Changing His Game (Entangled Brazen) (Gamers) (15 page)

She listened to one voicemail but his voice in her ear hurt her heart, so she’d deleted all the rest upon receipt. The emails she’d kept in her inbox unread.

“And, uh, I take it you haven’t talked to him since…” He waved a hand in the room and she assumed he was referring to the moments right before her interview.

She shook her head jerkily, unable to get her voice to work.

Grant nodded his head and his eyes went back to his pen. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. Don’t blame you.”

Marley swallowed and didn’t know how to answer, so she stayed quiet.

“I’ve known him since college, did you know that?”

She shook her head.

Grant blinked. “Yeah, guess you wouldn’t because Austin wouldn’t have told you he knew me, huh?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “Well, anyway, we’re best friends and Austin has always been a little high on the eccentric quirk scale, you know?”

This was like the
Twilight Zone
. Was she having a conversation about her ex-lover with her boss?

“So anyway, I know what he did is terrible. There’s no excuse for it. But I want you to understand that while he deceived you, he did so out of fear. He didn’t want to lose you. I’ve never heard him talk about a woman the way he talks about you.”

Marley blinked. The wounds on her heart were too fresh. They were still oozing, and she needed them to heal before she decided if she could bare it again.

Grant blew out a breath. “And I want you to know he had absolutely no say on your promotion.”

That made her happy, at least. She smiled, although she knew it was a little shaky. “Thank you.” That was really all she was capable of at the moment. “Is…is that all?”

Grant stared at her. “Did you hear what I said?”

Marley frowned. “You said he had no say on whether or not I got the promotion.”

Grant’s lips twitched into a small smile. “That’s not what I said. I said he had absolutely no say on your promotion.”

Her brain was usually faster than this, but now it had to push through the doughnut sludge. “Did you…are you saying I got the promotion?”

Grant smiled widely this time, showing his straight, white teeth. He stood and extended his hand over his desk. “Congratulations, Marley Lake, you are now assistant editor of
Gamers Magazine
.”

She blinked at him. “But…my interview…”

Grant dropped his hand and sighed. “It was bad, not going to lie. But your previous work spoke for itself, and all your copy editors sang your praises. In the end, you were the best candidate for the job.”

“I—I—” She couldn’t form words. Damn doughnuts.

Grant held out his hand again. “You could shake my hand. A thank you wouldn’t go amiss.”

She jerked to her feet and grasped his hand. “Oh gosh, I’m so sorry. I— Of course I want to say thank you. Thank you! I don’t know what else to say. I thought you were going to fire me and now you’re telling me I’m promoted. My head is spinning.”

Grant let go of her hand. “Why the hell would I fire you?”

“Because of Austin.”

Grant waved the thought away. “No way. It’s not a rule and you didn’t know. You are a valuable asset to this company, Marley. I’m glad to reward you for that.”

“Thank you.” She was near tears with happiness and relief. She wanted to run to the bathroom where she could sob and let her mascara run in peace.

“We’ll talk more about specifics later. And we’ll make the announcement later this week, so keep this between us and James, yeah?”

Marley nodded. “Thank you again, so much.”

Grant eyed her like he wanted to say something else. Then he nodded and sat down in his chair. When she made it to the door and placed her hand on the doorknob, his voice stopped her. “Hey, Marley?”

She looked at him over her shoulder.

“He’s a stubborn pain in the ass. If you stick to your guns and never talk to him again, I won’t blame you.” His lips twitched downward. “But I’ll be honest and say I hope that’s not your decision.”

Marley didn’t answer as she turned and walked out of his office.

Chapter Fourteen

Marley tugged at her corset and fidgeted with the cotton folds of her skirt, suddenly self-conscious about the high slit. She had bought the pieces for her Evelyn costume months ago, before…well, before a lot of things happened in her life. Back when
Aric’s Revenge
was just a video game she loved.

Back before Austin ruined it.

“Stop that,” Chad said, brushing her hands off of her clothes. “You look hot, so quit fussing.”

“I feel naked.”

“Well, you kind of are naked.”

“Not helping.”

Chad snorted as they walked through the crowd at the Philadelphia Comic-Con. All around them were cosplayers—she saw a Deadpool and a Batman. A couple Storm Troopers.

A massively muscled Kahl Drogo from
Game of Thrones
walked by and both Marley and Chad stopped in their tracks to watch him pass. The guy winked at Chad.

Marley glared at her brother. “Seriously?”

Chad pointed at the guy’s back. “I will be tracking him down later. That wink alone got me hard.”

Marley rolled her eyes and kept walking. Chad jogged to catch up with her. He was dressed like Spartacus—not from the movie, but from the Starz show. He said it was because he could wear less clothes. Seeing as he was only in boots and some sort of leather underwear, she guessed he was right.

He had a crown too, for some reason. It was artfully placed a little crooked on the top of his head. Marley had rolled her eyes at that too.

