Joe put his feet up on his coffee table as he flicked through the after game stats on his Xbox. “Yeah, good game. You guys going to be online tomorrow night?”

“For sure, laters,” Sam said. A couple of seconds later it flashed up on the TV screen Sam has left the party.

Kevin chuckled. “Actually I’ve got a date. But who knows, if it bombs I might be on here looking for some things to kill.”

Joe smiled. “A date? Seriously, a loser like you?”

“Yeah, well, when you’re watching some noob teabag your corpse tomorrow, think about me getting laid and then decide who the loser it. See ya Joe.”

Kevin signed off and Joe removed his headset with a sigh. He checked the time on his Xbox. Twenty to one. He should get to bed since he had work in the morning. Ah, sod it, a couple more games couldn’t hurt. He entered the game lobby and waited while it found him a free-for-all game.

Eight players filled the slots. Joe scanned down the list trying to figure out each player from their gamer tag; xxSPY-DERxx, probably a decent player but a bit of a tosser; FK1ngURm0m, definitely a tosser, a compulsive corpse humper for sure; TheRealMike, no idea, might be a decent guy, probably an average player; and so on. At the top of the list was his tag CoffeeBean5 (he’d thought that was well clever when he’d come up with it) and at the very bottom LikeanActualGirl. He smiled at the last one. Girl gamers weren’t that rare, but it would look funny when it came up on the screen “you killed LikeanActualGirl” or “LikeanActualGirl” beat you down.

The game started. He gave almost as good as he got, not bad, but nothing special. FK1ngURm0m was predictably unpleasant. A couple of the lower ranked players couldn’t stand the heat and quit out. Typical game really. The chick was pretty good. Well, he was assuming it was a girl, might just be a guy having a laugh with his tag.

After the game he hit the party up button; a couple of the players stayed in the group while some new ones filled the gaps. Actual Girl stayed. Before the next game started he got a message from her.

Got a headset?

Usually he left his headset off playing free for all; listening to a bunch of 12 year old assholes mocking you didn’t add to the experience. He checked the player list. Only Actual Girl had chat turned on so he stuck his headset back on and switched the chat mode to ‘game chat’ so he could hear her.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hi.” The voice on the line was definitely feminine. “How much of an arse was that guy?”

“What, Mr F King?”

“Yeah.”

The game finished loading the next map.

“Looks like we’re going in, see you on the other side,” Joe said.

Her sweet giggle made his stomach flutter and he smiled.

The chat cut out for the duration of the game except when someone died. Every time Joe killed Actual Girl or she got him they exchanged a few quips. He caught himself seeking her out, just so he could snatch another few seconds of her voice.

“Thanks for just standing there, you’re a very considerate target,” he said when he took her down again.

“Ass, I had a spree going with that sniper rifle!”

“Not my fault you don’t watch your back.”

“Well you could watch it for me.”

“Na, more fun this way. We could switch to team after, if you like.”

“Yeah su-”

She respawned and the chat cut off again.

At the end of the game he added her as a friend and they partied up properly and went back in to play a couple of team games.

“What’s your name?” she asked.

“Joe, you?”

“Ah, I get it now. Coffee, love it. I’m Steph.”

They got a decent bit of teamwork going in the game. He was faster and more accurate in a one on one, but Steph knew the levels better and was able to find good spots to pick people off from. So he played bait and she covered him.

“Oh my God that was awesome,” she said as another game finished.

Joe’s heart pounded in his chest from the rush. “I know, right!”

“Think I’m gonna have to call it a night, I’ve got to be up in like five hours.”

Joe looked at his watch. Where the hell had two hours gone?

“Fuck, me too. Umm, do you want to play again tomorrow?”

“It’s a date, night Joe.”

With that she signed off and, for the second time, he slid his headset off and sighed. Wow, she was something. He shut his console down and headed to bed.

He felt so wired he couldn’t sleep. He wondered what Steph looked like, she had a damn sexy voice. Before he knew it, he found himself constructing a fantasy about taking her out. In his mind she was tall and blonde, with smallish, pert breasts and long skinny legs. He imagined bringing her back to his place and took his hardening cock in his hand.

He closed his eyes as fantasy Steph kissed him and took her clothes off. He stroked his cock slowly, imagining it was her hand on him, not his own, and imagining the feel of her moist cunt. Then he pumped himself a little harder and faster imagining the warm, wet pressure of her lips sliding down around the head of his cock, her tongue teasing and squeezing.

Fantasy Steph pushed him down onto his bed and climbed onto him.

“Oh fuck,” he hissed as he shot his load onto the sheets.

The pleasure of orgasm immediately gave way to a wave of guilt. He barely knew her, didn’t even know what she looked like, and there was no way she would want a sad, twenty-three year old virgin wanking over her.

He grabbed some tissues to mop up the mess then rolled over to the other side of the bed. He’d change the sheets tomorrow.

The next day he got home from work, shoved a frozen pizza in the oven, changed his sheets and slumped down on his sofa. His stomach fluttered with anticipation to see if Steph was online.

She wasn’t there yet. He checked out her avatar; something he hadn’t done yesterday. The cheeky little sprite had bright red hair and wore a Halo t-shirt over cargo pants. He smiled, she probably looked nothing like that, but it showed her personality.

Sam (SammySnake) signed on and Joe grabbed his headset.

“Hey dude, how’s it going?”

“Same old, same old, you?”

“Yeah, not bad.”

“Just us tonight then?”

Steph signed in.

“Er, actually I found us a stand in,” Joe said while sending an invite to Steph.

Steph joined the party, Joe introduced her to Sam and the three of them dived into the game. As they got into a groove the points started to rack up more easily.

Joe squirmed in his seat. “Oh my God, did you see me stick that guy in mid-air.”

Steph giggled. “I saw, that was awesome. Ah crap, I got sniped. Go avenge me!”

“Anything for you.” Joe played on with a huge grin on his face; he couldn’t remember having so much fun in the game for ages.

When the round finished they waited for the next one to start while recounting their resounding victory. Joe got a text from Sam.

Feeling a little like the third wheel here, what is it with you two?

Nothing, just met her online last night, isn’t she awesome?

Sure, she’s great, she seems to like you for some reason, lol

You think so?

Oh come on, I’ve never heard anyone flirt so much on Live! I’m gonna quit out and let you two love birds get it on.

With that Sam signed out.

“Where’d your friend go?” Steph asked.

“Not sure, but it doesn’t matter.”

“No, just means I get you all to myself.”

Joe’s mouth went dry. You don’t get to being twenty three and still a virgin if you’re good at talking to girls. For some reason he’d been okay up until now, maybe because she wasn’t actually there and he hadn’t really considered their chats to be flirting… until Sam pointed it out.

“I… er…” he snapped his mouth shut and clenched his fist. Shit!

Steph giggled. “You okay Beans?”

“Fine, fine, sorry. Do you want to play some more?”

“Could do, or we could just chat for a bit.”

“Er, okay.” He dropped out of the game and stretched out on his couch.

“So, where are you?”

“On my couch.”

“No silly, I meant where in the world.”

Joe actually felt his cheeks heating and his stomach fluttering.

“Oh, right, I’m British, I live in Bristol.”

“No shit, seriously?”

“Er, yeah.”

“Me too. I’m at UWE.”

“Small world, huh?”

“Yeah, how old are you, Beans?”

“Twenty-three, you?”

“Twenty, it’s my birthday in two weeks though.”

Joe’s mind raced ahead with possibilities. The very idea that she was so close, that he could, in theory actually meet her, made him tingle all over.

“You gonna be doing anything nice for your birthday?”

“Don’t know, guess I’ll see what comes up.”

They quickly got on to talking about games they liked. Joe suggested they play some puzzle games while they chatted. The conversation moved on to movies and then music and books. He could scarcely believe how much they had in common. He generally thought of himself as a geek and tended not to admit to the things he liked in front of girls, but Steph liked the same things anyway, so he felt no need to hide with her.

He lay on his side, lazily moving shapes around on the screen.

“What do you look like, Joe?” Steph asked, hesitantly.

“Umm, well, okay. I’m kinda short, five-nine. Guess I’m in okay shape, could be better, too much playing games, not enough time at the gym. Short spiky hair, well okay, more scruffy than spiky. Glasses. That enough?”

Steph giggled. “I like that you’re honest.”

“Do you have red hair in real life?” he asked, expecting her to say no.

“Oh, erm, not any more. I did for a while. Now it’s kind of dark brown with blue streaks.”

“Sounds fun.”

“Thanks. I’m kind of average looking I think really.”

“Oh I bet that’s not true.”

“Thanks, you’re sweet. I have to get to bed, didn’t sleep well last night, can we do this again tomorrow?”

“I’d love to.”

They signed off and Joe sat up and let his head loll back on the sofa. She could be so close, he could have seen her in the street before now.

Over the next week and a half they met every night on line, sometimes playing games with Sam and Kevin, sometimes just the two of them. Always the night ended just talking, playing quiet games that didn’t need much thought. Joe found himself dreaming about her, but he resisted the urge to masturbate over her again.

On the second Saturday since they met, they sat together watching TV with their consoles running in the background so they could talk.

“Joe, have you ever done this before?”

“Which bit?”

“Talked to someone you met online like you do with me.”

“No, never.”

“I…I wish I was there with you,” she said quietly.

“So do I.” He’d never felt so relaxed with a girl.

“If I was there, what would you do?”

His stomach turned a flip. “I’d like to hold you, just feel you in my arms while we talked. Sorry, that’s a bit creep ‒ ”

“I want that too,”

“And if I kissed you?” His heart pounded in his chest. He could barely believe he was saying these things to her. He heard her breath on the line get a little heavier and his cock tingled in response.

“I’d kiss you back,” she said.

“Can you imagine my lips on yours?”

“Oh, Joe, I can,” she gasped. The arousal in her voice caused his cock to stiffen further.

