship.

It

wasn’t

clear

whether his feelings for her were because of the disappointment revolving around Heidi or if they were real. He had to settle things with Hope, get her out of his head, then examine how he felt after that.

Emerson deserved someone in the right frame of mind. Not a heartbroken idiot, rebounding after a bad internet scam.

Come on, Levi. You can’t
hide in your car all day.

“I gotta go,” he said. “Once I get this over with, I’ll know where I stand.”

A crunching sound broke

through the phone. “My advice…” Darren said, a bit muffled from chewing, “take what you’ve got. If Hacker Chick is into you, ditch Catfish Girl and don’t spare her a second thought. Life is too short, man.”

If
she was into him. It was a big if. “Yeah. Thanks for the sage advice.”

He chuckled. “Good luck.”

“Bye.”

He ended the call, watching

the front window, now unsure if he wished

she

was

there

or

miraculously absent. Then he’d have an excuse to leave a note. For days he’d been saying he needed to see her, now he was beginning to think ignorance might be bliss.

After heaving a breath, he opened the car door to go face the inevitable – to meet the cheating love of his life for the first time, then break up with her. Dread formed a pit in his stomach. He hadn’t eaten much that day, despite Em’s mom’s efforts. It had been hard to focus on anything but waiting for this moment. Now here he was and all he wanted to do was turn around, get back in the car, and drive far, far away. To Chicago. To one of the only people who made him feel good.

Ugh. He had to clear his mind. One step at a time. One woman at a time.

His knees shook as he

walked to her door. The pit of dread only intensified until he literally felt sick.

Get it together, man!

He wanted to kick himself for acting like such a dumbass about this, but how did one walk into a moment four months in the making with a cool head? At the door, he inhaled a deep breath then knocked.

Late afternoon on a Saturday. What would she be doing? Hopefully not Mika, or whatever the hell his name was.

The doorknob jiggled and

he fought the urge to flee. The door opened. His heart hammered in his chest. Heidi stood on the other side, exactly how she looked in the photos.

The
real
photos. Plain brown hair tied back in a ponytail, hazel eyes, dressed in a pair of jeans and a pink blouse.

Pink? But he liked black.

She stared at him for a long moment, her eyes confused as she assessed him. Recognition hit then her jaw dropped open.

“Levi?”

This was going exactly how

he had imagined it would before he’d found out about Mika. He’d say “yes, it’s me,” then she’d throw herself into his arms and they’d kiss under the sunset, or moonlight, or whatever time of day he chose in the moment.

But now, knowing what he did, the magic was gone. “Yeah,” he answered, deadpan.

“Oh my god!” She jumped

into his arms and hugged him hard around the neck. “What are you doing here?”

Her scent hit him. Girly, like fancy shampoo. How long had he tried to guess what she smelled like? What she’d feel like in his arms? And now he had it. She was right there. Her soft body, her flowery scent. This was everything he’d wanted.

He let his arms come around

her, just to see what it felt like to hold her. It was tempting to forget all about yesterday, to just enjoy the moment,

but

cheating

was

unforgiveable.

A moment later, she let go.

“What…what are you doing here?

Oh my god.” She smoothed her hair over with her hands. “I look like shit. You couldn’t have given me some warning.” Laughing, she stepped into the condo. “Come inside. Please.”

He followed her in, feeling numb instead of awkward. Maybe it was better that way.

Inside the small entryway, she stared at him, grinning. Her teeth were crooked. It was as endearing in real life as it was in the photo. He’d memorized that face, that smile.

“I’m

sorry,”

she

said,

shaking her head. “I’m just…

shocked. I mean, I don’t even know what to say.” She waited for an answer.

He couldn’t think of one.

Talk idiot.
He cleared his throat and shifted his stance. “Um. Yeah.

I’m sorry to drop in like this.” Footsteps thundered down

the stairs behind Heidi. A man appeared. Tall, skinny, blond hair and pale skin.

He looked at Levi and his brow furrowed. “What’s going on?” he asked in a thick accent. Levi couldn’t

place

it.

Something

European though. So her catfish net went beyond the borders?

