Kitty nudged Logan. "Hey, get me a seat up close to the high table?"
"Of course," he said, grabbing his phone and messing with it.
When they finally reached the security guards to check-in, they were met with smiles. "Mr. Weiss," one man said. "We have a VIP line. You didn't have to wait."
"Kinda did," he said. "Not leaving my friends to shuffle along. Do me a favor? How close can we put Kitty Rodriguez to the sponsored table?"
"The seats are already assigned," the man said.
Logan nodded. "Yeah, I know. I was about to reassign them."
"Then take twenty-seven," the guy told him with a smile. "The person it's assigned to hasn't shown up yet, and it'll be at the second table, next to a Jeffrey Beasley."
"That's me," Knock said with a grin.
"Kick-ass," Kitty agreed.
Logan nodded. "Ok. Should be updated on your end now too? If so, can you check all four of us in?"
They were issued color-coded wristbands with their assigned seat number and directed inside. The room was twice as large as the others Riley had been to, and she looked around in awe. The high table, as the gamers called it, wasn't actually higher than the others; it was simply placed to be easily caught on camera. Only gamers with sponsorships or professional contracts were seated there. Logan, Riley, and Knock all fell in that category, and they hoped to make Kitty a member before the weekend was over, or shortly after.
When they checked their seat numbers, Riley was thrilled to see that for once, she'd be sitting next to Logan rather than across from him. Knock was across from her, and Kitty was just to his right. They began setting up their machines, each of them diving in to the exclusion of everything around them. That was why a pair of arms sliding around her waist nearly made Riley squeal in shock.
"I owe you a tequila," the man said, releasing her and stepping back. "Since it is my bar."
"Ice!" Riley said, pleasantly surprised.
"In the flesh," IceMan, one of Riley's outfit mates, said with a grin.
Riley just looked behind him, seeking something. "Where's Lithium? She is coming this time, isn't she?"
"She's upstairs having a shower," he promised. "I got kicked out and told to be social while she 'gets the flight off her body.' In truth, I half expect her to pass out. She's been busting her ass to make sure this event goes better than the last."
"Well, tell her to at least be social," Riley said. "And do not let her walk around here alone."
He chuckled, reaching up to rub her arm. "I have security in the halls to watch the ladies, Q. Plus there's plenty of security cameras, with a few extra people monitoring them. The hotel's ready this time."
But another voice called out, "You letting other men touch your woman now, Void?"
"You try to stop her," Logan told him without lifting his head.
"Murder," the new guy introduced himself, offering his hand to Ice.
"Nice," Ice said. "IceMan. Read your article and watched QQ kick your ass." Which meant he was back to pretending he was a nobody. Or at least hoping he could get away with it.
Murder was more worried about his own reputation. "I killed her in the second round, and Void got me in the finals. She hasn't kicked shit yet." He looked over at Riley and winked.
That was when he noticed there was another woman at the table. Both of his eyebrows flew up and Murder glanced back at Riley, subtly pointing a finger at the new addition.
"Kitty," Riley said, "meet Murder."
Kitty raised her head, saw his devilish good looks, and smiled. "You're right, he is easy on the eyes." Then she turned back to her machine.
"Not lookin' good for you, man," Ice teased. "Hey, I gotta set my rig up, but I'm buying you a drink tonight, Q."
"My turn, Ice," she called at his back. He just shook his head and kept walking.
Murder tapped her shoulder. "Did I just get shot down before I even tried?" he asked.
"No," Kitty said. "I'm also not deaf, and I'm only half as mean as she is, but my fucking power supply came loose on the flight, so until that's hooked up, you're going to have to wait."
"Or you could help," Logan added.
"I dunno," Murder replied, "I'm kinda scared of the girls at these things. She might kick my ass."
Kitty sighed and leaned back. "No," she promised. "No ass-kicking if you can reach that damned screw. I'll give you the chance to show off your shiny armor and white horse."
Murder grinned as he moved next to her, reaching inside. He messed with it for a moment, then looked up. "Q, outside pocket of that bag, grab me the black-handled screwdriver?"
Obediently, Riley dug into his bag where he'd said, then passed the tool across. He took it with little more than a grunt of thanks and pulled a flashlight from his pocket. He clicked it on, stuck it between his teeth, and dove back in. Less than a minute later, he was done.
"You've been screwed," he said with a smile. "Shouldn't crimp the cooling line now. And it's Samir. Samir Arheez."
"Kitty Rodriguez," she told him.
"So Kitty is your real name?" He sounded almost confused. "Or, maybe short for something?"
"No," she groaned. "My mom was either a stripper or crackhead. She thought it was cute. I just go with it now, and I play under the same."
"Makes it easy," he agreed. "Just tell me you've heard only good things?"
A mischievous look took over Kitty's face. "Riley said you're nice, a great kisser, and can take being the brunt of a joke well. Good enough?"
He shrugged and nodded. "Could be worse."
"Right," she added with another devious look, "and you think I'm hot. Supposedly, your kind of girl. Yeah, that came up too."
"I tell her everything," Riley said as an apology. "Sorry."
"Trust me," Logan said. "Everything."
The girls shared an evil look, but Knock just shook his head as he turned on his computer. Riley matched him, flicking hers on as well. It didn't take long before the glare of LED lights and the hum of fans was coming from the table. When Logan turned his on, he nodded, then made his way to Riley's side.
With a gentle kiss on the neck, he wrapped his arms around her waist and whispered in her ear, "Let me check us all in. I'll be back. Be good while I'm away?"
"No," she shot back, playfully, "But I won't start shit."
"So it's all official then?" Murder asked as Logan walked away, tilting his head to show what he meant.
Only a few months ago, the relationship between Void and QQ had been a pretty closely-kept secret. Riley was the first woman to break into the male-dominated gaming scene, and rumors had been flying that it was only because the guys had been taking it easy on her. By the end of the event in Denver, she'd proven them all wrong - with Murder's help. Now that all of the drama was behind them, she was finally able to date not only Logan, but also his gamer persona of Void, publicly.
"Yeah," she said. "We were open about it in Columbus, and since we have the same address now, it would be a bit hard to hide."