Challenge Accepted (Eternal Combat Book 1), page 7
"Q!" Knock called out, waving at her. "We got it fixed."
She walked over to him and just hugged the kid. "Thanks, Knock. I can't thank all of you enough. What do I owe ya, Swish?"
"Nothing. Showed the Corsair rep the hose and he replaced it for free, throwing in a bottle of coolant when I said it was for you."
"No shit?"
He nodded. "Yellow instead of green, but I think it works pretty well, all things considered."
"I owe you guys a ton. Any way I can repay you?"
"I saw you say Paradox at least five times in your interviews, Q," Knock said. "My damned machine was on primetime TV!"
"The Gamer Channel," she pointed out.
"Still. It counts."
"Game with us tonight," Ryno said. "The rest of the guys would love to spend some time with an FPS star."
She laughed. "Only if you want another round with Executive Pain. Void's got it in for me, now."
Ryno shrugged. "They're fun, and a good group to fight."
"You realize," Ice said, finally speaking up, "she's probably going to be listening to pitches from sponsors for the next couple of hours."
"It's all good," Swish assured her. "If she gets the chance, we'll be here. If not, we'll be here."
"Well..." Riley patted Knock on the shoulder. "If nothing else, I need to at least put on something a bit more comfortable. Cameras are off; I don't need to worry about how I look any more, and I'm dying for a damned T-shirt. I'll try to come back after I change."
With that, she left everything, no longer worried about her computer. The tournament was over. Second place either would or would not get her a sponsorship or professional contract out of it. Nothing she did now would change anything. Taking the stairs up to the third floor, she pulled the door open to her hall and ran face first into Void. His chest really was rock solid and very broad.
"Oh!" she gasped, stepping back against the wall.
"Just the person I was looking for. Got a minute?"
"Yeah. I was just headed to my rooms." She gestured for him to follow. The tournament was over, right?
At her door, she managed the electronic key more gracefully than he had, but still tried twice before getting it to unlock. When it clicked, she pushed the door open and stepped inside, tugging off the mesh long-sleeve shirt as she walked.
"You have a lawyer?" Void asked.
"No. Why?" She sat on the bed and unlaced her boots, pulling them off with a pleased sigh, doing her best not to look at him.
Void chuckled at her. "Because you need one for the contracts you're about to see."
"You know how much of that prize money I won?" She grabbed her pack and rummaged for a T-shirt.
"About ten thousand."
"Nice. You know anyone that will work for less than that?"
He laughed. "Yeah, but you might not like it. I mean, most attorneys will handle what you need today for a thousand or less."
"Ouch. That's a hefty price for listening to people for a few hours."
Void shifted his feet, looking to the ground. "Well, I happen to know one that will work for less but I'm not sure if you'll take the deal."
"How much less?"
He grimaced and shook his head. "Never mind. Forget I said anything." He tried to wave it away and turned for the door, pausing after he had taken only one step. "Fuck it."
"Void?" she asked, trying to figure out what had him in such a tizzy.
"Dinner tomorrow night and I'll get you one of the best attorneys you could ask for pro bono."
"I go to dinner with you, and you get a lawyer to work for free?" She laughed. It was one hell of a pick up line at least.
"I figured it was worth a shot."
"No, keep going with your pitch."
"Lunch would work too, I suppose. I'm not really picky."
"What attorney?"
He pulled a card from his pocket, offering it to her. "Logan Weiss, attorney at law, junior partner at Corwin and Weiss."
Riley couldn't help it; she took his card, looked at it, and began to giggle. "You're a damned lawyer?" Gorgeous and smart, what a wonderful combination.
"Day job. Gamer by night."
"So, when would the attorney-client privilege thing kick in?"
"As soon as you agree to my terms. Dinner and at least an hour of conversation before you tell me no, again."
"Ok, Mr. Weiss. I think you might even have a deal."
"Then, Ms. Andrews, I think you're officially my newest client."
She looked at his card again and couldn't stop grinning. "Not what I expected at all. I figured daddy was an attorney, so it would be the last thing you'd want to do."
"Yeah. Coming from the girl running a family farm?"
"Fair point." She pushed herself up.
A long, white T-shirt and a pair of black yoga pants lay on the bed begging for her to climb in them. Without warning, Riley just pulled the bright yellow tank over her head and tossed it at her bag, leaving him standing with his mouth hanging open.
"Oh damn," he breathed.
Yep, that was exactly the reaction she'd hoped for. She probably shouldn't be torturing the poor man but couldn't convince herself to take her eyes off him.
"I'm sure you've seen more. You know how Google works." Her hands released the button on her jeans.
"Riley..." he said, but didn't seem to know what came next.
When she pushed the jeans to her ankles, he couldn't quite manage any words at all. She just laughed and removed the pants from her legs before pulling on the more comfortable clothes.
"What happened to the suave gamer?" she teased.
"I can kick ass in a tournament but I have no idea where you got suave."
Tossing him a flirtatious smile, she flopped back on the bed, fully dressed. "Ok. So tell me what I should expect for the rest of the day?"
"Yeah. I'm still trying to come to grips with the fact that you've been wearing a thong all day with a matching bra."
