The gaming chair let out a soft groan as you shifted, trying to balance your laptop on the desk in front of you. Quinn barely budged beneath you, her legs planted firmly, one arm draped loosely around your waist as if it was the most natural thing in the world to have you perched on her lap. Her thumb lazily brushed back and forth against the fabric of your hoodie, a subconscious gesture that made it even harder to focus.

You hesitated a second before clicking into the save file — the one you weren’t sure you should show her, the one you had accidentally spent hours perfecting, secretly tweaking little details over time like it mattered way more than it should have.

“Okay, don’t laugh,” you muttered, barely above a whisper, glancing at her from the corner of your eye. Your voice betrayed you, thin and unsure, as your heart hammered in your chest.

Quinn didn’t answer right away. Instead, she leaned in a little closer, her chin brushing the top of your shoulder, her breath warm against your skin in a way that made you tense up — not from discomfort, but something far worse. On the screen, the world you built bloomed to life: a cozy neighborhood under a cloudless sky, a perfect little house with a wraparound porch — and two Sims standing out front, unmistakably modeled after you and her.

“You made me live in a house with you?” she said eventually, her voice lilting with amusement, a teasing smile curling her lips. Her arms tightened slightly around your waist, a casual little squeeze that made your heart skip and your whole body betray you by leaning back into her.

“Bit forward, don’t you think?”

Your face heated instantly. You scrambled to click into another menu, desperate to seem unfazed, but your fingers fumbled slightly against the trackpad. “Shut up. You’re lucky — your Sim’s living the dream,” you shot back, but the words came out a little too fast, a little too defensive, the kind of thing that would only make her smirk harder.

Quinn let out a snort, low and disbelieving, and rested her forehead lightly against your shoulder like she couldn’t even be bothered to hide her laughter. Her body shook subtly with the effort of holding it in, and you swore you could feel the grin spreading across her face even without seeing it.