But Sigmund would have noticed.
She hadn’t checked email since meeting up with Loch. She’d ignored the texts that Sigmund sent her. And she sure hadn’t logged on to Excelsior, not when she was being (oh so delightfully) sexed six ways to Sunday. Time to pay the piper, though. Mentally steeling herself, Taylor checked her phone. Text message after text message appeared, and she winced, flipping through them. Each one was Sigmund frantically worrying about her. How it wasn’t like her to not show up online. Asking her to send him a line if she was all right. A lot of the messages were repeated, as if he wanted to make sure he was getting through to her, or in case she hadn’t received it the last six times he’d sent it.
Oy.
She clicked through all the messages by the time she’d walked back to her apartment, and immediately sat down and pulled up her email. All of last night’s enjoyment and pleasure was gone, replaced by nagging guilt. What if this was what sent Sigmund’s fragile mind over the edge? She’d never be able to live with it if he hurt himself over her. The unhappy feeling twisted in her gut as she pulled up her email program and read the messages he’d sent her. Each one was more miserable than the last.
With a sense of dread, she logged on to Excelsior, her character appearing in the realm. Brilliant green trees and a verdant forest surrounded her Dragon Rider, and another character zoomed past the spot she was standing in. Her character was logged on to Kraaka Village, which was weird considering she could have sworn she’d logged off in Cityport. Maybe there’d been a global reset of the realm that she was unaware of. Curious, she scrolled through her Message of the Day.
You have 198 days played and last logged on 6 hours ago.
Er. Six hours ago, she was pretty sure Loch was filling up condom number two while inside her. She squeezed her thighs together at the thought. Bad Taylor. Don’t think about hot guy you just bailed out on. You have other problems. No time for nookie. Playtime is over. Shame, too, because she’d loved playtime.
Sigmund: Hi
Immediately, she tensed. She hated that she felt so anxious the moment Sigmund contacted her, but she didn’t know what to do about him.
Sigmund: Before you ask, I logged on as you a few hours ago just to make sure your account was working. I got Esme to give me the password.
Esme was their guild healer, and had Taylor’s password only for emergencies. Now that Sigmund had it? She made a mental note to change it immediately.
HaveANiceTay: Okay, thanks. Yeah, everything is working.
Sigmund: Are you okay?
Sigmund: Where have you been?
Sigmund: I’ve been worried sick!
HaveANiceTay: Something came up and I had to be away for a day or so. Sorry.
Sigmund: What came up?
Sigmund: Are you all right?
Sigmund: Were you sick?
HaveANiceTay: Not sick, just . . . a friend came into town. Remember I told you about that?
Sigmund: Yeah but you said you’d be online last night and you weren’t.
Sigmund: And some of the guys from Liege of Darkness said they saw you at the pub with a guy.
Sigmund: Were you on a date???
Oh, boy. She made a mental note to slaughter any Liege of Darkness characters she ran across in the next player-vs-player event.
HaveANiceTay: Not a date. He’s new to the States and he needed company. A friend asked me to show him around the city.
Sigmund: Sounds like a date to me.
Well, it had definitely turned into a date, complete with massive amounts of sex. Taylor’s toes curled at the thought. Still, she couldn’t exactly say that to Sigmund, since he’d formed a rather obsessive attachment over her.
HaveANiceTay: Wasn’t a date. You gonna believe me or them?
And because she wasn’t laying the guilt on thick enough, she added:
HaveANiceTay: I thought we were better friends than that.
She crossed her arms and stared at her screen, waiting. Please, please believe me. He was totally going to lose control if he didn’t, and then she didn’t know what she’d do. The thought of spending the next eight hours encouraging him not to hurt himself made her want to run away from her computer screaming. But she couldn’t. She was trapped, a captive audience, held prisoner by his threats to wound himself or do something drastic if she left.
Sigmund: Okay. Sorry. Guess I’m just panicking.
Taylor let out a long breath.
HaveANiceTay: No big deal.
Sigmund: I just worried.
HaveANiceTay: I know. I was out late because he was super clueless and then I just went straight to bed. Sorry about missing the raid.
Sigmund: You’d tell me if you were dating someone, wouldn’t you?
HaveANiceTay: Does it matter if I am? We’re just friends, Sigmund. I’ve told you before—I am not involved with anyone. Still not. I’m not looking for a relationship.
Sigmund: Not even . . . with me?
Dear god, especially not you! But the good thing about the Internet was that it made it easier to soft-pedal things and make them sound not quite so harsh.
HaveANiceTay: Not even with you. :)
Sigmund: And not the guy you were with?
HaveANiceTay: We’re just friends, I promise. He’s not looking for a relationship and neither am I.
Now, a fiercely sexy hookup, that was different. Taylor looked over at her bed, still rumpled from last night’s fun. She wondered: If she put her nose to the pillows, would they smell like Loch’s wonderful musky scent? Her thighs tightened again.
Sigmund: Is it weird that I’m glad to hear that?
HaveANiceTay: I’ve got too much going on. Work’s a beast and the guild takes up all my time.
HaveANiceTay: I barely get out of the house as it is!