"Daydreaming?" she teased. "You're my attorney now, and can't tell a soul what you just saw."
"Yeah. No. Damn."
"Ok. Stop standing in the hall like a teenager."
Void nodded and pulled out the one chair in the room, sinking into it backwards, resting his arms on the cross rail. "Right. Business. I know at least two companies will approach you for sponsorships. They'll make some stupid lowball offer, thinking you won't know any better."
"I don't."
"That's why I'm here. Pick the one you like and feel like you can truly represent."
"Just one?" she asked, daring to look him over.
"Depends on what the product is. You can't represent competing brands, but you can with complimentary items like motherboards and CPUs."
"Intel, here I come!" she teased.
"Don't I wish."
"What do you get out of this, Void?"
He grinned. "A damned date where I get to wonder the whole time if you're wearing a thong."
"Mm, yeah, I'll ruin that for you. Yes. Or nothing. Anything else bunches when riding, so I just don't bother."
He closed his eyes. "You're truly evil."
That was a good look on him, too, she decided. Maybe she'd shot him down a bit too fast the first time. At any rate, the tournament was over and she had nothing to lose.
"What's your dad think about your sudden interest in me?"
Void laughed. "Trust me, you really don't want to know."
"That bad?"
He shook his head. "Not really. He thinks you're too smart for your own good and figures you have some devious plan in your head. He's not really pleased that I told you who I am."
"Why not?"
"Wouldn't take much for you to cause enough drama to shut this whole thing down. We've been playing at the edges of the rules for a long time now. Your little show there at the end convinced him I wasn't insane for offering my services for the day."
"Well, tell your dad that I have no interest in killing the tournament. I kinda want to win it next year."
He laughed. "That's why I have to work for free. If I charge you, it's a bit of a conflict of interest."
"Oh! So I didn't have to agree to the date?"
He grinned. "Your words, not mine. And no, but I don't have to give you my services either. The date, as you called it, is what it takes to make this worth it to me."
"I can finally believe you're a damned lawyer. Ok. What's next?"
"Well, you can always change clothes again?"
She just laughed. "Give up already. You got your show. I mean with offers."
"Right. We just get a few contract offers, then look them over. I tell you where they could be better. You let me know what you want to bargain for."
"This your way of getting my number?" she asked.
He shrugged, pulled a phone from his back pocket, and swiped his thumb across the screen. After tapping at the surface a few times, a buzz came from the pants at her feet. Leaning over, she pulled her phone from the back pocket of her jeans.
One text message, it said. She unlocked the screen and read it.
LOGAN: I have a weakness for women with attitude.
Riley grinned and tossed her phone on the bed. She'd be keeping that one for a while. Damn, he looked like an angel but acted like the devil.
"So, how do I find these men with these contracts?"
"We can sit around and wait for them here, or I can let it be known that your attorney has a suite downstairs. Makes a bit more powerful impression than," he gestured at the messy room, "this."
"And you don't think anyone's going to say a thing about Void representing QQ?"
He shoved a hand through his hair and shook his head. "I've been doing this long enough, Q, I know how to play the game. A fancy suit and they never think I might be a gamer. Never mind that most of them have tried to make me offers."
She rolled onto her stomach and kicked her legs up behind her, a teasing smile on her lips. "So I get to see you in a suit?"
"What happened to not interested?"
"I never said you weren't nice to look at, Void – "
"Logan. For the rest of the evening, I'm Logan."
"Gotcha."
He pushed himself to his feet and tucked the chair back in place. "And I think my odds are moving up a bit. Room 223, in about thirty minutes?"
"Sure. I need to grab some food."
He just shook his head. "I'll get room service. Tell the boys you'll be busy for the night. I'm serious, Riley. I think you just cracked the damned glass ceiling."
She gasped and sat up, but he was already leaving.
"Hey?" she called, but her only answer was the click of the latch.
She checked her phone for the time then scrambled to pull on a pair of shoes and grab her key. She hurried back downstairs, heading for the computer hall. The guys from Paradox had changed places and had their machines lined up, with hers sitting at the end. She walked up behind Knock, rested her hands on his shoulder, and spoke into his mic.
"Hey, boys."
"QQ!" Knock gasped, pulling off his headset. "That thing's on voice activated."
She watched him tap at a key to mute his mic and pushed his hands away, taking over his keyboard and mouse. Knock leaned back, laughing, while she made two kills and moved his character into a safe zone.
"Thanks for taking care of my machine," she told him, giving him back his controls. "I'm not gaming tonight, it looks like."
"So you got contracts?"
"I have no idea. There's some sponsors that wanna talk and a bunch of legal crap I have to go through. Just wanted to let you know I wasn't just ditching you guys."
"Yeah, we figured." He grinned up at her, a bit of adoration in his gaze.
"You're welcome with us anytime, Q," Ryno said from the other side. "Might even try to talk you into wearing the Paradox tag."
She tapped at Knock's keyboard, hitting the button to un-mute the mic, then spoke into it. "Paradox kicks ass. I'll play with you guys anytime. Keep this shit up and I'd be proud to join the outfit."
