Chapter Thirty-Four
Speech written, check.
Announcement for tonight’s stream posted, check.
Breathing through the anxiety, nonexistent.
“You’re ready,” Beckett reassured me for a third time.
I pulled open a game of FreeCell on my computer, trying to clear my mind.
Beckett had been over at the house all morning prepping for today’s stream.
We had posted to social media all day yesterday, creating a stir of something major coming today.
The short notice had seemed to have everyone pumped, giving their theories.
I stopped looking at people’s comments after a few guessed I was doing a face reveal.
I didn’t want to know what people thought of that idea, because no matter what, it was happening.
There was no changing my mind when it came to today’s live stream.
“I know I am, but it doesn’t mean I’m not nervous. This could all go sideways in a matter of seconds.”
“And it could all go right, too.”
“Look at you.” I waved my hand at Beckett. I came to an impasse in my game and started over. I had limited moves left and not enough to get me to win. “Mister optimistic, finally.”
“You know,” I watched him take a seat on the couch in my office out of the corner of my eye.
“As much as it was a shit night, watching Odette break down because of how worried she was about you made me realize just how much she would do to protect you. I think I was worried about that for a while, that you were too invested and that she wouldn’t be. ”
I whipped my head to him, forgoing my current game, not caring about the timer.
“You were worried she didn’t care about me? Why didn’t you say anything?”
“We’ve never been through something like this together, Ryker.
I didn’t really know how to bring it up without looking like an asshole.
It’s why I wanted you to slow down and really think about it when you wanted to tell her who you were.
” Beckett leaned back on the couch. “Looking back, you were making all the right decisions, and I’m so glad that it is all working out for you, which is why I know that today is going to go great. Your fans are already excited.”
“They are.” I moved my attention back to my game. Shit, I needed to start a new one. I moved card after card, stacks around, and played through two rounds before Beckett came over and snatched the mouse from me. “Hey!”
“Ryker.”
“What?” I snapped at him. He was looking down at me with the mouse held high over his head.
“You are going to tell people who you are today. Tell them your name, show them your face. You’re going to be you. Just you.”
My shoulders sank. The one thing I’d thought about for so long was well within my grasp. Merely an hour left before it was real.
“I’m going to finally just be me.”
“Yeah,” Beckett smiled at me and patted me on the head like I was a child. “You and Odette.”
Beckett was right; this wasn’t all just about me, but about her, too.
I was going to come clean about who I was, with Odette next to me.
We were going to do this together.
“I’m ready.” I nodded my head to him, clicking the last move I needed before the cards automatically bounced to the top left of my screen, showing me the long-awaited fireworks.
Knock knock.
I looked at the time, not expecting Odette to be here until just before the stream. She was working on major edits for League of Warlocks and would be on calls all afternoon.
“That should be Jemma.” Beckett got up and answered the door, then brought Jemma to my office.
“To what do I owe the pleasure?” I asked Jemma. I leaned back in my chair, trying to seem like I had my shit together.
“Odette’s birthday.”
Two simple words that had my whole attention. Jemma told me to pull together a plan and send it to her before making any official reservations. I’d sent it last night and wasn’t expecting her to come over to discuss it, especially not today.
“You read through what I want to do?” The plan I’d sent her was simple.
A party at Odette’s house with her friends.
Different small finger foods to eat throughout the night, a cookie cake, music, movies playing in the background, and that was about it.
Having her friends over and being together was what I hoped would be a good enough stepping stone to get her comfortable with us celebrating her birthday every year.
“I did, and I like it. It’s simple enough for her to enjoy herself and not overwhelm her too much.” Jemma said.
I smiled to myself, proud of what I’d come up with.
“I would suggest maybe not on her birthday, mainly because this is a surprise and she would absolutely know what was going on.”
“When do you suggest then?”
“The day before should be okay.”
“You’re streaming that day,” Beckett spoke up. I’d forgotten he was in the room with us.
“Shit.”
“No,” Jemma started to bounce on her feet with excitement. “That can totally work!”
She was clapping her hands together now.
“If you’re streaming that day, she won’t suspect what is going on.
I can take her out for a pre-birthday fun day.
Mainly Mexican food and shopping, she wouldn’t suspect a thing.
