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Yeah. Max was as cold as a volcano overdue for eruption.

Dawn sighed. “I have to make some laps, but see you around?”

“For sure. Are you here all week?”

“Yeah! If you have any downtime and want to grab a drink or something, text me.” We swapped numbers and Dawn walked off just as applause erupted behind me.

I’d just missed the exciting conclusion, but whatever had happened, the demo was over. Max rose from his seat, shaking a few hands of fans that came up. He even signed an autograph for the young girl, but the second he finished his eyes were roaming the sea of people. They stopped when he found me.

“Max, are you sweating?” I asked, incredulous, as I reached his side.

His eyes were bright from joy and adrenaline. “Maybe.”

“You’re such a kid. It’s cute.” I grinned at the reaction inspired by playing his own game. “It’s like you’re home.”

“I guess I am. I always feel that way when I play.” Max’s smile faded as he checked his phone. “But play time is over. In case you forgot, the biggest meeting of your life is happening tomorrow.”

“But no pressure.”

He squeezed my shoulder, but given my sudden nerves I didn’t mind. “Pressure,” he whispered in my ear. “Lots of it.”

Chapter 17

You’re a virgin

We worked late into the night on the pitch in Max’s hotel room. Since Max had invited me to help him present, we’d split the work into two parts: he’d do the storytelling and I’d do the business side.

I was so flattered he’d wanted to do this together that I tried to ignore the fact that actually standing at the front of a room terrified me.

The carefree Max Donovan from the exhibition a few hours ago was gone, replaced with an intensely focused one. By midnight we’d abandoned sitting on the couch. I was cross-legged on the floor while he reclined against the couch. Over room service—cheesesteak sandwich for him, chicken for me—we pored over printed versions of our presentation for any holes.

“Good luck. Both of you,” Riley said over Skype when we finished going over a few last details with him. “Payton, I put something in your laptop case. A gift.”

I fished in it and found the clear baggie. “Aww, thanks Riley.”

“Least I can do. I made the developers eat the other flavors the last forty-eight hours.”

“Why don’t I get a present?” Max griped. He’d changed out of his clothes from the plane and was wearing a fresh navy t-shirt that said “Go Fly a Kite” with a picture of a kite on it.

“Me going into business with you was a present,” Riley replied easily. “Now don’t make me regret it.”

I shifted forward to click “end” on my notebook and Riley vanished from view, leaving Max and I alone again in the big room.

“Watermelon Starbursts?” he asked.

“Yeah. I have a slight obsession with watermelon. I can’t believe Riley noticed.”

“I’m surprised I didn’t.”

I shot him an amused look. “I don’t know why you would.”

Max didn’t answer but his gaze fell to the floor. “Payton, what if Harmon says no?”

“They won’t. Phoenix will be next big thing and Titan has the team to make it happen. Come on, it’ll be fine. When was the last time you delivered a pitch like this?” He didn’t move and alarm bells went off in my head. “You’re a virgin.”

He frowned. “I’m not a—”

“You’ve never given a pitch before.”

“Does my lunch with you count?” Max asked, raising the eyebrow with the piercing.

“The one where you told me to go to hell for asking questions, then demanded I buy you lunch?”

“Yeah, that one.”

I squeezed my eyes shut. Of all the things I’d worried about, it had never occurred to me I was taking this meeting with someone who had zero experience.

But Max seeing me freak out wouldn’t help. I pushed down the sudden panic, opening my eyes and rising from my seat. He followed suit.

“It’s going to be fine,” I said as confidently as I could given horror reels of tomorrow with me falling on my face were already streaming in my mind. “I think we just need a pep talk.”

“Good idea.” We stood facing one another.

And waited.

Eventually his eyebrows drew together. “I thought you were giving me a pep talk.”

“I thought
you
were giving
me
one,” I replied.

The rare half-smile that always made my insides warm graced Max’s mouth. “Let’s take turns. I’ll go first—”

“Wait! I need to prepare.”

“Thirty seconds.”

We both looked at the floor, but I snuck a glance up at him. He was distractingly sexy with his mouth pursed and his eyes flicking back and forth over the carpet.

“Ready?” He caught me looking.

“Yeah.”

“I’ll go first. Coyote—” he took my arms and I had to try not to lose myself in his gaze, “—you’ve been training for this moment all your life. Tomorrow’s your day. You’re going to go in there and show them what you’re made of. The doubters, the haters. They’re going to remember your name.” He frowned. “How was that?”

“Was that from
Fame
?”

“I think it was a baseball movie. Maybe that Charlie Sheen one.”

“All right, good. Great. My turn. Max…”

Looking into his chocolate eyes, I trailed off. Whatever words I was going to say evaporated. I took a deep breath and started fresh, not censoring the words as they flowed out of me.

“I know you’re private, and you probably have good reasons to be. It feels weird to open yourself up and show a bunch of strangers the kind of person you are. But you know what? That’s who they’ll want to invest in. Because as good a bet as Phoenix is, you’re even better.” I smiled to counteract the sudden tightness in my chest.

Max’s expression warmed. “Shit, Payton. You really believe that?”

“Yeah.” My heart hammered like it was trying to escape.

Max watched me for a minute before shaking his head, breaking the spell. “Well I guess that’s it then.” He walked me to the door, holding it open with his body as I stepped into the hall.

He was close enough I could smell him. I forced myself to steady my heartbeat.

“After the meeting tomorrow, we’re going out to celebrate,” he promised. “On me.”

“Sure.” I averted my gaze, certain he’d see…whatever was still in my face. I started to turn away, but his hand on my arm stopped me.

“Hey, wait a sec.”

Startled, I looked up.

Bad move.

Max’s lips were just inches from mine.

