For The Win (Gamer Girls, #6) - Auryn Hadley Page 0,137

was engaged to the man - but a good player? Not so much. She could still talk smack with the best of them.

Then Kate pushed her chair back into place. "He's just pissed because he can't get laid. C'mon, let's play, ladies."

Braden chuckled, the sound carried over the speakers. "And that's what makes a gamer girl, ladies and gentlemen. They are girls, and they play games."

He kept going, talking about the basics of Eternal Combat, how they were dividing the teams so that Zara and Kate were playing on red, Rhaven for yellow, and QQ was representing blue like she always did. For those who didn't know the game, he gave a brief overview, and the whole time, the crowd was growing bigger.

Psyc scanned the people around him, trying to guess who had a problem with his girl and who just wanted to see the ladies duke it out. Beside him, Knock was doing the same. But when the guy made a gesture, Psyc looked over to see Void a few yards over. On the other side of him was Cynister, and Murder was hanging around the back of the group. Evidently, they expected trouble. Considering what had happened to Rhaven's room, Psyc didn't blame them at all.

"Is KoG here or something?" he asked Knock.

"Yep," Knock said. "And not just anyone. Head guy said he wanted to see this, and comments sound like he's here in Denver."

"Shit," Psyc breathed. "And I'm gonna bet he's not alone."

"At least a dozen flunkies to take the heat for him," Knock agreed. "Fucker's too chickenshit to show his face."

But that was when Braden dropped the girls into the map, and the crowd all cheered to show their approval. The vast majority seemed to love the idea of a women's match. Guys were laughing with their friends, pointing at the monitors, and just acting completely and totally normal while the women moved their characters around the map, scoping things out.

The whole time, Braden was watching Rhaven. Not her screen, but her. His eyes roamed down her legs then back to her hands moving across the keys and sliding the mouse. Psyc had to admit she was impressive. Where Riley looked like she was ready to eat her monitor in frustration, Zara flinched and jerked as she played, and Kate sat intensely straight, Rhaven was different. She was relaxed, looking as graceful as a dancer on stage. This was her zone, he realized, and it looked good on her.

"You're drooling," Knock teased.

"Seething is more like it," Psyc admitted.

"What?" Knock turned to face him. "Why?"

"Because no matter what I do, I'm gonna lose the girl. I mean, I stepped up because I knew she was going to get shit. I didn't expect - "

"The kiss," Knock guessed. "Kinda getting the impression that it's not a problem, though, or does Braden not know?"

"He knows," Psyc admitted, refusing to look away from his girl. "He also doesn't seem to care."

"He cares," Knock countered. "It's why he's being so attentive. Rhaven's the love of his fucking life, you know?"

"Mine too," Psyc mumbled to himself.

Naturally, Knock heard. "So, it's a threesome thing?"

That wasn't at all what he was expecting to hear. "Huh?" Psyc asked.

"Like my insanity," Knock said. "Me and Jeri, me and Cade, Jeri and Cade. Then I'm all friendly with her other guys, kinda like best buds."

"How does that even work?" Psyc asked.

Knock just shrugged. "They get their time. We get ours. I mean, Cade and I are cool with the threesomes. Ripper's not. Hottie? He just wants to take care of her. He and Jeri have a lot of history."

"Like, they just spend the night with her, and you're cool with it?" Psyc asked.

"Pretty much," Knock agreed. "I mean, at first it was weird. Jeri wouldn't pick, right? She said it didn't matter, and she didn't want a boyfriend. So Ripper made a move, and she kinda kissed him. And, um, it just kinda happened. She made it clear she wasn't going to be in a committed anything, but she was down with hooking up. So, it's kinda like that. We're friends - all of us - and we hook up in whatever order we want."

"So, casual?" Psyc asked.

"Nope," Knock said. "It's serious. It's just that after a while, we realized we didn't want anyone else. Like, if Cade hit on some other guy, I'd lose it. If Jeri hooked up while I was out of town... I mean with someone not in our group, you know? It's