I told her that I’d spoken to you about her birthday, so she’ll probably think you are doing something on the day of.
I can get some of her team to assist with setting things up while we are out, and Beckett can help with that too. ”
“I’ll do it.” Beckett immediately agreed to Jemma’s proposal without a second thought.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen him fold so easily.” I was talking directly to Jemma now.
“He’s easy to fold.” She winked at me before giving a little finger wave to Beckett and heading out. “Don’t fuck tonight up!”
Jemma yelled, and then I heard the front door open and close, leaving me and Beckett alone again.
“I’m going to, um,” Beckett pointed in the direction of his house. “Go.”
“Yeah, you do that.” I laughed as he practically sprinted out of my house, no doubt trying to catch up to Jemma. I refocused on my setup for this evening. I wanted to make sure I had everything I would need at my desk for the stream. The only thing that was missing was Odette next to me.
She’d be here soon, though, and by the end of the night, I’d finally be able to be myself again.
Just Ryker.
—————
“Hello out there.”
I took a deep breath and glanced over to Odette, who was sitting beside me. She gave me a thumbs up, and I continued. “Today is going to be a little bit different from my normal stream.”
I looked at the chat, which was already flooded with people to figure out what was going on. I had moderators who were working through the chat, and Beckett on backup with them once the announcement was made.
“I know that I said there was going to be something big today, and there is.” I took another pause.
This was it.
I watched the viewer count get higher and higher each second that passed.
“I’m going to be doing a face reveal today.”
The chat on the side of my screen was going a mile a minute with people commenting. The viewer count jumped significantly from almost one hundred thousand viewers to almost three hundred thousand. The number kept growing, and my palms were becoming sweaty.
“There are a few reasons for wanting to do this video today. First, because recently, I had some circumstances in my life change, and that had me thinking about why I’m hiding myself.
Then I was met with an incident that would possibly force my hand.
It has happened before, but this was different.
The person who did it was affecting someone important to me. ”
I looked over to Odette, who was sitting in a chair next to me, hands over her heart. The look in her eyes showed me love.
“That leads me to the second reason. I love someone so dearly that I knew I won’t be able to hide this forever, so I’d rather take this all into my own hands and do it now, with you all, and her here.”
I took a deep breath and went into the effects for my video, turning off the blur, and next, turning off the voice remixer. This was it.
“For all of my gaming life, I’ve always kept who I am a secret. It just made life easier.” I shrugged, looking directly into the camera. The only thing between me and the viewers now was the face covering I had on.
I looked at Odette one more time, and she gave me a reassuring nod. This was all going to be okay, no matter what.
“Going forward, even though my tag is CovertRetriever, you all can call me,” I pulled the face covering down. Open to all the world to see me. “Ryker.”
Pausing, I looked over to see that I had over a million viewers for this stream, with millions of comments. I could see my phone lighting up next to me. I looked over to Odette again, who had a tear running down her face. She had a hand placed on my thigh under the desk.
I placed a hand over hers and my mic and whispered to her.
“Would you want to be in it?”
Her eyes widened, and she nodded her head fast. A smile broke out on my face, and I pulled her chair into frame.
I watched as the chat realized and started commenting on her name.
“Meet reason two of why we are all meeting here today.”
I was sitting in my chair facing her, not the camera anymore.
Odette was watching the chat, looking at the setup I had, and then finally looked over to me.
I leaned in, placing a soft kiss on her lips, not caring that millions were watching us grace the internet with our relationship.
One that was going to rock the gaming world.
We pulled away, and I gave my attention back to my viewers.
“Thank you all for being on this journey with me. It’s not coming to an end by any means, but I needed to do this, not just for me, but for us.
” I held on to Odette’s hand as I addressed everyone.
“I’ll be on tomorrow night for my regularly scheduled live stream of League of Witches, along with an exclusive sneak peek at League of Warlocks. ”
The last part was something Odette and I had been talking about with the reveal when she’d come over.
Now that it was out about who I was, I could use it to our advantage.
Since I’d been testing out her new game, I could give everyone a sneak peek before it went out for early gaming in a few months.
Our worlds were already colliding in the best ways.
“Until next time.”