Heidi, still smiling, gestured to Levi. “This is Levi, the guy I was telling you about.”

This

was

a

puzzling

development. Why didn’t she look guilty, or try to hide him? “I’m her boyfriend – er,
was
her boyfriend.

Who are you?”

Heidi’s smile disappeared.

She cocked her head to the side.

“Was?” Her face fell and he almost felt guilty. Almost, if not for the man she was sleeping with behind her. She looked back at the blond guy. “This is Mika. He’s my cousin.

He’s visiting from Sweden.”

He arched a brow. Did she really think he was going to buy that shit? “Your cousin?”

“Yeah. He’s been my pen

pall since I was little.” She smiled and bounced on her toes a little. “I told you about him. Mickey.” The light bulb clicked on.

Oh shit. He knew she had a special relationship

with

her

cousin.

They’d met as young kids then written to each other all these years.

She’d told Levi it was how she’d learned to read and write. Mickey had motivated her to keep trying when she’d struggled.

“This is Mickey?”

“Yeah. Well, it’s Mika, but when I was little I called him Mickey and it kind of stuck.” Fuck. What had he done? Oh

god. No, no, no.

He’d jumped to conclusions

that had hurt everyone. Himself, Emerson, and fuck, he’d cheated on Heidi! He was going to have a panic attack, right here in the middle of her fucking foyer. He’d completely blown it. He’d have to tell her – break her heart. More pain, more suffering. God, he was a shithead.

Another set of footsteps

descended the stairs then a girl appeared, fair-skinned but with orange hair cut in a bob. She stopped at Mika’s side and gave a small smile.

Heidi pointed to her. “And this is his wife, Tuva.”

Fuck, fuck, fuck. “Nice to meet you,” he choked out.

“You

didn’t

think…”

Heidi’s brows descended. “Oh god.

You didn’t think I was cheating did you?”

He rubbed his hands over his face. “For a short time…” She laughed. “No. I would never do that, Levi. I’m completely devoted to you.” Her gaze caught his, stark with sincerity. “Ask them.

You’re all I ever talk about.”

“It’s true,” Mika agreed.

“It’s a bit sickening.”

“Shut

up,”

she

said,

chuckling.

relieved. Here was the girl of his dreams, not having cheated, not having broken his heart, telling him that she was devoted to him. It was all he’d ever wanted, but all he could think of was how much this complicated things. Not to mention he was a fucking cheater. And because he’d thought she’d done it first was no excuse. How was he even going to explain this?

“What’s

wrong?”

Heidi

walked to him and took his hand in hers.

“Nothing.” He managed a

small smile. “I’m fine.” He was anything but fine. Everything had changed in a matter of seconds. His whole world had fallen apart yesterday but he’d dealt with it.

Now it was flipped upside down again. He no longer knew where he stood, what he wanted, what to do.

Her lip puckered. “Are you unhappy

with

me?”

Self-

consciously, she straightened her clothes, laughing nervously. “I don’t have any make-up on. Usually I look much –”

She stopped suddenly then looked at him, concern growing in her eyes. “Wait. You’ve never seen me…” Cautiously, she backed away a few steps. “How did you find me?”

She finally caught on that he knew she’d been lying. “I hired a professional to look into things.

You don’t have to worry about how you look. I know the pictures were fake. And your name.”

With a sigh, she stared

down at the floor. “I guess that’s fair. Listen, I had reasons for everything. But it’s all in the past, right? We can move on? Starting now.”

Could they? He didn’t have an answer. He let his mind go numb rather than trying to sort out the confusion he felt. Maybe he’d give this a go, pretend nothing was wrong.

She stepped forward and

took his hands again, then smiled up at him sweetly. “I’m just so glad you’re here.”

Despite all the longing these last four months, he wished he was anywhere else.

Maybe entering the million dollar pay out hacking competition was a little ambitious, but she couldn’t back out now. Emerson studied the figures on the screen, trying to ignore the crowd looking over her shoulder. Having an audience was freaking her out. High pressure public hacking wasn’t her thing, apparently. Too late now.

It didn’t help that her focus was divided. Leaving a certain someone sleeping in her parents’

basement still nagged at her, a whole day later. Had he made it to Heidi’s house? He was probably a mess right now.

