Dating Texas (Discovering Me #3)

by Ann Maree Craven

  Killian cut him off. “Tell you what, I’m going to train you like I trained my little sister. If I wink when I say something to you, it’s a joke.” Rory used to get mad when he said things that weren’t true even if he was joking. When he instituted the wink rule, she learned to recognize his dry sense of humor.

  “Let’s try this again.” Killian lifted his foot again. “Oooh, big feet. New skates no likey. Reducing my footprint sounds bad.” He winked.

  Diego studied him for a moment, still not looking like he got it. He turned and rummaged through his desk drawer, producing a second reusable mug. “Dead planet no likey.” He winked.

  Killian burst out laughing. “Almost, man. But what you said wasn’t a joke so don’t wink.” He took the cup. “Sure. Me no likey dead planet either.” He stepped toward the door, but Diego didn’t move. “What are you waiting for?”

  “A wink.”

  Killian gripped his shoulder and pushed him to the door. “Just come on.”

  Only a few people sat scattered around the dining hall. It was a far cry from the crowds when school was in session.

  Killian piled food onto a tray and found Wylder in a far corner eating by herself. He dropped his tray onto the table, and she jumped.

  “Killian, you scared the crap outta me.” She scowled up at him.

  “You’re here again.” He slid into the seat across from her. “Don’t you have a house and a family like fifteen minutes away in Twin Rivers?”

  She shrugged. Killian didn’t get her. He’d give anything to see his family, to be that close to them.

  A throat cleared nearby, and Killian looked up at Diego. “You going to sit, dude?”

  “I didn’t know if it was okay.”

  “Wylder doesn’t bite…much.” She kicked him under the table. “Okay, fine, she bites a lot.” He shot her a smirk.

  “Is that why she doesn’t have many friends?” Killian knew Diego enough now to know his question only came from curiosity rather than any kind of disdain.

  “I don’t actually bite.” Wylder played with the end of a dreadlock.

  “Oh.” Killian snapped his fingers. “I forgot to wink. I’m sorry, man. Some trainer I am.” He met Diego’s eyes. “Wylder bites.” He winked.

  “Wait.” Wylder glanced between them. “Killer, are you training your roommate like a toddler? Or a dog?”

  Diego didn’t let Killian answer. Instead, he leaned forward. “Am I allowed to ask a question?”

  Wylder choked on a laugh. “Why wouldn’t you be allowed to ask a question?” She shot Killian a glare. “Listen here, Diego, don’t you obey a word Killian James says. He’s just a grumpy old man. Ask me anything.”

  Killian hid a smile behind his reusable cup. “You asked for it.”

  Diego visibly relaxed. Was it that hard for him holding in his questions? “Why did you call him Killer?”

  “It’s his hockey nickname.” She reached over and nudged Killian’s chin with her thumb. “But we all know he’s just a big old teddy bear.”

  Killian swatted her away.

  Diego’s eyes flicked between them. “Why do hockey players have nicknames when their real names are on the back of their uniforms.”

  “Jerseys.” Killian coughed out the word. “Or sweaters. Not uniforms.”

  Wylder shrugged. “I don’t—”

  “Why do they call them jerseys?”

  “Good quest—”

  “What are you doing here at school when you didn’t stay on campus for break?” He took a bite of his food.

  “Oh, um, my parents are working, and my brother—”

  “Beckett Anderson?”

  “Yeah, he isn’t coming home for a while.”

  “How’s his tour going? What’s it like being famous?”

  Wylder stared down at her food, her brow creasing. “You’d have to ask him.”

  “How long have you and Killian been dating?” Diego took a bite as if that wasn’t the most ridiculous question.

  Wylder snapped her eyes up. “We’re not—”

  “Is he the reason you don’t have friends? Does he scare everyone away?”

  Killian grinned and set his fork down. “Do I, darling? Is our torrid affair what’s keeping everyone away?”

  Wylder stood. “I need more coffee.”

  “Me too.” Killian raced after her, catching her elbow to slow her down. “You told him he could ask questions.”

  “Yeah, but I didn’t realize it would be a freaking interrogation. Did he even take a breath that entire time?”

  “Probably not.”

  They reached the coffee bar and handed over their cups. Wylder studied him. “You look tired.”

  “Yeah.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Diego kept me up.”

  She waggled her eyebrows.

  “Not like that, perv.”

