For The Win (Gamer Girls, #6) - Auryn Hadley Page 0,58

creak as she shifted. "So, did you talk to her about the mods while you were there?"

"And some of the design stuff for Renegade," he admitted. "I kinda showed her what we have so far. She's impressed."

"Don't tell Chance," Dez teased. "He'd want her to sign an NDA. But what did she think?"

"That Silk 2 is boring, but the Silk underworld sounded like fun." He paused, waiting for that to sink in.

When it did, Dez reacted just like he expected. "Oh, shit," she breathed. "The pirates, the smugglers, and the brigands! That's what we've been missing! It's the Han Solo story of our first game. I mean, without all the suckage."

"She has some amazing ideas, Dez. She also wants to be a developer, but she's self-taught."

His best friend grew silent. Then he heard keys clicking as she typed on her computer. There was a little noise - one Dez probably didn't even know she'd made - and then a laugh. The problem was that he had no idea where her mind had just gone, and he was scared to ask.

"Brae?" she finally said.

"Yeah?"

"Do you know how many mods she's submitted for our games?"

"No clue," he admitted.

"One hundred and thirty-seven. Over half were rejected because there was already something with a similar idea, but we still have copies on the servers. When you get back, I want you to have some of the lower-level devs comb through those for me."

"Ok? What are you looking for, babe?"

She made a sound that was almost a purr. "I think I have an idea. I just need some data to convince Chance."

"Dez?"

"Fuck off, Brae," she told him. "We need another blockbuster. We need another winner, and right now, Renegade isn't it. Nothing is going to top Flawed, but we have to get close or the industry will say that Deviant Games is a thing of the past, and I'm not ready to give up."

"What the fuck are you doing?" he asked. "And what do Rhaven's mods have to do with it?"

"I'm innovating," she told him. "Just get me the data. I'll need something to read on the way to Denver anyway."

"Fine," he grumbled. "Keep your secrets."

"I have a feeling you'll like this one," she promised. "I just have to make sure it'll work. I'm also putting her name in the credits."

Chapter 20

Rhaven saw the messages from Braden before she went to bed. There was another waiting for her the next morning, but she didn't know what to say to him, so just didn't reply. She wanted to send him a message saying she was sorry, but she wasn't really. She'd meant everything she'd said - just not the way she'd said it. The problem was that she didn't know how to explain that difference.

So, while sitting at work, she asked Kate for help. As always, Kate was on her side, but she said Braden had a point. It was Rhaven's place to decide when, where, and how to tell her family who she really was. At the same time, she couldn't put it off forever. Sooner or later, it would come out. What Rhaven needed to decide was if she was ok with that.

She wasn't.

In all the groups and message boards, she'd seen story after story about someone finding out and throwing a fit. Sometimes that was friends. Other times it was family members. Being blindsided caused even more complications, so she really wanted to avoid that. After all, if her dad beat the shit out of someone for calling her a girl, only to find out she was a girl later? Yeah, just better to get it out.

Which meant the real question was how. The clock really was ticking now. So, Monday night, she got home, logged in, and let out a little frustration in game. Murder noticed that she was on a roll, but he didn't get to ask about it. Halfway through the middle of a base, he typed in a single word into chat, and then logged out. Watching QQ, Void, and Knock all go dark in TeamSpeak at the same time meant it was finally time.

"Recall, recall, recall," Psyc yelled, immediately taking over. "Rhae? When we get back to base, we're reorganizing teams, and I want you to take Bravo squad, ok?"

"Can do," she promised. "Think it's - "

"User has joined the channel," a synthetic voice said, interrupting as Cynister's name appeared.

"Cyn!" Psyc gasped. "News?"

"Kitty's water broke," he told all of PsychoDreads. "Riley's driving her to the hospital. Void's handling