Logan (Wild Boys After Dark, #1)(54)

“It’s not gonna kill you to make a play for one of them, Dex. Work off some of that stress.” Sage glanced back at the women.

“No, thanks. They’re all the same.” Ever since the major magazines had carried the story about Dex’s success, he’d been hounded by ditzy women who thought all he wanted to talk about was PC games.

Regina leaned in closer and whispered, “Not them. Fan boys, two o’clock.”

Thank God.

“Hey, aren’t you Dex Rem?” one of the boys asked.

Dex wondered if they were in college or if they had abandoned their family’s dreams for them in lieu of a life of gaming. It was the crux of his concern about his career. He was getting rich while feeding society’s desire to be couch potatoes.

“Remington, yeah, that’s me,” he said, wearing a smile like a costume, becoming the relaxed gamer his fans craved.

“Dude, World of Thieves is the most incredible game ever! Listen, you ever need any beta testers, we’re your guys.” The kid nodded as his stringy bangs bounced into his eyes. His friend’s jaw hung open, struck dumb by meeting Dex, another of Dex’s pet peeves. He was just a guy who worked hard at what he loved, and he believed anyone could accomplish the same level of success if they only put forth the effort. Damn, he hated how much that belief mirrored his father’s teachings.

“Yeah?” Dex lifted his chin. “What college did you graduate from?”

The two guys exchanged a look, then a laugh. The one with the long bangs said, “Dude, it don’t take a college degree to test games.”

Dex’s biceps flexed. There it was. The misconception that irked Dex more than the laziness of the kids who were just a few years younger than him. As a Cornell graduate, Dex believed in the value of education and the value of being a productive member of society. He needed to figure out the release date, not talk bullshit with kids who were probably too young to even be in a bar.

“Guys, give him a break, ’kay?” Regina said.

“Sure, yeah. Great to meet you,” the longer-haired kid said.

Dex watched them turn away and sucked back his beer. His eyes caught on a woman at a booth in the corner of the bar. He studied the petite, brown-haired woman who was fiddling with her napkin while her leg bounced a mile a minute beneath the table. Jesus. Memories from four years earlier came rushing back to him with freight-train impact, hitting his heart dead center.

“I know how you are about college, but, Dex, they’re kids. You gotta give them a little line to feed off of,” Regina said.

Dex tried to push past the memories. He glanced up at the woman again, and his stomach twisted. He turned away, trying to focus on what Regina had said. College. The kids. Give them a line to feed off of. Regina was right. He should accept the hero worship with gratitude, but lately he’d been feeling like the very games that had made him successful were sucking kids into an antisocial, couch-potato lifestyle.

“Really, Dex. Imagine if you’d met your hero at that age.” Sage ran his hand through his hair and shook his head.

“I’m no hero.” Dex’s eyes were trained on the woman across the bar. Ellie Parker. His mouth went dry.

“Dex?” Sage followed his gaze. “Holy shit.”

There was a time when Ellie had been everything to him. She’d lived in a foster home around the corner from him when they were growing up, and she’d moved away just before graduating high school. Dex’s mind catapulted back thirteen years, to his bedroom at his parents’ house. “In the End” by Linkin Park was playing on the radio. Siena had a handful of girlfriends over, and she’d gotten the notion that playing Truth or Dare was a good idea. At thirteen, Dex had gone along with whatever his popular and beautiful sister had wanted him to. She was the orchestrator of their social lives. He hadn’t exactly been a cool teenager, with his nose constantly in a book or his hands on electronics. That had changed when testosterone filled his veins two years later, but at thirteen, even the idea of being close to a girl made him feel as though he might pass out. He’d retreated to his bedroom, and that had been the first night Ellie had appeared at his window.

“Hey, Dex.” Regina followed his gaze to Ellie’s table; her eyes moved over her fidgeting fingers and her bouncing leg. “Nervous Nelly?” she teased.

Dex rose to his feet. His stomach clenched.

“Dude, we’re supposed to have a meeting. There’s still more to talk about,” Mitch said.

Sage’s voice was serious. “Bro, you sure you wanna go there?”

With Sage’s warning, Dex’s pulse sped up. His mind jumped back again to the last time he’d seen her, four years earlier, when Ellie had called him out of the blue. She’d needed him. He’d thought the pieces of his life had finally fallen back into place. Ellie had come to New York, scared of what, he had no idea, and she’d stayed with him for two days and nights. Dex had fallen right back into the all-consuming, adoring, frustrating vortex that was Ellie Parker. “Yeah, I know. I gotta…” See if that’s really her.

“Dex?” Regina grabbed his arm.

He placed his hand gently over her spindly fingers and unfurled them from his wrist. He read the confusion in her narrowed eyes. Regina didn’t know about Ellie Parker. No one knows about Ellie Parker. Except Sage. Sage knows. He glanced over his shoulder at Sage, unable to wrap his mind around the right words.