For The Win (Gamer Girls, #6) - Auryn Hadley Page 0,185
last bit. For not wanting me to get hurt. For making sure I always knew that I was accepted just like I am. For being nice to me when I wasn't necessarily nice back. All of it, Brae. Thank you."
He made his way to the end of the bed and reached down to ease off her shoes. "It's kinda what I'm good at."
"I want to be good at it too," she decided, smothering a yawn. "But first, sleep."
He chuckled, but crawled in next to her. "And then we'll do it all again. C'mere, beautiful."
She curled up against his shoulder, using his chest for her pillow, and closed her eyes. Not even the sounds of people just outside the room, nor the muffled snoring from whoever was on the other side of the wall could keep sleep from taking over. In minutes, Rhaven was out.
She woke up to Braden's alarm. The pair shared a shower in the tiny little attached bathroom, and then got dressed. When Rhaven headed back to her desk, she was a little surprised at how normal this was. Jeff was sitting at his desk in a pair of pajama bottoms and the shirt he'd clearly slept in. Tim was wearing fluffy pink bunny slippers. Coffee cups were the fashion of the day, and everyone seemed to be running on empty - except Amy.
That woman was dressed just like normal, from her heavy eyeliner to her fishnet hose and combat boots. She also seemed to be the only person in the building who didn't look like they'd been dragged around a bit. Rhaven had barely bent to start her work computer before Amy appeared with a full cup of coffee for both Rhaven and Braden.
"We now have around a hundred protestors outside," she informed them. "Then there are about fifty counter protestors, which is kinda nice. Seven people have tried to get on property, so police are out there as well. Nothing illegal on the loading dock. Um, I should also mention that Chance is pressing charges against all trespassers, so that's pissing off the fundamentalist freaks." She winced. "Sorry, don't know if you're religious," she told Rhaven.
"I'm not, and I know what you mean," Rhaven promised. "How's Dez?"
"She's ok," Amy promised. "A bit shaken still, and she probably won't be back until well after dark, but she's hanging in there. Chance has requested our FBI guys come back. I'm pretty sure someone said you know Jason, right?"
"And Bradley," Rhaven assured her. "I'm on that CI list."
"Well, now you don't need to be. So you know, Jason has full developer access to all Deviant games. The only person who has more is Dez, so he's allowed to do whatever he needs to, even if that's adding code to the game."
"Ok," Rhaven said. "That's actually a little surprising."
Braden just chuckled. "The guy is all in, Rhaven. And you need to know that Chance isn't a fan. Jason and Dez get along a little too well."
"He's been better since Jason got engaged," Amy pointed out. "Proves he's not going to steal Dez away."
"You boys and your jealousy," Rhaven teased.
Braden just winked at her. "Some of us boys are learning to manage that. You know, for the kink."
She felt her face warming up, but thankfully that was all Amy needed to say. She and Braden left, letting Rhaven get back to work. But as soon as Rhaven opened up the forums, she realized that she'd gotten over a hundred new private messages. Bracing, she opened her inbox.
Some were clearly nothing but hate. Those got moderated and added to the pile of data that was being collected. Others were surprisingly nothing more than gamers welcoming her to the team. Two were from fans who'd followed her PLG "career." Then there was one with the subject line of "Because of you, I did it."
Chills ran down Rhaven's spine as she aimed her mouse at that one, and then she clicked. The message opened, and the first thing Rhaven noticed was the picture. It was a teenager, maybe fifteen or sixteen years old. At first glance, it looked like a boy in a girl's tank, but the lipstick and painted nails spoke volumes. Rhaven looked back up at the text.
Dear Rhaven,
I've never written anything like this before. In fact, I never had the courage to put it where it could be used against me later, but you changed my mind. I'm not a fan of shooters, but I've been playing Flawed since it released.