Taboo Online

Chapter 26: We did it together

Lauren’s expression tightened. She lowered her hand but did not step away, leaving Luke trapped between her and the kitchen entrance.

"You look exhausted. Don’t be stubborn with me. Tell me if you’re feeling unwell."

"I’m okay."

"You’ve been working hard since you arrived, but you don’t have to prove yourself every morning."

Her hand returned to his cheek, this time with a lighter touch.

"Go back to bed and sleep a little longer, all right?"

The softness in her voice tightened something in Luke’s chest. She was already willing to go easy on him, even though he had worked at the café for only a few days. His father would have called him lazy for sleeping five minutes past sunrise.

Lauren treated exhaustion as something worth caring about.

His guilt deepened.

Luke had worked since he was old enough to carry boxes and wash dishes. His body had adapted to hard labor years ago.

The café had not exhausted him. He was tired because he had spent half the night thinking about the woman now touching his cheek.

Luke shook his head, forcing Lauren’s hand to slip away.

"Ah, it’s really fine. I’m okay. I don’t want to sleep any longer."

She studied him for another moment, then reluctantly gave him some space.

"If you become dizzy or start feeling sick, you’re going back upstairs."

"I will."

Lauren folded her arms beneath her breasts and raised one eyebrow.

Luke straightened a little under the look.

"I mean it."

"Good."

He searched for something safe to say before she questioned him any further.

"Maybe I could start work earlier today. Then I could finish earlier too."

Lauren returned to the counter, though she continued watching him from the corner of her eye.

"Why are you so eager to finish?"

"I wanted to play the game again."

The answer slipped out before Luke considered how it might sound.

Lauren’s fingers paused above the fruit. She picked up one strawberry, held it over the plate for a second, then placed it back in almost the same spot.

"Ah... did you?"

Luke still caught the excitement in her voice.

"Yesterday was really fun."

Lauren smoothed the front of her apron and turned toward him, trying to look casually interested.

"What happened?"

Luke stared at her.

"You bought the systems without reading anything about the game?"

"I read the advertisement."

"That barely explained anything."

"It explained that we could use magic and explore dungeons."

"You said you had paperwork."

"I do."

Lauren picked up the plate and rearranged two pieces of fruit that had already been sitting neatly beside each other.

"That doesn’t mean I’m not curious about what happened."

Luke pulled out a chair and sat at the table. His embarrassment eased as he remembered the dungeon, and for the first time that morning, he looked directly at her.

"It was incredible. I could actually feel everything. The wind, the stone beneath my feet, even the weight of the spear. When I used Reinforce, my entire body became stronger."

Lauren’s gaze briefly dipped toward his lap.

She immediately looked back at the fruit and pressed the flat of the knife against the cutting board.

Luke did not notice.

"It felt amazing being able to fight back against so many enemies," he continued. "I wasn’t very good at first. Actually, I was terrible."

"You survived."

"Barely."

"You must have done something right."

Luke’s shoulders relaxed, and a faint smile appeared.

"I wouldn’t have managed it alone. I was paired with another player who could see the future."

Lauren rested one hip against the counter.

"That sounds useful."

"It was, but she had trouble controlling it. She saw too many possible futures at once, and neither of us knew how to fight."

A smile tugged at Lauren’s lips.

"That must have caused problems."

"She kept mixing up left and right."

Lauren lowered her face toward the cutting board, hiding most of her expression behind a loose strand of hair.

"I’m sure she was under a lot of pressure."

"She also told me to roll in one direction, then claimed she meant the other one."

The knife stopped moving.

Luke continued describing the fight, and Lauren occasionally nodded while pretending to focus on breakfast. He told her about the smaller monsters, the truth penalties, and how they slowly learned to work together, but he carefully avoided explaining why the dungeon had punished him during his first conversation with Yvonne.

Lauren noticed the omission.

"What did you lie about?"

Luke’s smile vanished.

"What?"

She set the knife beside the fruit and leaned back against the counter.

"You said the dungeon punished lies. What did you lie about?"

"It wasn’t important."

Lauren watched him rub his palm against his thigh beneath the table. The corner of her mouth lifted.

"Mhm."

Luke froze.

Yvonne made the same sound whenever she cornered him into admitting something.

Lauren tilted her head, and the loose strand of black hair slid across her cheek.

"Luke?"

He stared at the mole near her lips again. For one strange moment, he imagined a glowing blindfold covering her blue eyes.

It suited her far too well.

Then Lauren tucked the strand behind her ear and returned to slicing fruit. Once she did, she looked like Miss Lauren again.

Luke cleared his throat.

"I told my partner that her appearance didn’t surprise me."

Lauren slowed the movement of the knife.

"And that was a lie?" freeweɓnovel.cøm

"Yes."

She kept her eyes on the strawberry beneath the blade.

"Why did she surprise you?"

Luke shifted in his chair and tucked one foot behind the other.

"Her outfit was unusual."

Lauren cut the strawberry in half, then in half again, although the pieces no longer matched the rest.

"How unusual?"

"Very."

Her lips pressed together, but the smile still showed at the corners.

"Was it ugly?"

Luke’s head lifted immediately.

"No."

The speed of his answer made Lauren’s fingers curl around the knife handle.

She waited a moment before asking, "Then what was wrong with it?"

"It didn’t cover much."

Lauren turned slightly toward the counter, giving him a view of her back while she steadied her breathing.

"I understand."

"I don’t think you do."

"I think I can imagine."

Luke doubted that.

Miss Lauren would probably be shocked if she ever saw Yvonne’s outfit. The suit barely covered her breasts, climbed high over her hips, and left most of her ass exposed.

He definitely did not want Lauren knowing how strongly he had reacted to it.

Lauren set the knife down before she reduced the remaining fruit to pieces too small to serve.

"You said she could see the future?"

Luke nodded.

"She helped me a lot. I learned how to read some of the monsters’ movements because of her. We even created a linked skill together."

Lauren turned too quickly, bumping her hip against the edge of the counter.

"A linked skill?"

She covered the mistake by picking up the plate, but Luke was already looking at her curiously.

"The advertisement mentioned partner abilities," she explained. "I was wondering how they worked." freewebnovel.cσ๓

"We had to agree on the same future. She found one where I hit the boss’s weak point, and I had to make it happen."

Lauren carried the fruit to the table and set it between them.

"And did you?"

Luke sat a little straighter.

"Yeah."

Pride filled his voice, and Lauren’s hands stilled on the edge of the plate. She had lived through the same battle, yet hearing him talk about it made the victory feel new again.

"We defeated the boss together," he said. "I couldn’t have done it without her."