Valhalla

Chapter 4

Asher's POV

She hadn't recognized me. She had looked me straight in the eye and hadn't flinched.

Was I that different when I was wearing my glasses?

I hear Michael calling me and come out of my reverie. I swipe my badge and walk through the entrance gates, joining him behind.

"Today it's training with the team, just training, so you don't put any pressure on yourself or anything, we just want to see your progress and your teamwork. He said to me while passing an arm around my shoulders, advancing at my side until the room which belonged to the team of which I was part.

We had a big contract with this company so we had a team room and an office each even though for the most part it didn't do us much good. I personally used my office to keep documents that took up too much space in my apartment.

I sat down after greeting everyone with a smile and turned on my computer, putting on my headset. Michael takes care of bringing me a bottle of water and the snacks I take between the micro breaks we take at the end of each game.

"Ok guys let's get to work, let's do what we always do and crush it!" said our team captain.

We all answer in unison and start our usual training. Nothing too difficult, just to warm up our fingers and get us into the game. Some of us were coming off a break after winning the last tournament and we didn't want to push ourselves.

My attention was clearly elsewhere and it showed in my game, I was slower and making rookie mistakes, basic mistakes.

"Damn it Asher focus man!"

We end up losing the first game because of me and I grunt, running my hands over my face in frustration.

I was still thinking about her and it was starting to piss me off.

"I know, I know...sorry" I say as I see their eyes turn to me.

"Get a grip buddy, you'll think later."

I nod as I take a sip from my water bottle and then put it back down, returning my attention to my screen, putting my glasses back on.

──・ʚɞ・──

I sit down in the black leather chair, holding my glass of whiskey in my hand and take a sip before dropping my head back in a growl

"fuck" I say with a sigh before closing my eyes.

James laughed as he looked at me, sitting across from me in the second chair, holding his beer in his hands.

"You spend your day playing, it must not be tiring" He said before drinking from his beer, a mocking smile on his face.

James was my oldest friend, since the playground. Over time he became the perfect badboy cliché, the one all the girls dreamed of, except he was nothing like the one in the books. He was a real criminal. His record was far from clean. Assaults, robberies, scams, since we were 14 years old. He had been in and out of prison, but strangely enough he always knew where to stop to avoid the maximum sentences. Despite this, he was still a very good friend and I didn't want to cut ties with him.

"James...remember the girl from the club? The one I was talking to before we went out?"

"The one you banged in the toilet?"

"No silly, the other one, the black one" Finn said as he lit his cigarette, sitting on the pool table a little further from us.

"Aaaah her, yeah well what? You jerk off to her and you think about her 24/7?"

They all laugh when they hear it as I roll my eyes as I straighten up, looking at him more seriously while running a hand through my hair.

"I'm going to work with her." I say more than seriously, which gets their attention.

Theo walks over, arching an eyebrow and settling on the arm of James' chair, making him grunt.

"What do you mean?" He asks, crossing his arms against his chest.

"They had a contest to get a muse, for the new game, her friend entered her in it and through fate she won the contest...."

They look at each other before smirking, looking back at me.

"You made her win the contest. Does she know she's going to work with you?"

I nod my head no before pulling my leg up onto my thigh, still drinking from my glass

"She bumped into me today but she didn't recognize me it seems"

"You look extremely different from when she first saw you. Your hair color, your glasses, your style of dress..." replies Finn while smoking his cigarette, a smile on his lips.

Theo nods his head before resting his gaze on me.

"He's right, maybe it's not so bad, you can try something with her. She has the image of the guy in the club and when she saw you again she must have thought you were just another gamer. Imagine her surprise when she realizes that it' s one person."

I sketch a smile upon hearing this and finish my drink, setting it down.

" That' s not stupid....I hadn't thought about it like that." I reply, looking thoughtful.

James laughed as he looked at me, shaking his head

"Damn it Asher, I feel like you're up to something here."

I laughed as I looked at him, my arms resting on the armrests of the chair.

I did have an idea in mind. I clearly liked her, and the fact that she probably thought I was just an average gamer made me want to prove her wrong even more. I wanted to see her on her knees in front of me, completely naked begging me to give her what she wanted. I wanted to hear her moan my name, to see her tremble between my fingers, to see her shiver with each of my caresses.

I wanted her and not someone else.