She gave her head a shake.

Why was he haunting her? And at the worst possible time too. Pushing Levi out of her mind, she focused back on her task. The other contestants were ahead, but she knew going in it’d be a long shot.

She’d craved the challenge though.

Or maybe just the distraction.

Levi’s sleeping body came to mind and she snorted. Some distraction. With a frustrated grunt, she squinted her eyes and stared at the screen. Why couldn’t she see the answer? She was so off her game.

The crowd erupted at the monitor halfway down the row. Someone had cracked it.

She sighed and pushed away

from her station. This was painfully embarrassing. Her mind just wasn’t here

today.
Fucking Levi
, she cursed in her head.

Yeah. That was exactly

where it was. Head down, moping, she wandered away, wondering what she should do next that wouldn’t embarrass her.

Her text alert beeped.

Strange.

She

thought

she’d

suspended text messages for the convention to avoid being hacked.

She pulled her phone out of her bag.

It was from her grandma. What the heck? She must not have blacklisted her number since she’d never texted before. Did she even know how?

I just wanted to say I’m
thinking of you. Did I just text? I
think I just texted.

She cracked a smile. The message was simple, but reminded her

of

something

important.

Emerson had people in this world.

She wasn’t alone.

The phone beeped again.

Grt4hhp001;

Whaa? Panic hit. “Shit!”

She ripped open the back of the phone, yanked out her SIM card then threw the phone on the ground and stomped on it until it broke into several pieces.

People nearby gave her

funny looks but she ignored them. It was a hacker convention. It shouldn’t have been that uncommon to see someone protect themselves from hackers. She couldn’t be sure if her grandma’s message had been an old person figuring out an iPhone for the first time, or an attempted hack. When it came to this kind of thing, Emerson didn’t take risks.

She picked up the broken pieces of her phone and dumped them into the nearest garbage bin.

SIM card in hand, she looked for a mobile phone kiosk. There had to be zillions of them.

A figure appeared in her path, blocking her way to the vendors.

An Asian man with glasses and closely shaved head stuck out his hand. “Emerson True?”

Ignoring his hand, she

nodded hesitantly. What the hell did this guy want?

With a chuckle, he dropped his hand. “I’m Michael Chen. I work for ALV Tech.”

ALV Tech? She narrowed

her eyes and looked him over. ALV

Tech was one of the biggest antivirus software companies in the country. Why was he talking to her?

Her first thought was scam, but the blue polo shirt with the logo looked legit, as did the lanyard and badge that declared he was a scouting agent for the company.

Shit.

“Um.” She rubbed her

sweaty palms on her jeans. Why had she worn jeans? God, she must look so amateur. “Nice to meet you but what do you want?”

Craaaaap. She could’ve

kicked herself. Jonah had been right. Social graces were not her thing and now she was messing up a potential job interview.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean that.” Cringing, she looked at Michael’s face, scared of what she’d see there.

He merely grinned at her.

When she furrowed her

brow in confusion, he shrugged. “I work with a lot of hackers. I know what you’re like.”

She sighed in relief.

“Anyway, I was hoping to catch you today. We first heard about you from MIT then I followed some of your work online. I’d like to talk to you about working at our company. Do you have a few minutes?”

She had to think for a

moment. Was she interested in a full-time job at a real company?

She would be assigned tasks, have to report to higher ups, be told what to do and how to do it. Steady income would be nice. It was expected

at

her

age.

Her

grandmother would be proud. And positions at ALV Tech were coveted among people like her. It’d be work she found satisfying, only not on her terms. That was the big downfall. Having a boss, working within certain parameters, possibly even having to show up to an office cubicle. She grimaced. So not for her. Not only that but ALV Tech was in Texas. Never in a million years did she picture herself living in the south. She loved Boston, she loved being close to her grandma.

The picture this job painted was bleak.

When she opened her mouth

to turn him down, he cut her off.

“Salary for a position like yours would start at around one ten with room for growth the longer you work with us.”

Her brows shot up. “A

hundred and ten…”

“Thousand dollars.”

Maybe she should at least hear him out.