that you're good with Ryan, I'll see if I can get ahold of Psyc. I am not bailing on you, Kitty."
She rolled her eyes at him. "I'm never going to live that down, huh."
"Not until you tell me that you love me again," he teased.
She leaned in to kiss him. "I do. Thanks for handling him last night. I was wiped."
"My boy too," he assured her. "I figure in a couple of years, we should go for a girl to even out the odds a bit."
Kitty just smacked him. "Out! I take back all the nice things I've said. Go help the kids."
Murder headed back to the bedroom, found his phone, pulled on his shirt, and then sent off a text to PsycoCut, telling him to get on TeamSpeak. He got back a thumbs-up emoji, so he logged in on his phone, found his earbuds, and flopped down on the bed. It was pretty much the only quiet place in the house. It didn't take long before Psyc logged in.
"User has joined your channel," the synthetic voice announced.
"Hey!" Psyc said a moment later. "What's up?"
Murder just sighed. "So, I'm logged in on the phone because Ruin's running the house. Cynister has all of his contacts working, and I'm willing to bet he's got a job for you."
"Kings of Gaming?" Psyc asked.
"Mhm," Murder agreed. "From what I can tell, they're going back to the beginning. Rhaven did it, bro. She got Cyn a little more leeway or something. I mean, I haven't gotten the full scoop on that yet, but I know they're digging into the guys arrested for Dez's assault."
"Damn," Psyc breathed. "Speaking of Rhaven, though, have you heard from her?"
"Not in a bit," Murder admitted. "Why, missing your piece of ass?"
"Fuck off," Psyc groaned. "I knew that when she got the job at Deviant she wouldn't be around as much, but damn. She's never online. I'm also not about to text her without a good excuse, you know? That's kinda weird."
"Think Braden would be pissed?"
"Yeah," Psyc admitted. "Please tell me you didn't breathe a word of what happened with me and Rhaven to Riley? I don't need her version of support in this."
"Or Kitty," Murder agreed. "Only one in the house who knows is Knock, and he's got other things on his mind - like teen hormones."
"Good," Psyc said. "Granted, it all kinda worked out. Them doxxing Rhaven, I mean. Still shitty, but could've been so much worse."
"What are you going to do with her, bro?" Murder asked.
"Absolutely nothing," Psyc said. "She's happy with Braden. He's good for her, and he knows all that shit, you know? I mean, I think she's hot. That's about it."
"Bullshit," Murder said. "You think she's smart, has good aim, and you've seen her naked. Shit, you fucked her with Braden sucking her off!"
"Going down on her," Psyc corrected. "It bothers her to think of herself in male terms, so just don't, man."
Murder chuckled. "And that proves that you know a little something. Just tell her, Psyc. Don't pressure her, but let the girl know that you're not just a weekend fling or one-time-only deal. I mean, Braden's her first boyfriend, right? That's never going to last."
"Wouldn't put money on it," Psyc countered. "That man will do anything for her. I don't know if I could say the same. I sure as shit wouldn't have invited him to screw her because it would boost her ego!"
"So you're banging other chicks?" Murder asked.
"Fuck off," Psyc snapped. "I wasn't the hottest guy in gaming, unless you've forgotten."
"Void got it this year," Murder admitted. "Sucks to get knocked down a peg by my roommate, but yeah. You'll get next year, though. That man's going to be unavailable soon."
"He's been unavailable since he laid eyes on Riley," Psyc countered. "He's just legally single, so the gamer magazines are making the most of it. Besides, I'll be competing against Knock for next year."
Murder groaned. "Ok, there's that. Oh, and we're bringing Cade with us to Columbus and F5. I tried to convince Kitty to go, but she isn't ready to travel that far with Ryan yet. I offered to stay, but she said something about cutting my balls off and feeding them to Void. I'm hoping she means the horse, but I'm not completely sure."
"Damn," Psyc groaned. "And why do you love her again? I mean, besides the whole demon-spawn child and all."
"Asshole," Murder grumbled. "Ryan's a good kid. And Kitty's amazing. Shit, I know you would've gone for