For The Win (Gamer Girls, #6) - Auryn Hadley Page 0,159

Turning, she pointed at a line of windows on what should be the second floor. "That's my place. Mark, the Operations Manager, lives with me. I live with him?" She waved that off. "It was Chance's apartment when we were starting out. When the company got too big for Dez to sleep here, Chance built the house, and Mark and I moved in."

"So, you and Mark?" Rhaven asked.

Amy grinned. "Yeah. It's casual but committed. I mean, we're both in love with our jobs as much as each other, so it works. Um, Tim and Sam are a couple, too. So you and Braden are fine. There's no problem with anyone knowing, or being cute, or anything like that."

"Wow," Rhaven breathed. "This is amazing."

"Working for Deviant is a lifestyle, not even just a career, but an entire lifestyle, Rhaven. Now, let's come swear you in. I've got non-disclosure agreements, contracts, and more. When Chance and Dez get here, they'll go over pay and benefits. Just one little piece of bad news."

"Uh oh." But Rhaven wasn't worried because Amy was still smiling.

"You'll be in training all week, and most of that is going to be boring as fuck. Yeah, and it's a lot of paperwork."

If that was the worst she had to worry about, Rhaven was fine. More than fine. Right now, she felt like she was on cloud nine.

Chapter 52

Chance and Dez didn't make their appearance until almost six that evening. Braden had Rhaven at his desk, explaining to her how their system worked. Mostly the way they could assign tasks to each department. As the leader of a new one, she'd be responsible for checking and making sure things were delegated and handled.

Rhaven had just figured out how it worked when the door at the back opened with a loud, metallic clank. Everyone in the warehouse turned to look, the sound of everyday work fading away in the process. Chance walked in first, but Dez was right behind him. The closing of the door behind her was loud enough to sound like a bang.

"Good," Chance said when he saw Rhaven. "You're still here. Sorry, we're late. We didn't get back in until around dawn."

Then Dez stepped forward. "What's the status report?"

Andy spoke up first. "We've got a wave of Russian hackers hitting Eternal Combat. They're exploiting a specific type of terrain to get below the map floor. Code's almost ready to upload, but the pool's been banning names as we find them."

"Good," Dez said. "Next?"

"Flawed's experiencing rubber banding in the upper level quest zone," Tim said. "Looks like a problem on our side. I need you to check, but I think the backup server's overheating and the sync is making the issue. I flipped two to three and three to two and the problem's been resolved for about an hour now."

"Then we'll need to look at the bad server," Dez said. "Assign a team to that. Next?"

This time it was Jeff. "Got a bad case of gold duping in Silk. I've already traced the source, banned him, and we're adding NPC bandits to start raiding so the economy comes back in line."

"Good," Dez said. "Next?"

Mark lifted his hand. "Chatter on the forums, Dez. It's minimal, but I have a feeling it's going to heat up soon."

"Shit," she grumbled. "What's the topic?"

Mark just looked over toward her and Braden. "Rhaven got advance map information for the PLG tournament from Braden. Her win should be forfeit, and she should return the money."

"Any supposed proof?" Dez asked.

"Pics of her, Braden, and Psyc heading into his room. That's it."

"But Psyc's not implicated?" Dez asked.

Mark let out a sigh. "I was trying to be sensitive, Dez."

"Shit," Braden groaned. "Are they going after him too?"

"You," Mark admitted. "Um, some comments speculated that you drugged his drink and took advantage of him. Lots of random use of gay slurs for you in reference to your relationship with Rhaven and a supposed one between you and Psyc, and the bad part." Mark looked over at Rhaven. "There's a picture of you kissing Psyc."

"I know about that," Braden said. "The public story will be that Rhaven had two guys hitting on her all weekend. Make no mention of commitment."

"You called her your girlfriend before you beat the shit out of that gamer," Gavin pointed out. "Videos of it are racking up the views."

Braden sighed. "Guys, I'm sorry. I shouldn't've lost my temper."

"Yes," Dez told him, "you should've. I would much rather fight a PR battle about you protecting the