  “What?” She laughed. “He’s got this adorable charm. I wonder if he’s gay.”

  “It wouldn’t matter if he was, because I think my ears would bleed from the constant talking. What ever happened to the days people just grunted at each other in passing, never having to voice every inane thought in their minds?”

  She took her coffee from the lady behind the counter. “Hate to break it to you, Killer, but you were the only antisocial dude who grunted at people instead of using your words.”

  They reached the table as Killian asked, “You going home today?”

  “No.” The word came from Diego instead of Wylder. “Remember, I’m staying all break.”

  Wylder couldn’t hold in her laugh. “I’m outta here after breakfast. Nicky should be home soon.”

  “That’s your brother’s boyfriend, right?” Her brother was Beckett Anderson, country music star.

  Her eyes narrowed. “No, he’s my best friend first and Becks’ boyfriend second. I had him long before my brother realized how amazing Nicky is.”

  Killian held up a hand in surrender. “Okay, then.”

  She stood and grabbed her tray in one hand and coffee in the other. “I should get going. Later, Killer.” Her eyes found Diego. “I really, really hope you hang around with us, Diego.” She smiled and bounced away.

  Killian only shook his head. Wylder Anderson was a new friend, but he felt like he’d known her for a while. After failing her junior year and getting kicked out of Twin Rivers High, she transferred to Defiance Academy as a repeat junior. She was snarky and cynical and the perfect friend for Killian.

  “Your girlfriend is so cool.” Diego watched her go.

  “She’s not my girlfriend, but she’s pretty great.”

  “Then why aren’t you dating her?”

  Killian shrugged. He never felt the need to hide his sexuality. He’d never officially come out as gay. It was just a part of him like anything else. He wasn’t ashamed of it or scared, but it also wasn’t the business of anyone he didn’t know well. “She’s not my type.”

  What was his type? He’d never dated anyone. There’d been a few kisses with a friend he’d had in Texas before moving to Ohio, but it never went further than experimenting.

  The only thing that mattered was hockey, and he’d never let himself get distracted from that goal.

  Killian dug into his pancakes. Diego had been right earlier. He loved his food. Diego, on the other hand, ate like a bird, taking tiny bites with precision. Sometimes, Killian forgot the kids at this school came from upper-crust families who had to guard their appearances.

  Other times, it was all he saw.

  6

  Diego

  Diego ignored the strange looks he got sorting through the trash at the coffee shop. It made sense now that Killian explained it. Diego didn’t always understand context, but he could see now why people thought his behavior was odd. It was just a thing he did wherever he went. If other people refused to walk the extra steps to place their recyclable trash into the right receptacle, he would do it for them and earn points for his game.

  Stuffing the last few plastic wa
ter bottles in his reusable shopping bag, he held it up at the counter. “Recycling fanatic.” He squirted some organic hand sanitizer on his hands from the bottle he kept in his bag. It had tea tree oil in it rather than alcohol and antiseptic chemicals.

  “Oh!” The manager’s eyes widened with relief. “Honey, we thought you were reusing all the cups.”

  Diego shrugged. “I guess in a way I am.”

  “Good for you. You want your usual?”

  “Soy vanilla latte with an extra shot, please.”

  “In your own mug, right?” She smiled.

  “Yes, ma’am.” Diego handed over his cup.

  “You’re going to save this planet all on your own, huh?”

  “I’m certainly trying.” It was funny how everyone was so much more polite. They usually gave him dirty looks when he asked for his coffee in his travel mug.

  The barista assistant handed him his latte with a smile. “We weren’t sure you were cleaning this thing. And with the dumpster diving…”

  “Oh, yeah, I guess that would be pretty gross.” He’d never thought about it from their perspective. “I wash it several times a day, actually.” He rarely worried what people might think of him. Most days, Diego felt he was pretty much invisible around here. Turned out, more people were paying attention to his antics than he’d realized.

  “I’m surprised the coffee shop is still open with the rest of the students on break.”

  “The school lets us use this time for all the things we don’t have time to do when school is in session,” the manager explained. “That way, we don’t miss too much work.”

  “Wouldn’t you rather spend the holidays with your family?”

  She gave him a blank look, and he got the feeling he’d said something stupid again.

  “We couldn’t afford to take that much time off,” the barista said. “Not if we wanted to give our kids an actual Christmas.”

  “Oh, right. That would suck.”

  “Hey, