and frazzled when challenged by a person they believe is weaker," Kate said. "They make mistakes, Riley. Now, how about we become the badasses out there?"
"No," Rhaven said, sitting up a little in her excitement. "I mean, yes, that too. But we need to be troll queens!"
"I'm so there," Zara promised. "And we all know that God will be keeping an eye on me, right?"
"Just because that's what you call him in bed," Riley teased, "does not mean that we're using..." Then she paused. "No, we're definitely using that as his nickname from now on."
"Often preceded by 'Oh,'" Rhaven laughed.
"Yes!" Kate said.
Beside her, Adam just groaned. "So worth it, and so bad. Makes me glad I'm on your side, ladies."
And then it was time. Riley decided she was the leader of their team, so she headed up to the front to pick their server from the massive fish bowl of options. Void matched her, clearly taking the lead for the dad team. When they reached it, he let her go first. Riley pulled out a slip, waiting for him to get his, and then they both opened them together.
"Thirty one?" she asked.
He shook his head. "Seven. See you in round two." Then he leaned in and kissed her.
By the time Riley made it back, the game lobby chat was already going crazy. People were talking about KoG as assholes who were ruining the sport, and girl gamers as being good for it, and making fun of anyone who had a problem with it. The vitriol was fueled by their excitement, but Riley didn't have time for that. Grabbing her headset, she gestured for the other ladies to do the same.
"Server thirty-one," Riley told them, and then she clicked the button to load her team in.
The cursor began to spin.
Chapter 51
The ladies loaded into a map that looked a lot like some kind of spaceship. So, ok, this was a sci-fi style game. Riley could deal with that. She'd never heard of the company, but that meant nothing. Lately, Deviant Games had kinda been the center of her world. Still, it looked cool, and seemed to follow the general rules of first person shooters.
One by one, Pantomime, Lithium, and Rhaven all loaded in. Riley did a mic check while the server counted down, the ladies agreed that they could hear her, and they all changed their loadouts. Zara had a few questions about playing a medic - as in what type of grenades to carry, and if she needed med kits if she could heal. They answered them all, and then it was time to go.
Rhaven and Kate went left. Riley and Zara went right. Somewhere in this metal can of a ship was the other team, and Riley wanted to make sure her team got the victory. Not as easy when she wasn't playing with the best at the high table, but she knew all three of her teammates well enough to know they could still kick ass.
Then Kate's voice came over her headset. "We have movement over here. I can see two, but not well enough to know class."
"Any names we know?" Riley asked.
It was Rhaven who answered. "Doesn't look like it. Should we give them a chance or clean this up fast?"
"How about we let our newbies play a bit?" Riley suggested.
"Not a newbie," Kate said.
"I'm totally using that as my excuse," Zara piped in. "And soon, it'll be pregnancy hormones. I'm down for it. Just make sure you clean the map, Q."
"Promise," Riley assured her. Then she had an idea. "Zara, send off a message that you can't see them in chat." And a split second later, the line appeared.
[Pantomime] You got anything, Lith? I'm over here and not even a sound.
[Pantomime] And shit, that was supposed to be team chat.
Rhaven was laughing. "You're a little too good at this trolling, Zara."
"Gotta keep up with my man," She pointed out. "I run off at the mouth, and he does all the impressive shit."
Then gunfire rang out on the other end of the map. Three dots immediately lit up. One of them was Kate, which meant two others were the enemy. Riley could only guess that they'd split the same way her team had. The real question was where they were hitting. Then her screen went red and her character took damage. Automatically, Riley ducked, jumped, and moved herself toward the closest cover at the same time.
"We got baddies," she said. "Zara, get your head down. They're right