For The Win (Gamer Girls, #6) - Auryn Hadley Page 0,151
Just knowing that he'd been her first, a man she'd hopefully remember forever, would have to be his consolation prize.
Then his phone dinged. Psyc almost didn't look at it, but the screen said it was from her, so he swiped, needing to read it.
Rhaven: Wait!
His feet stuttered, obeying her command even without his permission, but he couldn't. Psyc started walking again, his own room just a few more feet away, and he heard a door open behind him.
"Psyc." The voice belonged to Braden. "If you make her cry I will beat your ass."
He just let out a heavy sigh. "C'mon, Braden. We both know this is the right decision."
He turned around to see the man standing halfway out of his door wearing nothing but his underwear. "Is it?" Braden asked. "Because I don't have a problem doing this at the top of my lungs in the middle of this hall. Either come back in here or suffer as I yell through your door at you."
Psyc knew he wasn't joking. The man was just crazy enough to do exactly that, so he gave in and walked slowly back. Braden just opened the door a little wider, letting him in, then closed and locked it behind them both.
"What the fuck?" Braden asked, shoving at his shoulder. "You make love to the girl and then bail without even kissing her goodbye?"
"Look, she chose you," Psyc said. "I'm happy for you. I'm thrilled for her. I'm just getting out of the way, man."
"You're running away in the middle of the night."
Psyc just groaned in frustration. "She fucking chose you! What part of that is hard to get? Or do you not know how much it sucks to be the one not picked?"
"She didn't choose me," Braden snapped. "She chose the job. We both know that if I was the one on the other side of the country and you were the one beside her dream job that she'd still do the same thing. Rhaven's dream is to be a dev. She's not just going to be an entry level one, either. Dez wants her as the lead on the Heads Up Display for Silk - " He stopped.
"Silk two," Psyc finished for him. "We all fucking know, man."
"Silk Underground," Braden corrected. "It's not a remake. It's the black market side of things. The smugglers, drug runners, and assassins. It's all the best parts of Flawed, Silk, and Eternal Combat combined. It's going to make the new tournament maps look like a baby step, Psyc, and she's the one who's going to design the entire interface."
"How long have you known?" Psyc asked. "Because Dez offering her a job wasn't a surprise to you."
"She told me the day Rhaven was outed. Kate called to update me, and Dez let me know that she and Chance had already been running a background check and shit on her. I had no say, but she threatened me with an NDA for one reason, and one reason only."
"Which is?" Psyc asked.
"Employees of Deviant Games can't compete in PLG tournaments. If she had an offer on the table, she couldn't have won the tournament and secured her place as the first trans woman to take the grand prize. Mostly, it was just that Dez wanted Rhaven to have the choice. To see if she could go pro or work with us. I knew Rhaven would pick the job, but Dez wasn't so sure."
"So it's a done deal," Psyc said. "You and her get happily ever after, and I get to be the damned good friend who once got too close."
"Really?" Rhaven's voice made both men turn to see her wearing a very large Deviant Games shirt like a dress. Her arms were crossed over her breasts, her hair was tangled from sleep, but her eyes were wide awake. "We just..." She thrust an arm back towards the bedroom. "I let you see me! I let you fuck me!"
Psyc pushed past Braden and straight up to cup her face. "Make love. Now stop and think about that for a goddamned second and you'll see why I was leaving before you were supposed to wake up. That man has done everything right for months now, Rhaven. Braden's chased you harder than I ever could, because I couldn't figure out how. He won. I'm happy with being the friend. I also intend to treasure my little memory of last night."