“Steph, I love how you sound. You turn me on so much.”

“I do?”

“God yes. I’m sorry I shouldn’t be tell ‒ ”

“You turn me on too, I’m getting so wet talking to you like this.”

Joe was lost for words for a minute. He took a couple of deep breaths. “I wish I could touch you. I want to be with you.”

“We could…umm, have you ever had phone sex?”

“Umm, actually I…” No idiot, don’t tell her you’re a virgin. “No I haven’t, have you?”

“No, but, my housemate does with her boyfriend. She says it’s so hot.”

“Do you want to? With me?” This felt surreal.

“I’m so turned on Joe, tell me what to do.”

“Oh wow. Steph, you’re amazing. I want to make you cum.”

She moaned and his cock hardened fully.

“Will you take your clothes off for me?” he asked.

“Okay. Only if you do though.”

He laughed. “Deal.”

They both had to take their headsets off to get out of their clothes, but soon Joe was lying on his couch listening to teasing ruffles of cloth from her end of the line.

“Okay I’m back,” Steph said.

“I’m naked now Steph and I’m so hard.”

“Touch your cock for me,” Steph said. Her voice shaking.

“I will. Are you sure you’re okay with this?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m naked too, lying on my bed, on top of the duvet.”

He closed his eyes and wrapped the fingers of one hand around his shaft. “You’re so beautiful,” he said.

Steph giggled. “You can’t see me.”

“Sure I can, I have a very clear image in my head.”

“Oh yeah? Well, what am I doing now?”

“Rubbing your tits.” He grinned.

“Oh… um… okay, how did you do that? Have you secretly got a camera in here?”

“I wish! It was just a hopeful guess. Play with your nipples for me, tell me you’re getting them hard and tugging on them.”

Steph gasped and his cock twitched. “That’s it darling. God, I want you so much. Touch yourself, tell me how wet you are.”

“I’m really wet, not sure I’ve ever been this wet before, and I’m aching so badly for you.”

Joe smiled. He may have been a virgin, but he’d had some girlfriends, admittedly not for a while, but still.

“I’m gonna make you cum so hard, Steph,” he said, dropping his voice to a low, husky whisper. “I want to hear you moan my name as you climax. Rub your clit for me. Slowly. Tease yourself.”

“Oh Joe, it feels so good.”

“I want you to imagine it’s my hands on you.”

“I am, I am,” she moaned.

Joe moaned with her, pumping his cock in his fist imagining her tight, wet cunt surrounding him. “Oh Steph, those noises you make are gonna make me cum if you’re not careful,” he teased.

“Good. I want you to cum. I want you to imagine you’re fucking me and cumming deep in my pussy.”

“You’re such a dirty girl, I love it,” he said. “Put your fingers inside yourself.”

“Okay, I’m…ohhh.”

“You’re so sexy, Steph. Rub your g-spot, inside, does it feel good?”

“I er…yeah.” Her voice shook.

“You okay?”

“Um…fine.”

Joe smiled. “Steph?”

“Yeah?”

“Are you a virgin?”

Silence for a minute. “I’m sorry.”

“Shh, why sorry? Steph?”

“What?”

“Me too.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, really.”

“I don’t normally get myself off with my fingers inside, I just rub my clit,” she said, trembling.

“Do something for me then. Push your finger in deep, hook it up towards your stomach and rub that front wall. Can you feel it, darling?”

“I…um…yeah, feels good.”

“Rub your clit with your other hand,”

She moaned and whimpered. “Feels so good,” she cried.

“Keep going, I want you to cum.”

“I’m so close,” she moaned. “Joe, oh my God!”

“Me too.” The sound of her voice went straight through him to his balls and made them tighten. God, she was so sexy.

“Joe,” she moaned. “I’m cumming, I’m cumming.”

Just the sound of her harsh cries was enough to take him the last little bit. “Oh fuck Steph, me too,” he grunted through gritted teeth.

He shot his load all over his naked stomach and chest then lay there panting.

“Oh wow, oh wow, oh wow,” Steph repeated, over and over.

“That was amazing,” he said, eyes drooping in a post orgasmic haze.

“Joe?”

“Yes, darling?”

“I want to meet you, for real I mean.”

His eyes snapped open. “Are you serious?”

“Umm, yeah, I think so.”

“When?”

“Whenever.”

“I have a family thing tomorrow,” he said. “How about Monday night? Plus that gives you a day to change your mind. Not that I want you to, but I want you to be comfortable.”

“I always feel comfortable with you, Joe. I never thought I’d be able to do something like that, but it just felt so natural with you.”

“I know what you mean.”

“What do you want to do on Monday?” she asked.

“Can I take you out to dinner?”

He heard her breath catch.

“How about we meet outside the Hippodrome then?” she suggested

“Deal. Oh Steph, I can’t wait, I really can’t.”

“Me neither. You make me feel amazing.”

After a little more pillow talk Joe explained that he needed to go take a shower and get to bed. They exchanged phone numbers and signed off with soft endearments just a little short of I love you, and promises to be there on Monday.