Free Toeing the Line (The Complete Serial) by Allyson Lindt

the white tablecloths, and the background music was lost in the chatter filling the room. Riley was grateful, as she usually was, that Kenzie and Scott didn’t go for the higher-end places. She hated getting dressed up to go out to dinner, and she was glad someone had convinced her sister that wasn’t necessary for a happy existence.
    Scott was on a first-name basis with most of the staff, and they were seated quickly. Water and drinks were on their table within moments.
    The conversation lulled, and Riley shot her sister a helpless look.
    “Game God, huh?” Zane took a sip of his water, his tone casual.
    “We can’t all drive classic Beemers.” Sarcasm laced Scott’s reply.
    Riley resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Please don’t let them do this.
    Zane clenched his jaw. It wasn’t an obvious movement, but Riley had seen it enough times to know how irritated he was. His voice remained pleasant. “Not all of us have more money than God.”
    Scott’s smirk grew. “I never really fell into the camp that deifies Bill Gates, but everyone has their own religion.”
    “And your religion is all about you?”
    Damn it. Riley wasn’t interested in the whole night being antagonistic. She let out a soft growl. “Put your dicks back in your pants, boys. You’ve already impressed everyone at the table.”
    Scott snorted.
    “Riley Ann.” Kenzie had the scandalized jaw drop down, Riley had to give her credit.
    Riley glared back. “Mackenzie.” Why couldn’t Kenzie have a middle name too—something obnoxious, to be thrown back in her face? “Don’t give me that shocked look. The two of you spend half your time throwing disgustingly lame innuendo at each other.”
    “Innuendo. Not crude locker-room insults.”
    Riley shook her head. “Your boyfriend’s being an ass.”
    “Oops.” Scott smiled when she glared at him.
    Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Zane clench his hand into a fist. She knew her sister’s fiancé was antagonistically honest, but for the first time since Riley met Scott, she was tempted to let Zane pound some politeness into him. She sought out Zane’s knee under the table and squeezed, not sure if she was encouraging him or trying to calm him down.
    Scott raised an eyebrow at the gesture, shook his head, and turned away from her glare. “You know I’m teasing, and maybe being a little overprotective of my baby sister.”
    Zane’s frame stiffened, muscles going hard under her hand. His voice was calmer though. “No worries. It’s cool.”
    Since Scott and Kenzie got engaged, he’d teased her about being the sister he never had, posturing about how he had to look out for her now. And Riley was used to Zane stepping to her defense. This was stupid though. Neither was a threat to her, or competition to the other, so why were they acting like posturing morons with more testosterone than brains?
    A memory from ages ago, before Zane enlisted, tickled the back of her thoughts. Something about a video game? The notion slipped away before she could grasp it.
    Zane’s posture relaxed, but she still felt tension thrumming through him. “Anyway… Riley says you’re almost as important as you think you are.”
    “Not really. There are a couple of gamers who think so, and I let them believe it, to sell games, but I’m not.”
    And now everything was fine. Maybe they were both satisfied with the way they’d marked their territory? Riley didn’t know.
    “I’ve heard a lot of things about Rinslet, but the details are always vague. No one ever talks about more than how cutting edge you are. Rumor has it you’ve got an in-house rendering engine you designed,” Zane said.
    The thick air around the table seemed to be evaporating, so Riley wasn’t going to push the issue. Besides, she loved listening to Zane talk shop. She always learned the most interesting things.
    Scott nodded. “Yup. The rest is top secret. You know—I tell you, and I have to kill you. That kind of thing. Or hire you, to