For The Win (Gamer Girls, #6) - Auryn Hadley Page 0,74

bell boy jumped up to collect her things.

"Ms. Rhaven Moore," the driver announced her. "Mr. Degrass's personal friend."

"Yes, sir," the young man said. "We've got you in the VIP suite, ma'am."

Her head was reeling. When Kate and Adam had said they'd help, this was not at all what she'd expected. "Uh, thanks," she told him. "I think I need to check in?"

"No need, ma'am," he promised. "The Executive Marketing Coordinator took care of that. Ms. Gaskill also placed a meal order to be brought up an hour after you arrive. Is there anything else we can get you?"

"A room key?" Rhaven asked.

He pulled one from his pocket and handed it over. Clearly, this was the life of the elite, but it was a bit overwhelming to her. Turning back, she waved at the driver who'd been so kind, and then followed the young man pushing the luggage cart. Maybe he wasn't a bell boy. Since he was wearing a suit with a name tag, she couldn't exactly tell, but it really didn't matter, did it?

When they made it upstairs and inside her suite, the man offered to place her things in her preferred room - since there were two. She said she didn't care which, so he picked the larger, explaining the differences while he offloaded his trolley. When it was all done, she grabbed her bag, looking for enough cash for a tip, but he waved her off.

"Just tell my boss something nice, ma'am. Might even get me a raise." He grinned and then left, leaving her in this fancy room all by herself.

And for the first time since she'd woken up that morning, Rhaven finally got to relax. She'd only managed a couple sips of coffee and hadn't eaten anything but some peanuts on the flight. She felt gritty and hungry, yet food was on the way. That meant the only thing she still had to do was grab a shower.

Heading into her room, she paused to look around. The suite had two bedrooms, not like the kind Void or QQ usually got at the events. The unused one was smaller, yet still had its own attached bath. The other? It was massive, with a rather impressive bed, and a view that looked out over the city. They were on the ninth floor, which meant it was high enough up that she didn't need to worry about anyone looking in - or closing the blinds to keep her privacy.

So she stripped down and headed to the bathroom. One long, hot shower later, and she felt like a woman again. Putting on both a bra and panties, along with a pair of well-fitting jeans and a woman's shirt helped more than she wanted to admit. And now that she was out of Prescord, she could add the one piece that helped the most: makeup.

For no reason at all, Rhaven decided to go all out. She had time to kill, after all. The truth was that she was just tired of seeing herself in the mirror looking like Ethan. A little foundation helped. Some contouring helped more. When she got to the eyeshadow and winged liner, she was starting to feel pretty again.

And it didn't matter who saw now. Her dad knew. Her brother seemed to even understand. The big question was if they were honestly ok with this. Had Tyler's acceptance all been because of shock? She honestly didn't think so. It was her father who scared her the most. His lack of saying much could go either way - but what if he didn't want her to be like this? What if he asked her to change?

The whole thing was stupid. He'd come right out and said he loved her, and yet her mind kept worrying about all the things he hadn't said, or the way he'd acted. The man had been shocked and confused, but that was normal, right? Not like she came out that often, so she honestly didn't know. And the people she had told, well, they'd been gamers. Most of them just rolled with it.

The bigger problem was that she couldn't go back. If she did, she'd have nothing. People would still call her Ethan. She would never get a job, let alone a good one. The Bible-bashers would try to bash her again, and everyone else? They'd laugh, whisper behind her back, and just generally make her miserable.

No, it was much better to just keep moving forward. So many people had offered to