For The Win (Gamer Girls, #6) - Auryn Hadley Page 0,66

face, Rhaven's life flashing before her eyes...

And then a woman shoved between them. "Back the fuck off!" she yelled. "I've called the cops and they're on their way."

Then she turned and grabbed Rhaven by the shoulders, helping her up. She didn't care that Rhaven was crying. She didn't seem worried about any of those insane people coming after her. Instead, this random stranger who Rhaven had never met before in her life used her body as a shield to escort Rhaven away from the mob.

"Are you ok?" she asked.

"Yeah," Rhaven promised. "Thank you."

She just rubbed Rhaven's shoulder. "I was just trying to see if anyone was out back smoking so I could pay for my gas. If I were you, I'd get out of here while I could."

"Thank you," she said again, and then hurried away, feeling as if she was trapped in the middle of her worst nightmare.

She didn't jog, but she did walk as fast as she could. That kick had hurt. It might even bruise, but thankfully it wouldn't be any more than that. Still, her hands were shaking and she was starting to think that this was her new normal pulse rate. More than anything she just wanted it all to be over. For this whole day to vanish, or start again, or something!

And that was when she realized that she'd just lost her job. The one way she had to pay for her trips to the conventions. The money she used to buy her plane tickets. Worse than that, with this news out, who would hire her? Maybe that job in IT would work out? But if not, then she'd be lucky if she could get hired to bag groceries!

When she reached her street, she realized that yes, things could get worse. Her dad's truck was in the drive, and she was pretty sure that Tyler's car was parked in front of it. There was only one reason for both of them to be home, and it was because they knew.

She checked her phone for the time, not surprised at all to see a dozen notifications on it. The problem was that it was only ten in the morning. Not even noon. Desperately hoping to delay a little longer, she swiped through her messages. Five were from Psyc, begging to know if she was ok. Trying to delay going home, she replied to let him know that she was out of there, fired, and now heading to tell her dad and brother.

The rest were from them. Her dad had called a few times, but Tyler had only called once. Did that mean something? She didn't have any voicemails, so she couldn't even get an idea of what they were thinking. Unfortunately, the only way to do that was to go inside.

She didn't want to.

She wanted to pack her things and leave. Wait! She could. She didn't have to stay here and just deal with all of this! Hoping to delay the inevitable talk with her family a little longer, Rhaven scrolled down the list until she found Kate and then hit the icon to call.

"Rhaven?" Kate answered.

"KoG just outed me. It's in the local paper. I got fired from my job, and I'm pretty sure my dad and brother know, and I don't know what to do, Kate, but I don't want to go home!" Her voice broke on the last word.

"Shit," Kate breathed, sounding like she was moving. "Nancy, I'm across the hall." There was another pause, and then she was back. "I'm walking to Adam's office. Talk to me, Rhaven?"

"I don't know what else to say," she admitted.

"What's going on with your family?" Kate asked.

"They're home," she explained. "I was walking back from work, and their cars are here, so I don't want to go inside. The problem is that everyone in town knows, and there was a group at work that pushed me down, but this nice lady helped me get out of that, and..." She let the words trail off. "I don't want to go home," she finished, the word a sob.

"You have to pack your computer," Kate told her. "Rhaven, we're going to get you a ticket to Denver, ok? You can leave tonight, and I'll set up a room for you. Nothing to worry about. If your dad and brother give you a hard time, just lock yourself in your room."

"I don't have a way to get to the airport," Rhaven reminded her. "I usually have my brother drop