He bent toward me. I held my breath as his face closed in. Slowly, slowly…

Finally he dropped a kiss on my cheek. It was chaste and quick and shouldn’t have sent prickles down my spine. Or made me want to rub the spot with my hand.

“Thanks,” he murmured, stepping back.

“For what?” I managed.

“For being you.” His smile was gone as quickly as it appeared. “Night, Payton.”

Then the door clicked shut in my face.

I’d expected to lie awake in bed. Instead, as soon as my head hit the pillow I was out.

The nerves didn’t kick in until I was brushing my teeth the next morning. I put on a Raiders song to keep me grounded while I forced my feet through my usual routine. Shower, hair, makeup.

When Max strode out of the elevator, I did a double take. He was wearing a shirt and blazer. I used the time it took him to cross the lobby to pick my jaw up off the floor.

“Riley made me,” he said before I could comment. Now that he was up close, I realized it wasn’t a real shirt—just a black T-shirt. But the blazer was…well. Riley had probably had it tailored, and the midnight blue set off Max’s light skin and dark eyes. But, as if in an act of defiance, Max had spiked his hair and was sporting the usual barbell.

Bottom line: he looked really fucking good.

“Ready to get this show on the road?” My voice was unusually cheerful.

Our meeting was at Harmon’s offices across town. We snagged a cab right after rush hour. At the building, an assistant named Greta met us at the front and signed us in.

“I’ll leave you to get setup. Drinks are over there.” She gestured to a table in the corner of the conference room that held freshly stocked coffee and tea.

“Thanks.” I flashed her a smile before turning to inspect our space. The rectangular table was big enough to feel spacious but not so big it would dwarf the six of us. I’d confirmed this morning who would be in attendance, and it included a Director and two Associates.

I plugged my computer into the screen and checked the presentation.

Max hovered by the door. I squeezed his arm. “You’ve got this. We both do. Now come on, let’s get you something to drink.”

“Coffee?” His head snapped to look around the room.

I winced. “How about something herbal.”

His grumpy tone was likely a product of the nerves. “Are you trying to manage me, Payton?”

“I’m trying to protect us.” I passed him a steaming mug. “Now drink your peppermint tea.”

The Harmon reps showed up promptly at ten and we did a round of introductions.

“We’d like to tell you about our plans for Phoenix,” I started, ushering them to their seats. “Max is going to take you through the concept.”

All eyes cut to Max and my heart was in my throat. He stood at the front of the table, straight and rigid.

You got this
, I mouthed, willing him to relax. Max nodded imperceptibly.

I waited for him to start talking but instead he trailed a finger along the end of the table. Then hitched a hip on the corner and sat.

My heart thumped harder.

Max folded his arms. “I don’t know what kind of kids you were. I was the kind I’d never wish on anyone. Never sat still, wouldn’t play with other kids. Destroyed everything in reach. My mom didn’t know what to do. My dad worked double shifts at an auto parts factory. They never wanted kids, so getting me? Let’s just say it was a rude awakening.” He said it casually but my chest tightened.

“I got my first Nintendo for my ninth birthday. My dad told me he’d found it at a yard sale and he wasn’t sure if it even worked—it had these scratches across the top, like a dog had gotten at it—but he took a risk. See, my parents both worked two jobs and they didn’t have a lot of energy to keep me entertained.” He rubbed a thumb over his lip in the way that normally turned me on. Today, it just made me ache for who he was, and who he had been. “That Nintendo changed my life. I used to lose myself in a game. The feeling of pursuing and exploring. It didn’t matter what was going on out there—” he tilted his head toward the window, “—because in there, you could control your destiny.”

I wasn’t sure whether he was telling me or Harmon. I tore my eyes from Max to glance at the suit-clad contingent around the table. They were watching intently. 

At least we have their attention
.

Max shrugged out of his jacket. The light streaming in the windows revealed a tone-on-tone logo the jacket had obscured. The shirt said
The Dandies
in block letters across the front. When Max turned to set the jacket beside him, I caught a glimpse of a list of tour dates scrolling across his back.

Max made eye contact and I covered the smile on my lips.

“The best games are ones that take us outside the world we know but also reveal something about ourselves,” he went on without missing a beat. “Because we all want to feel something. Oasis was about being small but not being invisible. About knowing you can change things no matter your lot in life. That message resonates with a lot of us. This time, with Phoenix? I’m going bigger. Building a whole new world.”

I swallowed. For a guy who claimed not to be charismatic, Max was anything but dull. He wasn’t smooth and polished like some of the guys from work. Instead, he was compelling because everything he said was genuine. I’d never imagined it was possible for talking about an imaginary universe to feel so real.  

“What’s the business plan?” Matt asked after Max had answered a few questions he wanted to and punted the ones he didn’t. Max’s eyes cut to me.

Showtime.

I rose from my seat and stepped forward, smiling against the angry butterflies that had started in my stomach. He took a seat next to me as I started my prepared remarks.

The first few minutes I could hear my voice shake. But it leveled out, in part thanks to the steady look in Max’s eyes. I found myself looking to him whenever I got unnerved, and whenever I did, I found comfort. Confidence.

“I’ll pass around a hard copy of what we’re proposing for the financing,” I concluded. I handed out the papers, and three heads bowed to scan the document while I took my seat again next to Max. I felt him reach over to squeeze my hand and I braved a look at him.

Matt looked up first. “We’ll review this and come back to you. Can we send a copy to our Boston offices? They can follow up with you directly.”

“Sure,” Max offered.

Matt and his staff rose and, with a warm round of handshakes, exited. “Greta will be back to see if you need anything on the way out. Thanks for taking the time to meet with us.” They finally filed out and the door shut silently behind them.