Enter Player Name: Noah

"Noah?" Riley's melodic voice beaconed from next to me.

I patted down the creases on my shirt and twisted around, following the siren-like call. "What's" — her fingers coiled around my collar and yanked — " uuuuU—"

I was...

Stunned. Dumfounded. Flabbergasted. And whatever else my wildered mind could formulate. The sensual motion of Riley's soft lips moving against mine — down right froze my brain. The taste of cherry lipstick graced the tip of my tongue. I wanted to glide mine inside her wet cave and relish in the sweetness.

I should have pulled away.

It was the right choice.

It was a bad idea to get involved.

She was my neighbor.

All those logical reasons, yet, the primal part of my brain wanted to indulge in the intense attraction between us. It demanded that I take and devour her inviting lips. That I seize her chin in my hands and match her desire ten-fold.

She nibbled at the bottom of my lips, and my resolve shattered into nothing. All the will to stop pecked away by the graze of her teeth.

I went in for the kill. Ready to kiss Riley with so much passion, her legs would tremble and she would beg for more. I was right before — she was the devil. And she needed to repent for the wildfire her devious and seductive actions ignited within me.

Two hands pushed back on my chest, halting my charge. I retracted in a flash. Did I do something wrong? I tried to unscramble my mind and searched the last few seconds for any actions that offended her.

"See, nothing," Riley reaffirmed.

Her hands tapped my chest, flattening the folds on my dark shirt that she created. Her cheeks painted rose, yet she wore an unfazed, confident smile. Did this woman not realize she just teased the breath out of me?

My chest hitched uncomfortably, nerved by her poker face. I dislodged a rock from my throat and said, "Did you just kiss me to prove a point?"

"You deserved it." Her tone struck a prideful manner.

It hit me like a bullet train. She didn't kiss me because of a sudden desire to do so. But to prove that my teasing didn't affect her. My pride howled like a wounded wolf that became the prey. I scoffed; it's not like I cared. My chest tightened as I scrubbed my mind off her delicious plump lips and how wonderful they felt. I would have to swallow a bar of soap to eradicate the memory.

I combed my hair back and winked. "Yeah, I guess. I'll stop with the teasing."

It's not like I wanted it to be more anyways. Sure, Riley was hot. And sweet. And had a killer sense of humor. But I had kissed countless girls in my life just for the fun of it. This was no different.

"Noah?" she called.

"Hum?"

"Did you hear what I said?" Riley asked, head tilted slightly.

"No, sorry." I cleared my throat. "I got a little distracted."

"By what?"

By you.... "It's nothing, what's up?"

Her chocolate eyes wavered to my dining table. "Well, you've been so nice to me, and I want to repay that. Would you like me to take a look at your computer?"

"My computer?" I mouthed. Smooth Noah, smooth.

"Yeah, you know." Her eyebrow arched and the corner of her lips tilted up as she pointed at the corpse with her nose. "That thing that I murdered, well, at least according to you." Riley snorted, poking fun at my 'over' reaction.

I tisked. In my glorious opinion, I didn't react quite enough. Granted, I did almost hire a priest to exorcise the demon living next door. "Cream Puff" — I spoke with an accusing tone— "you might as well have murdered my only child. Treat this with the severity it deserves." I waved my finger in her face, giving her the meanest look I could muster.

Her shoulders shook as she repressed a rumble of laughter.

"Well, I'm gonna go take a look at your heir. In the meantime, be a well-behaved fake-boyfriend and find me another nickname." Riley flicked my nose before swiftly getting up and making her way over to my computer.

I don't think I have ever had anyone flick my nose before.

"You wound my heart. That nickname means a lot to me." I approached her and leaned against the table. I watched her examine all the pieces, one by one. It was adorable how immersed in it she got. Her fingers traced every wire and chip as she turned them in her soft hands.

"Oh, really?" she asked, but her attention was not on me.

Riley picked up the computer's motherboard and turned it in her hands. She bit her bottom lip, releasing them with a pop. It made it hard not to focus on them. Especially now that I knew how they felt. This was like any gamer's fantasy: a smoking hot girl that was into computers. It left me wondering what else she was knowledgeable about.

"Yeah, it was the nickname that came out of the night that you inspired me," I said, remembering to buy soap. Bleach too, to clean my mind.

She stopped, and her gaze turned to me. Her lips pressed together and head tilted, face full of skepticism. "What are you talking about?"

"I am working on building my own gaming company. The day we met at the bar, I got some bad news about an investment I needed, so I felt defeated — almost threw in the towel. I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but the way you tackle all your problems told me that I needed to stop being a baby about mine."

"You mean my alcoholism?" she asked. As always, with that joking smile. A beautiful joking smile. One that could captivate the world.