Knock just pulled the ear piece away from his head, letting her hear the cacophony of voices. "I think they liked that."
"Kick some ass, guys," she told them, tossing a wave behind her as she left.
In the lobby outside the computer hall, the crowd was milling aimlessly. Caught between the hotel restaurant and the entrance to the merchandise expo, it was a stagnate pool of geeks. She thought nothing of it, having been to plenty of gamer conventions before, until someone called out.
"Look, it's QQ!"
She smiled over her shoulder politely and hurried to the stairwell, yanking open the door and slipping through, but a cluster of men had followed.
"Hey, QQ?" one called out.
"Yeah?" she asked, turning.
He grinned and took the last few steps to stand in her face. "You're pretty damned good. You're kinda hot, too."
"Then you have something to fap to later." She turned to push past him.
He grabbed her arm before she got away, his friends laughing behind him. "C'mon. Give me a kiss."
Behind him, one of the guys held up his phone, obviously recording the conversation. Not now. She didn't need this crap until she was signed!
"In your fucking dreams. You want to impress me, kick my ass in game."
He shoved her against the wall and pinned her there. A big guy, both in girth and height, he thought he could just man-handle her. When his hand closed tightly on her shoulder, she winced, trying to duck away from it.
"You're a fucking douche," Riley snarled, shoving at his chest.
The asshole laughed and grabbed the side of her face with his other hand. Forcing her to look up, he began to lean forward, his intention to force a kiss obvious. Infuriated, she clenched her hand into a fist and closed the other around it. With the strength of both arms, she shoved her elbow into his sternum as hard as she could. That elbow could move a two thousand pound stallion; a pudgy gamer geek stood no chance.
He grunted and stepped back, gasping for the wind she'd just knocked out of him. Without thinking, she followed up with a kick, just as the door at the bottom of the stairs opened. Her foot hit him, sending the dork another step back. Riley turned, jogging up the stairs.
"Security!" a man called through the door, before yelling at the men on the stairs. "All of you just fucking stop. Don't even think of moving."
With a sinking feeling, Riley stopped. Looking down the stairs, she saw Dreadknot holding the door open and a pair of armed security officers pushing through. This whole incident was about to go public, and she didn't even have a contract signed. The urge to scream that she hadn't done anything wrong was overwhelming, but it wouldn't help. Of all people, it had to be Dreadknot.
"All of you," one of the guards yelled, "get down here and tell me what exactly is going on?"
"The skinny one has a recording of it," Riley said, making her way down the stairs. "Check his phone. Fuckwad there thinks I should screw him."
What happened next was not what she'd expected at all. Dreadknot, who had stood like a self important ass through the whole thing, lurched forward and grabbed the plump kid who'd tried to push himself on her. He shoved him into the wall three times, quickly, before the security officers were able to grab him and pull him off. That's when he began to yell.
"You do not fucking touch a woman without permission." He was so angry spittle flew from his lips. "You do not ever treat her like she's your property. I will fucking kill you if you lay a hand on her again! Do you hear what I'm saying. Fucking respect your betters, you stupid-ass punk."
Riley stared at him in shock.
Chapter 9
It took almost ten minutes to get Dreadknot calmed down. Security removed the boys, for they were little more than teens, leaving Riley alone with Dreadknot and one guard. She said nothing, just leaned against the wall with her arms crossed.
A phone beeped, the guard looked at it, then announced, "The convention organizer will be here in a moment to speak with the two of you."
"Thanks," Riley told him. "And thanks, Dread."
"For what?" he asked, glaring at her.
"I dunno, for saying something? For distracting them? For obviously not thinking that I'm just here to get a piece of ass?"
He sighed and moved over next to her, mimicking her pose against the wall. "Talking shit in game is a hell of a lot different than pushing yourself on a girl."
"Yeah, pretty much. I don't think they were that big of a threat."
He shrugged. "It's not that."
"What then? Why did you just get yourself neck deep in the crap that follows me around?"
"Because not saying anything is the same as condoning it. This whole rape culture shit pisses me off. When even a fat, zit-faced dork thinks he can shove around one of the top gamers in the country? That shit just isn't right."
She laughed. "You realize you just complimented me?"
He looked at her quickly and grinned. "Yeah. You're not bad. I'll still kick your ass."
She was laughing when James Weiss walked into the stairwell. The sight of him stopped her amusement quickly. He was dressed in an obviously expensive suit and looked like the kind of man who made or ruined careers. She and Dread traded a look, both of them realizing that this had just gotten very serious.
"QQ and Dreadknot. Not the people I'd expect to see together," Mr. Weiss said with a smile. "So tell me what the hell is going on?"
"Punks tried to have their way with PLG's newest darling," Dread said, putting on his game face.
"Chris, you don't fool me. What's the story, Riley?"
"Pretty much what he said. Guy tried to pin me to the wall and kiss me. I shoved him off about the time Dread decided to use the stairs."
He nodded. "Think you two can spin this?"
Dread chuckled and nodded. "It's a perfect PSA, Mr. Weiss. Girl gamers aren't here for our amusement."