“So what booths do you wanna hit?” Chad said, sauntering beside her.

She sighed. Normally, this was her favorite event. She looked forward to it every year. But this year…well Austin had ruined that too. The lying bastard. Now, everywhere she looked, she saw Evelyns and Arics. Hell, she’d even dressed up as an Evelyn. What an idiot she was. But she’d put all this time into this outfit, she hadn’t wanted to waste it.

She would have bailed on the whole thing, but she and Chad went every year and she didn’t want to disappoint him.

She hadn’t spoken to Austin for a month. He’d stopped calling eventually. His emails had dried up. She’d read them all, but they seemed full of excuses. She wanted proof he understood what he did was wrong. She wanted promises. She wanted to trust again.

And while she thought she’d made the right decision, small things continually split open that wound in her heart, which still hadn’t healed. She couldn’t eat scrambled eggs without picturing him walking into her bedroom with breakfast on a tray, and she couldn’t wear pale blue clothes. Even though she was busy in the new position of assistant editor, Austin still hadn’t left her mind. She wondered if he ever would. She wondered if she wanted him to.

Chad tugged on her arm. “Hey look. It’s
Aric’s Revenge
.”

Aric’s Revenge
had a huge display, taking up most of the center of the convention. Right now, a man stood on the stage with a microphone, addressing a large crowd.

“I don’t care about that stupid game,” Marley hissed at Chad.

He stared at her like she had two heads.

The announcer’s voice droned on. “We have a special guest here at the panel today…”

“Chad,” Marley whisper-shouted, pulling on his arm. “Let’s go.”

“You’re dressed up as fucking Evelyn but you don’t want to sit in on the AR panel? What the hell?”

She couldn’t explain it. The costume had felt freeing at home, but in the car on the way over, it had begun to feel like a wool scarf. She scratched and tugged at the tight fabric. She should have stayed home, because did she really belong as an Evelyn? She had thought she’d been so sure of herself, that she’d gotten over Austin and this video game’s association with him.

But she hadn’t. Not at all. The corset made it hard to breathe. Her hair was heavy on her back and the fake lashes were bothering her eyes. She wanted to be home.

“I can’t explain it, but I—”

“So, please, for the first time ever in public, welcome
Aric’s Revenge
co-creator, Austin Rivers, in Aric cosplay.”

Marley’s hands dropped limply to her side. A roar of white noise rushed through her ears and if a stiff breeze blew through the convention, she would have fallen to the ground in a pile of leather, cotton, and hair.

Co-creator. Of
Aric’s Revenge
. The game she had been playing when he…

And he hadn’t thought to…

Oh my God. The fucking liar.

Had
anything
he told her been true?

She took a step back, because no way was she going to stay to listen to this man. But Chad clamped a hand over her wrist and held her in place. She tugged, and he shot her big eyes. She shot them right back.

And then that voice hit her right in gut.

“Hello, everyone.”

She closed her eyes, because that voice broke over her head and oozed into her ears like honey. Her whole body flushed hot, and her belly fluttered. She hadn’t even seen him yet and her body had this reaction. How had she ever entertained the thought that she was over him?

She was a fool.

He cleared his throat, and she opened her eyes. And then that warm feeling went lower than her belly. Because, praise Jesus, her Aric of the Lobby was a sight.

He stood on the platform holding a microphone, so she feasted on every inch of him. He wore heavy, knee-high boots, tight brown leather pants and nothing on his torso except a leather harness that criss-crossed over his broad, muscular chest.

His dark hair wasn’t styled, so it fell in soft waves around his ears and over his forehead. He raised his hand to brush it off of his forehead, and there was a collective feminine sigh from the audience.

Oh no. Oh no no no, she could not be here. She tugged on her wrist again but Chad held firm, his eyes riveted to the vision on the stage because Austin had started talking.

“—know I have been private about my involvement in the game. At the time, I thought it was best, but I’m starting to understand that being so private wasn’t working like I wanted.”

His eyes flicked to Marley’s and held. She ripped her arm out of Chad’s grip and turned to walk away.

Except that damn honeyed voice stopped her again.

“I guess, like Aric, I was becoming exactly what I didn’t want to be. Keeping quiet about my involvement in the game turned from omission of fact to lies, and I couldn’t live like that anymore. I couldn’t do that to my friends and the people I…love.”

She sucked in a breath. And held it. He’d said
love
. Every hair on her head tingled and she could feel the heat of his gaze on the bare skin of her upper back.

She slowly stepped back on her booted heel. And turned.

And met Austin’s sea-green gaze. His lips twitched up into a small smile, then he gave her a slight nod, and began to talk about the game.

She didn’t move. She couldn’t move. She was held prisoner by his voice, his presence, his words. Had he just told hundreds of video game fans that he loved her?

Now that her anger had begun to recede, she studied him closer. His hands shook slightly when he spoke and sometimes his voice wavered. His eyes were crinkled at the corners, like he really wanted to cringe.

