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Ji Xiang Kong was glad for the distraction that teaching Qiu Ying brought, though he hadn’t counted on a second distraction in the form of his greatest rival.
He had brought Qiu Ying to the VIP room of Meng Lu Ren for a reason: so he could get away from the whispers and the stares. He knew he was a hot topic in the gamer world. It couldn’t be avoided. But he’d thought he could manage the gossip just for an hour or two. He should have been able to, if Pei Xi didn’t keep showing up.
The new captain of Legends was a mystery to Xiang Kong. The other player’s stoic expression rarely revealed anything that allowed Xiang Kong to understand him. Only their recent confrontations had hinted that Pei Xi wasn’t as happy with his new captaincy as he should be, and Xiang Kong couldn’t figure out why. Pei Xi had gotten everything he’d wanted: a lucrative contract, the captaincy of Legends, and Xiang Kong ousted and teamless.
But maybe, Xiang Kong was beginning to think, something else was going on.
“There are so many strawberries,” Qiu Ying raved about the cake that Pei Xi had inexplicably brought them free of charge. “It looks different from what I saw on the menu!”
Xiang Kong paused with his fork above the cake and really looked at it. It did look overloaded, as though several extra slices had been added to it. Surely Summer wouldn’t have added so many, especially on a complimentary cake.
Summer didn’t add the strawberries and you know it.
Xiang Kong didn’t want to poke around the edges of the thought that simmered in the back of his head. It was unbelievable, among other things. It also left him uneasy.
“Have you found a new team yet?”
Pei Xi’s question was more of a demand. The way he stood beside Xiang Kong’s chair, looming over him, felt threatening.
“Why are you still here?” Xiang Kong asked him, equal parts amused and incredulous. “And why does the team I go to matter to you?”
“Is this because you’re unwanted by the teams?” Pei Xi countered, and it took all of Xiang Kong’s self-control not to flinch at a truth he was reluctant to face. Gaming was his life. If he couldn’t do it anymore…he didn’t know what he would do with himself. It was a terrifying situation to contemplate.
His appetite killed, he set his fork down. “Aren’t you a little out of line?” Asshole.
Pei Xi scoffed. “I’m worried that the next season won’t hold any good rivals for me.”
Xiang Kong stared at him and shook his head. The arrogance of the other guy amazed him. It also made him slightly ill to think that his beloved teammates--his brothers--would have to work under the direction of such a stiff, conceited, ass. It was another wound in a soul already bearing too many, and Xiang Kong swallowed hard, afraid that his poker face would crack and his greatest rival would see how much he was actually suffering.
“Thanks for putting me on a pedestal,” he said tightly, “but shouldn’t you be training with my brothers instead of stalking about here?” Stalking me?
“Shouldn’t you be looking for your next team instead of going on a date here?” Pei Xi shot back, and Xiang Kong stiffened as that unwanted thought in the back of his mind pushed forward, demanding attention.
He said something back to Pei Xi, driving the other player away. Qiu Ying said something, too, but Xiang Kong couldn’t focus on her. He couldn’t eat the cake that Pei Xi had so obviously prepared just for him. He’d finally gotten his distraction from Legends, but it wasn’t one he could have predicted. It was troubling if true, and he had no idea how to handle it.
Qiu Ying ate the rest of the cake while Xiang Kong picked at it. He encouraged her to try another round of gaming, but he couldn’t focus on her play. After she’d died for the second time, he stood up while her character was respawning and muttered, “I have to go to the restroom. Keep going. I’ll be right back.”
He walked back into the main room. Eyes fell on him. The murmurs started up again. He ignored it all, looking for a tall, thin figure. But Pei Xi was nowhere in sight. Annoyed now, he headed for the restroom. Maybe a splash of water would clear his head and get him thinking clearly again.
But when he entered the hall where the restrooms were located, he discovered that the cleaning crew was working on a mess inside.
“Try the employee restroom,” the aggravated cleaner told him.
“Where is it?” he asked.
The man motioned vaguely down the hall. Considering what he was probably cleaning up, Xiang Kong didn’t have the heart to press him for better directions. He wandered down the hall until he came to a door marked Staff Only. When he pushed it in, he found himself in another hall, this one darker.
He walked along and turned a corner and ran smack into a broad chest. Big hands gripped his shoulders. “Watch it!”
Xiang Kong realized who had hold of him and pushed at the hands. “Let go.”
The hands tightened. Pei Xi stared down at him, surprised. “Xiang Kong.”
“Yeah, let go.”
He was shocked when his back hit the wall and Pei Xi stepped up to him.
“What the hell?”
“You need to find a team,” Pei Xi told him.
