For The Win (Gamer Girls, #6) - Auryn Hadley Page 0,153

to finally be happy. That was the only thing that really mattered. Rhaven deserved to have it all.

Chapter 50

That day, Rhaven got drafted into helping to tear down and pack away both of the Deviant booths. The tent and the one for Eternal Combat. Computers and servers had to be boxed up for safe travel. Canvas had to be taken down and folded. Frames had to be disassembled without bending them. It was a process, but Rhaven actually enjoyed it, except for one little thing.

Psyc was gone. He'd left the hotel before she was up and dressed. His room was empty, and Kate confirmed that he'd checked out. At the same time, he was right. They were good friends, and had been for so long. She didn't want to ruin that, and she wasn't choosing Braden over him. Hell, the idea that she was lucky enough to be in a situation to pick was still mind boggling.

No, Rhaven's decision was based on following her own dreams. A job as a developer at Deviant games? Part of her worried that dating Braden now would not be a good idea, but when she'd brought it up over breakfast, Braden swore it wouldn't be a problem. If they didn't work out, then they didn't. They'd both still be family of a sorts, because Deviant wasn't like most jobs. It was more of a lifestyle. Besides that, Dez would put her foot down, and neither of them wanted that.

Just before dinner, the crew from Deviant began loading all of their stuff into a trailer attached to an SUV. Braden explained that Chance and Dez always drove to these things. They shipped the gear in, then drove it back to make the trip a tax deduction. In reality, it was all because Dez didn't do planes. Rhaven thought that was kinda cute.

Then it was time. Her bags were packed - including a few new ones that Kate had delivered to her room that day. Most of the gamers had already left, but when she made her way down with Braden to check out, Kate and Adam were lounging in the lobby.

"Rhaven!" Kate called. "You got the stuff?"

Rhaven waved to her bags. "I did. Thank you, Kate." Then she looked around her at Adam still reclining in a chair. "And I will never be able to thank you enough."

He just waved it away. "I met this woman, and she made me realize that guilt sucks. Rhaven, it's a gift. Like a baby shower for your new life."

Still, she appreciated everything he'd done, and more than he could understand. Crossing the distance, she leaned down to hug him. "You made a day that should've been the worst of my life into something good, so I mean it. If I can ever do anything for you, Adam, just ask, ok?"

He hugged her back harder than she'd expected. "Well, if there's ever a competition for an Eternal Combat, blue team, smart watch..." He chuckled. "Mine's starting to get a little outdated, you know." And he showed her the one he was wearing. A normal, cheap, leather banded watch with the Eternal Combat logo in the middle.

"I'll see if I can pull some strings," she promised. "And now to start the rest of my life, right?"

"We're only an hour away," Kate told her. "That means we will have lunch sometime."

"Promise," Rhaven said, seeing Braden walking over. "That's my cue."

Adam had the staff help load their bags into a car. Then they drove to the airport and unloaded it all, waited in a line, checked in their things, headed to another line, and joined the rat race that always happened at an airport. Only once was there a problem with her ID not matching her appearance. Braden handled it beautifully, telling the woman behind the counter that Rhaven was transitioning. The woman simply smiled, typed something, and then produced their tickets.

"I put your preferred name on that," she told Rhaven.

No fuss, no struggling to convince anyone that she was who she said she was. It had all just happened, and Rhaven was starting to like this. Soon enough, they were on the plane, sitting beside each other, and not the only ones from Deviant on the flight. Andy was near the front. Amy and Mark were a row behind them and across the aisle. Rhaven had a feeling there were more, but this was kinda nice.

At some point in the flight, after she'd fidgeted just a bit too much, Braden leaned