Page 90 of The Wedding Pact

She lets out a loud laugh. ‘Yeah, you’re no prude, that’s for sure.’

‘Okay then. Let’s do this,’ I say, rubbing my hands together, adrenaline coursing through me.

‘Right. I’ll send you a link for a connected game. One sec.’

A link appears on my screen and I click on it to join her game.

‘I’m in,’ I say.

‘Then let’s go, gamer,’ she says with upbeat irony in her voice.

Mandolin’s Realm

Choose your character name

Raffa-Don’t-Wanna-Be-Alone

Ida Furious

Choose your weapon

Bow & Arrow

Nunchucks

‘Nunchucks? Hardcore.’

‘You know it. I don’t mess around, billionaire.’

‘Clearly.’

‘Okay. Let’s play.’

‘Ready when you are.’

‘I’m always ready.’

‘I don’t doubt it.’

The short, animated intro to the game begins to play and I take a breath, readying myself to take her on.

I have to win this. I’m determined that I do.

The moment the game begins, we find our characters in a mythical realm with the wind howling around us and a wide expanse of barren land laid out before us. There’s a castle in the distance, looming and dark – the destination we need to reach in order to complete the game.

I decide to launch right into what I need to say to her the moment we start moving our characters. This opportunity feels urgent, like I’m on limited time – especially as she’s likely to hand me my arse in this game.

‘You know, I’ve realised that with everything that happened with my mum and dad it’s made it hard for me to trust anyone,’ I say. ‘Especially anyone I have a romantic relationship with. I’m always waiting for them to betray me in some way, I guess. Even if they’ve given me no reason to suspect they will. It’s ingrained in my psyche now, to expect they will anyway.’

‘Hey, at least you know that about yourself,’ she says after a moment. ‘That’s half the battle. You could work on it in therapy, now you’ve got the time to, if you’re beginning to feel that way about someone you care about.’

‘True,’ I agree.

‘Would you be willing to do the work?’ she asks in a hopeful voice.

‘I would for you,’ I say with absolute determination.

‘Really?’