She remembered what he’d told her—how he hated dressing up. How he hated conventions. How he hated attention.

Well, he’d done all three today. Had this all been…for her?

She almost turned and left, because now that the thought was in her head, now that hope had flared deep in her heart, she wasn’t sure she could take the crush of rejection again, if it turned out this all had absolutely nothing to do with her.

But then Chad slipped his hand into hers, twining their fingers together. He squeezed and she smiled.

I love you,
he mouthed.

I love you, too,
she mouthed back.

And he loves you,
Chad pointed to Austin.

She blushed and watched her Aric field questions from the crowd.

A finger tapped her on the shoulder and she looked behind her. A man stood at her back, smiling. He was dressed like a Bauer castle guard. “Are you Marley Lake?”

“Y-Yes.”

He smiled brighter. “I thought so. Um, would you mind coming with me? Mr. Rivers asked to speak to you after the panel.”

“He—”

“You just have to come with me, there’s a private area behind the stage.”

She blinked at the man. “How do I know your loyalty lies with Aric? You’re wearing Bauer’s uniform!”

The man’s eyes widened. And then he threw back his head and laughed. The voice in the microphone stopped and when Marley looked up on the stage, Austin was glaring at them. Well, more like he was glaring at his messenger. He cleared his throat loudly into the microphone. “Are you quite done?”

Quite done.
Oh, how she missed his mouth. For many reasons.

The man sobered quickly and nodded at Austin, who continued talking.

“I’m Steven.” He held out his hand, which Marley shook. “Anyway, you’d better follow me before Mr. Rivers takes off my head.”

Marley giggled and looked at Chad. He released her hand and waved her on. “You go. I can take care of myself. And if you don’t come back to our room tonight, I’ll make good use of it myself.” He winked at her.

She gave him a quick hug. “I’ll call you.”

“I won’t wait up.”

With a wave to Chad, she followed Steven to the area behind the stage.

They ducked behind a black curtain, and Marley took two steps in, her boots thudding on a stone floor, before she stopped dead, then spun slowly in a circle. The entire area was an exact replica of the throne room in Bauer’s castle. There were stone walls and flickering sconces. She stepped closer, noting the light was electric rather than real flames. A golden throne sat on a stone platform. It even smelled like what she imagined the throne room would, musty and cold with a tang of iron from weapons and blood.

She began at one area and ran her fingers over the wall. Real stone, with real grout. She even found a stone in the lower corner that was weakened, like the stone players used to gain entrance into the castle. It made her smile, as she sifted the dust on the ground in her fingers.

She stood up, letting the grit fall to the stone floor.

“Incredible work, isn’t it?”

She whirled around, her hand quickly falling to her side. Austin stood inside the black curtain, watching her.

He was ten feet away now, much closer than he’d been when she’d seen him on stage. The light was dimmer, but his pale eyes glowed. Those pants did incredible things for his legs, showing off all the muscles in his strong thighs. She wanted to tell him to turn around so she could check out his ass.

Down, Mars,
she told herself.

Her hand clutched her skirt. “It is incredible.”

He glanced around. “We’re going to unveil it tomorrow, when we announce we’re working on a second
Aric’s Revenge
.”

Well, that perked her ears. “Oh?”

He toed the edge of a stone with his boot. “Yeah, it’ll be
Aric’s Rein
. He’s king now, having taken control of the kingdom he conquered.”

“Wow. I guess you’ll, um…be the creator of that one too?”

Maybe her tone carried a bitterness she hadn’t done a good enough job disguising, because his head shot up. Guilt was plain in every facet of his face. “Marley—”

“It’s okay, I shouldn’t have said that—”

“No, you should have.” He took a step forward. “You have every right. I know I fucked up…” His voice trailed off. “I have a hard time with trust. I told you about my mom leaving, then I never felt like I could rely on my father so when he stole money from me, it really messed me up. I kept things from you I shouldn’t have.” He rolled his lips between his teeth. “I should have told you about
Aric’s Revenge
. If I had, it would’ve meant admitting I trusted you. That you meant more to me than I had originally thought. And it scared the shit out of me.”

His words were like arrows through her anger, piercing wide holes in it until she could barely see it anymore. “And
Gamers
?”

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t tell you because, at the time, it didn’t matter. I was never involved with the editorial aspects of the magazine. And then, when I got to know you, I didn’t tell you because I knew you’d leave when I did. And I didn’t want you to leave.” He smiled and chuckled. “I tried to keep you in a little box in my mind. I tried to control everything about us until I realized that I didn’t really have any control at all, did I?”

Marley continued to step toward Austin until she stood right in front of him. She laced her hand in his. “You did have control, but you had it because I let you. Because I wanted it.”

He brushed her hair off of her shoulder and cupped her neck. “You refused to stay in your box.”

It was her turn to laugh. “That should go on my résumé.”