He shrugged and sent me a sidelong glance. “Do you have to? The point is that I did.”

I shook my head. “Adam—”

He pointedly looked at his watch. “You’ve got an early shift tomorrow if I remember correctly. And I have to get to the complex.” He opened his door, slammed it and came around to mine. I slowly exited, glowering up at him, but he studiously avoided my gaze.

At the doorstep when he bent to kiss me, I turned my face away. I wasn’t ready to give up yet. “This is a game for you, isn’t it?” I whispered, my teeth clenching.

He frowned. “You’re twisting things again.”

“Why am I going with you to the Caribbean?”

“Because I want you to,” he said without hesitation.

“But why? We aren’t—” He bent and cut me off when his mouth landed on mine. His large hand wrapped around my jaw, holding me in place while he explored my mouth with his. When he pulled away, his eyes held mine in a mesmerizing stare. I could see the reflection of myself in there—like staring into two tiny dark mirrors.

“I’m not going to discuss this with you now.”

“Will you discuss it with me later?”

His face took on a pensive expression. “Yes. Definitely. After the trip.”

I opened my mouth to protest. We weren’t going to see each other after the trip. But I remembered at the last minute that I hadn’t explicitly told him that. It was my sole decision. And I hadn’t told him about that or returning the money. So I clamped my mouth shut and said good-bye.

He had secrets, yes. But so did I.

Chapter Thirteen

The Perks of Being a Hot Chick…Posted on the blog of Girl Geek on May 31, 2013

According to statistics, the players of MMORPGs skew much higher toward the male population than the female. But have you ever wondered why, in spite of that fact, there are so many bikini-clad females running around the plains of Yondareth in search of adventure?

There is a young man in my guild who will only play female characters. Every time he is asked why in guild chat, he gives a different answer. Sometimes it’s because he wanted to play in-game with a friend (a female) who had a jealous boyfriend and he didn’t want her to get in trouble. Sometimes he says it’s because if he has to stare at his avatar all day, he’d rather be staring at a lithe, sexy tree elf in a chainmail teddy than at some idiot, doofy dude with a tin can on his head for armor.

But, dear readers, I think I’ve gotten to the bottom of the real reason why he plays girls instead of guys. I have conducted a “scientific experiment” and the results are conclusive. Chicks get more free stuff as beginning characters than their male counterparts.

Case in point: Borrowing my friend’s laptop, I created two different toons on the same server, both exactly the same but for one tiny detail. One was a sexy, scantily-clad underdark elf named SmokinHawt, and the other was a gangly almost adolescent-looking tree elf male who carries a branch as a shield, named Poindexter. In the same newbie area, chopping away at bats, spiders and skeletons, I ran them both around, asking for free stuff.

“Buff pls?” I’d ask the high-level healers for their blessings. Nine times out of ten, SmokinHawt received their beneficence. Seven times out of ten, poor Poindexter was ignored.

“Got any free stuff?” I’d ask while gesturing with submissive actions, bowing, scraping and saluting. SmokinHawt was fully clad in level-appropriate armor within the first hour. Poindexter was given a rusty sword and a dented shield after a few hours of begging.

It didn’t stop there. SmokinHawt got gold, quest items and general pats on the back—along with flirtatious gestures and in-game messages. Poindexter was neglected and died approximately thirteen times.

Thus, after having conducted this thoroughly-unscientific double-blind study, I have come to the conclusion that the young men who prefer playing female toons do so for purely mercenary reasons. Because their bank accounts fill up much faster that way!

Gold diggers of Yondareth, beware: I am on to you!

***

We flew first class to St. Lucia a few days later. And I was thankful for that because it was a long trip. From LAX to Miami alone was almost six hours with a layover and then another eight hours on to the Hewanorra International Airport in St. Lucia.

As our plane approached the lush Caribbean island, the first thing I noticed was the gorgeous colors of the water—brilliant blues and bright greens—and then the jagged, pointed mountains, called pitons, all covered in green. And finally the rooftops, each one a different color—turquoise, orange, copper green, red. I sat up with excitement, gazing out the window, my mouth hanging open. I’d always dreamed of seeing the Caribbean. And here I was, stepping into the dream once again.