"With perseverance and lots of humor. Really the alcoholism is just a plus." We chuckled again and unconsciously leaned towards each other. "So, what's the diagnosis, Doc?" My fingers itched to trace the edge of the table and inch closer.

She combed her tree-nut hair behind her ears and dramatically wagged her eyebrow. "Oh, are we roleplaying now?"

"I wasn't sure how to bring it up" — I leaned in closer and whispered — "but I think our fake relationship needs some spicing up."

She chuckled. And blushed. Yes, she blushed. She pulled back and twirled the motherboard in her hands again. "Well, the patient is pretty much fucked."

"Not in a good way, I presume?" I winked. I couldn't help it.

"No." She rolled her eyes, ignoring my innuendo. "The motherboard is useless. You could try to salvage some of the smaller components that didn't get damaged, but at this point, you are better off getting a completely new one." She tossed the motherboard on the table, emphasizing the futility of attempting CPR — computer part resuscitation.

"Yeah, I figured." I took a deep breath. It was disheartening to hear what I was avoiding acknowledging. "How do you know so much about computers?"

"I was really into them as a kid. I would make my mom take broken ones home all the time so that I could fix them. Ohh...You would get a kick out of this" — she tapped my chest with her fist, mimicking a knocking motion— "I wanted to be a game designer at some point?"

"Really! What changed?"

"I was all set up to take a nice entry-level job as a game developer." Her smile turned stale, but she forced the corners to remain twisted up. "But then the whole thing with my parents happened, so I had to choose a safer job. Now I spend my days running code to make sure rich people get richer."

A light bulb lit up.

I took a step back. "Wait." I waved my hand over her face. "You mean to tell me you are a trained game developer?"

"Yep."

"This is AMAZING!" I grabbed Riley by her shoulders. She jolted back, startled by the sudden rupture of energy. Yet, I did not care. Pure excitement coursed through my bones. "Riley, I have a proposition for you?"

Her right eyebrow rose, "Oka....y?"

"But first, I want you to know that this is unrelated to my father's help." I swatted my hand across to drive the point. "Regardless if you say yes or no, just know you will still have 100% of my help. Okay?"

"Get on with it. You are worrying me." She shifted on her feet.

"I need people to work for my start-up, and it's hard to hire people with the qualifications I want. If you would be so kind as to lend me your skills, I could divert the salary."

Her nose wrinkled. "You want me to work for you?"

"Yes, it wouldn't be full-time. I know you have a job, so whatever time you can spare, I will take it. I just need your help to get the development part going. Until I can get more loans to build it up." I held my breath and tugged at her waist. "So, what do you say?"

She scratched her arm and looked down at the broken computer parts. "I guess I do owe you some 'good,'" she answered.

"As I said, Riley, you don't have to."

Her right hand landed on my chest, halting my words. With a gentle and reassuring smile on her face, she said, "I would love to help you, Noah."

"YES!" I screamed from the top of my lungs. I wrapped my arms tightly around her waist and holstered her up against my chest. "God, I could kiss you right now." The words slipped out. Realization hit me, and I let her body glide down against my body — big mistake. "Metaphorically speaking, I mean," I explained.

She stepped out of my arms, a light blush colored her tanned cheeks. "So, how do we start?"

"I need to get some equipment for the office I'm renting for the start-up. Would you happen to have any free time this week to help? Since you will be using some of it, it would be helpful to get your opinion."

Riley pulled out her phone and scrolled through her calendar. It was a perfectly organized, chaotic mess of colored time slots. "I am free Friday afternoon. The office is going on a weekend trip, but I can't make it. We could go then."

"Perfect!"

She smiled and put her phone in her back pocket. "Well, I am gonna get going. I promised Jay I'll help him with his homework before bed."

"I'll do my fake-boyfriend duty of walking you to the door," I proclaimed, offering my hand out for her to take.

Her fingers slipped into my hand, a perfect fit.

"Oh sir, how generous of you," she exclaimed, letting me guide her hand around my bicep.

I resisted the urge to point out how her delicate fingers slid against my muscle. "Well, I am a very generous lover," I said, walking her to the door. If there was something I was sure of, I never left a lady wanting.

"Don't look so proud of yourself." Riley elbowed me right in between my ribs. I flinched. For such a small girl, she sure had the strength of a truck driver.

We made it to the door, and when she crossed the precipice of my apartment, I released her hand. The lack of her warmth felt chilling against the air. She gently pried her door open, stopping before going in.

"Um, Noah?" Her body turned around, innocently looking at me.

"Yes, Riley?"

A mischievous smile made its way to her lips. "You could use some kissing practice, Sugar Plum!"

With that, she closed her door.