Page 41 of Dev Girl

He couldn’t be serious. He thought someone might be interested in my little project? “For real?” That wasn’t the brightest question I could’ve asked, but it was the best I could come up with while I was in shock.

“Of course for real. Do I strike you as the kind of guy who makes up offers like this for fun?” Xander said.

No. Not even close. “I’d love to. That sounds awesome.” Much better answer. “What do I have to do?”

“I’ll email you the details. You’ve got something good there, Alys. I’m excited about this.”

“Me too. Thank you.” I tried to keep my voice cool and calm, despite the fact that I was freaking out inside about what an awesome opportunity this was.

As I hung up and looked at Maddox, the news lodged in my throat. He was scowling at the road.

“Are you all right?” Did I miss something while I was talking to Xander?

“Yeah, totally good.” He gave a brief shake of his head, and a smile snapped into place. “That sounded like an exciting call.” He parked behind Onyx’s shop. “You should tell us both about it.”

“Yes. Totally, yes.” I’d never known Maddox to hide his feelings, and I had to take him at face value that he wasn’t doing so now. Besides, once he heard, he’d be excited too. His encouragement had kept me going on this project when I started it.

We found Onyx in back, staring at the new spot of wall from last week, and wearing a scowl.

“Is it haunted?” I asked.

He jumped, looking startled as he focused on us. “Possibly. Thinking of getting out the Ouija board later and asking the spirits to commune with me. How’d it go?”

“Ravyn’s in,” Maddox said before I could. “And Alys got some awesome news from Xander.”

Was that sarcasm?

No. Why would it be?

“What kind of news?” Onyx sounded genuinely interested.

Giddiness bubbled inside. “He wants me to develop music match some more—not the final name, we’ll probably have to come up with a better one. He thinks he can sell it.” I tried to keep the explanation short, but couldn’t help an excited squeal at the end.

Maddox’s frown and Onyx’s pursed lips were far from the excited answers I’d expected.

“Isn’t that awesome?” Maybe I hadn’t conveyed my excitement properly. “Something I wrote, this thing you both helped me design, and he thinks it can be for more than just us.”

“So you’ll be working with him a lot for a while,” Maddox said.

“And that means a lot of extra work, on top of the job and the contest,” Onyx added.

Which meant keeping my mind busy and a chance to prove I wasn’t a failure with no direction or purpose. “Probably. It’s not like the contest will suffer, if that’s what you’re worried about.” My joy was souring.

“It’s awesome news.” Onyx relaxed. “I mean it. I’m just worried about you.”

Why? “Because I get to do something I’m excited about?”

He clenched his jaw. “Because…” His nostrils flared as he let out a long exhale. “I don’t want you to burn yourself out, like you did after…”

After I broke up with Don, I’d thrown myself into work hard. So much so that I crashed a short while later. Burned out. Not wanting to do anything but watch reruns and eat chocolate. “That’s not what this is. I’m talking about a huge opportunity.”

“I know.” More of Onyx’s scowl faded. “And I really am happy for you, as long as you promise to be careful.”

“Of what?” How was I getting shit for such exciting news?

“I think it’s awesome.” Maddox gave me a hug, but his tone didn’t match his words. “Congratulations.”

This wasn’t how things were supposed to be at all. What was I missing?

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