Xiang Kong didn’t like the height difference Pei Xi hand on him. He definitely didn’t like the hands pinning his shoulders to the wall. “You sound obsessed,” he said derisively. “If you’re so worried about me competing, maybe you shouldn’t have helped sabotage my team.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Xiang Kong rolled his eyes. “Sure. You and Manager Zhao—this was your plan all along, wasn’t it?”
He winced as Pei Xi’s grip tightened. He had huge hands. “This wasn’t my plan. I wanted you as my teammate.”
Xiang Kong laughed. He let his head fall back against the wall so he could look up at the taller player. “You’re joking. And if you’re not, you’re stupid. You let Zhao manipulate you to get what he wanted: me off the team.”
“I’ll get you back on the team,” Pei Xi said, frowning,
The voice was getting louder in Xiang Kong’s head. “You won’t be able to. Like I said, you were stupid, and now you’ve ruined everything.”
He had no way to read Pei Xi. The other man was inscrutable to him. But in the end, the language of Pei Xi turned out to be easy enough to interpret. Xiang Kong let out a gasp as the other player suddenly took hold of him by the jaw.
“What are you doing?” Xiang Kong demanded, though he knew the answer even as he pressed himself backward. There was nowhere to retreat to with the wall at his back.
“I want you on my team,” Pei Xi repeated doggedly. Xiang Kong wondered if that was how Pei Xi was justifying his behavior, if he was hiding behind his own lie.
“I’m not going back to Legends,” Xiang Kong gritted out, then clamped his mouth shut in shock when a thumb brushed across his bottom lip.
Pei Xi froze, too, staring at Xiang Kong’s mouth. He looked terrified. Finally, some emotion from him. But Xiang Kong would have preferred that it not come at his expense, and especially not this way.
Get off me, he thought at Pei Xi. He was afraid to say the words aloud, afraid to open his mouth with Pei Xi staring so fixedly at it. The only person who’d ever stared at him this hard was Qiu Ying when she thought he wasn’t looking. He knew she was interested. He knew what lust looked like. It looked like how Pei Xi was staring at him now.
“I’ll get you on the team,” Pei Xi whispered. His eyebrows twisted as though he were in pain. Then he lowered his face.
Xiang Kong strained away, but he couldn’t go far with Pei Xi’s holding his chin in place. He clenched his eyes shut as Pei Xi brushed his cheek against his. Ji Xiang Kong could feel and his hear own breathes gusting out of him, but he couldn’t control it as lips skimmed down his jawline.
“What are you doing?” he demanded in a strangled voice.
“I’ll get you on my team,” Pei Xi repeated, his breath curling against the corner of Xiang Kong’s mouth.
Xiang Kong jerked when the tip of a tongue touched his lips. He shoved against Pei Xi’s chest. But despite his thinness, Pei Xi still outweighed him and was taller.
“Stop fighting,” Pei Xi ordered, sounding more breathless than the struggle warranted.
Xiang Kong felt something firm press against his abdomen. Panicked, worried, excited—he shoved harder, nearly pushing Pei Xi off. But it wasn’t far enough. He was crushed to the wall again a moment before a mouth slammed over his.
Xiang Kong gasped and immediately a tongue shoved into his mouth. It was so startling, so raw and visceral, that he didn’t think to bite down on it. The heat and wetness of it, not to mention the shocking sensation of someone being aggressive with him, turned his brain to pudding. He forgot to struggle. He forgot to push Pei Xi away. He let out a strangled, embarrassing sound as Pei Xi moved his tongue in him. And down below, Xiang Kong felt himself grow hard.
It was the trigger that brought him to his senses. He brought his knee up sharply, hitting Pei Xi harmlessly in the thigh. It was close enough to the danger area for the taller man to let go and jump back. They stared at each other, both breathing hard. Xiang Kong dragged the back of his hand across his mouth. He could still feel Pei Xi’s tongue in him. He’d tasted like a lollipop.
“I’ll get you on my team,” Pei Xi panted. He ran a shaking hand through his hair. “Don’t worry. Don’t worry about anything.”
Then he turned and ran off down the hall to disappear through a door.
Xiang Kong felt shellshocked. His thoughts refused to fall into an order that made sense to him. Shaken, he began walking in the direction he’d come, heading back to the gaming floor. At the Staff Only door, he paused and took stock of himself. He straightened his shoulders and fixed his rumpled sleeves where Pei Xi had grabbed him. Last of all, he reached down and adjusted his softening cock.
With his familiar cocky smirk on his face, he left the hallway in search of Qiu Ying, hoping that she possessed a kiss that would remind him that he liked girls.