Page 48 of Game Misconduct

“Oh shit!” he said, frantically scrambling for a way to explain it. “I must have piled stuff up on the um, desk and it was so precarious it, uh, fell over.”

“I’m sorry,” his father said with a grimace. “Ididinterrupt.”

“No! No! There’s no one in here?—”

“Leif,” Aksel said, sounding exasperated. “When have you ever lied to me? And why are you doing it now? I certainly don’t care if you have someone over. You’re a grown man and what you do in your personal life is your business. I didn’t mean to interrupt. Please, go back to uh, your guest.”

“It’s not …” Leif’s voice trailed off because it was true. He never lied to his dad. “Shit. I’m sorry I lied.”

Aksel reached out and patted his shoulder. “Hey, it’s okay, son. This is awkward, I get it.”

“Yeah, just a bit,” Leif admitted with a sigh.

“So, I’ll let you go. Sorry for the interruption. I should have texted before I dropped by. I’ll do so in the future. Enjoy your night.”

Leifreallydidn’t want his dad to tell him to have good sex. And that was kinda what he was doing, right?

“Sex is a natural part of life, you know,” Aksel said with a laugh, clearly reading his discomfort. “You don’t need to stress about this.”

“I’ll, uh, try,” Leif said, rubbing the back of his neck.

Clearly sensing Leif wanted him gone, Aksel stepped back. “I really am sorry. G’night.”

“Night, Dad.”

Leif closed the door behind him with a sigh, then locked it. He slumped back against the door, closing his eyes and breathing for a moment. Fuck! Had that really happened?

When he opened his eyes again, he jumped at the sight of Tanner peeking around the wall.

“Is the coast clear?” he whispered.

Leif scowled and walked toward him. “No thanks to you!”

“I’m sorry!” Tanner straightened and stepped toward him, looking miserable. “I know you told me not to move but I was feeling restless and it was driving me crazy. I thought if I grabbed my phone, it would give me something to do and I wouldn’t get so fidgety but I, uh, forgot I had it plugged in and I kinda knocked over some shit when I tried to reach for it.”

“You don’t say,” Leif said when he spotted his tablet, phone, and charger on the floor by the bed. He bent down to pick them up, then placed them back on the nightstand.

“I didn’t mean to.” Tanner’s voice was weirdly soft.

Leif looked up to see a genuinely upset expression cross Tanner’s face. “I know you didn’t,” he admitted. Tanner was a menace under the best of circumstances, but this was one time Leif was one-hundred-percent sure that Tanner hadn’ttriedto sabotage him.

“Your dad is so cool. He’s … thebestand I don’t want you to lie to him,” Tanner continued, weirdly earnest.

“Yeah, I know.” Leif sighed and slung an arm around Tanner’s waist, guiding him toward the bed. “It’s my own fault. I shouldhave told him that I was busy and that I’d call him later or whatever.”

“You want me to leave?”

“Uhh, no. It’s okay. You can hang out here for a while. I mean, if you want.” Leif shrugged.

“Yeah? Cool.” Tanner flopped onto the bed on his stomach. “It’ll give my phone more time to charge anyway.”

Leif snorted. “I think I have a spare cable you can take with you.”

“Yeah?” Tanner brightened. “Sweet. Thanks!”

Leif grabbed the cable from his laptop bag and tossed it over to Tanner.

He eyed it skeptically. “Really?”