Too Good To Be True?

Chapter 23 Ⅱ

With all of the work we'd done on the house and the way every day had been going by smoothly and quickly it was no surprise that summer was already halfway over. I smiled wistfully out the living room window at the bright blue sky, having loved the beautiful weather we'd been having the past few months, reveling in the summer haze.

I looked back down at my tablet which was resting on my legs, my knees propped up as I was sprawled out across the couch. I took the stylus from between my teeth and started shading the wavy brown hair of the girl I was drawing, humming softly to myself when I heard Angel bounding down the stairs.

"David!" she squealed, jumping over the last two steps and skidding to a stop outside the living room.

I laid the tablet against my chest and looked up at her, matching her bright smile. She looked so cute with her hair in a messy bun and one of my tanktops hanging loosely around her form, her bright blue sports bra peeking out the sides.

"Angel!" I copied teasingly but she was so excited that she hardly noticed.

She scurried into the room and sat on the edge of the coffee table, talking a million words a minute. "Ok, so, I just got off the phone with Cam and Meg, and they're gonna be starting school again next month and so they were thinking about it and they both really want to do a semester of studying abroad. So I sort of joked and said 'well you guys always say you want to come check out the UK' and they were like 'well that's the thing, we were thinking we could go over there and see you guys and your new place' and so I was like-"

I laughed and set my hands on her shoulders, scolding, "Whoa, Angel, remember to breathe."

She gulped in a quick breath before taking off on her tangent again. "So I was like 'omg, you guys should totally come stay with us,' but I knew I had to ask you first, obviously, but they seemed super jazzed about it and so I got super jazzed about it, but of course I get it if you don't want them to, but I just thou-"

I rolled my eyes lightheartedly and leaned over, giving her a quick kiss to cut her off. "Angel, of course they can come stay with us. They're like your family and I know how much you miss them."

Her eyes lit up like a supernova, her perfect teeth beaming at me. "Really?! You're not just saying that 'cause you want to make me happy, are you? Because honestly I get it i-"

"I'm not just saying that," I interrupted, squeezing her shoulder reassuringly. "I think it would be a lot of fun."

She squealed and threw her arms around my neck, placing kisses all over my cheek. "Thank you! I'll go let them know so they can turn in their applications and whatever it is college students do." She went to stand up but as she pulled away, the tablet slid off my chest and onto the carpet, revealing my drawing.

Her brow raised at it quizzically and she picked it up, her smile still as big as California. "Is this another character for your game?"

I blushed and nodded sheepishly, worrying my lip between my teeth as she tilted it back and forth, staring with deep contemplation.

"Is this me?" she asked and I couldn't help but search her voice for disappointment, always anxious about what she'll think of my portrayals of her but I nodded in confirmation.

"Um, yeah, she's based off you..." Her face wasn't giving anything away and I started sweating nervously. "I can scrap it if you don't like it, it was really just for fun..."

"Are you kidding? It's fricking awesome, I love it!"

I let out a sigh of relief and wrapped my arms around her, pulling her onto my lap. Her strawberry-scented hair tickled my nose as she laid her head on my chest, still studying the image intensely.

"What is she exactly? Do you have a name for her yet?"

I glanced at the drawing of the curvy figure with her feathered wings in shades of red and blue, contemplating the questions. "Well, I didn't want to straight up make her an angel, but I guess she's like an angelic fairy of some kind? And I was thinking of calling her Evangeline but that might be too cheesy."

She shook her head, a contentedness settling over her features. "No, it's not cheesy. I think it's perfect." She looked up at me, her blue eyes glimmering mischievously. "So, when am I going to get to play this game of yours, hmm?"

I shrugged, gently kissing her forehead. "Probably never."

Her mouth gaped open before closing into a pout. "You're not funny."

I sighed. "I told you, Angel, I'm not a game developer, I don't know the first thing about animating or how to make all the mechanics I want actually functional. I'm trying to teach myself but I just don't think it's going to happen."

Her lips screwed to the side, eyebrows scrunched in thought. "Could you hire some people to help you?"

"No, I don't think that would work out very well."

"What if you pitched it to a game company?"

My gaze wandered to the window again, the sun having just begun to dip beneath the houses on the other side of the street. Pitch it to a company? Is that really something I could do?

"I don't know, Princess... It's pretty personal, I'm not sure I could give up that much control..."

She shrugged, setting the tablet on the table. "They might be willing to let you oversee everything." Her lips grazed against my cheek and she stood up, looking down at me with a smirk. "You never know unless you try."

I watched her hips sway as she sauntered out of the room, sighing as she disappeared into the kitchen. I grabbed my phone off the table, clicking it on and half heartedly googling British game developers.

I didn't get very far before Angel called, "Do you want spaghetti or pizza for dinner?"

I stared at my phone for another few moments, allowing the idea to really sink in before I clicked it off, swinging my legs over the edge of the couch and stretching before I got up. I walked towards the kitchen, a hopeful smile daring to grace my lips as I replied, "I'll help you, hun."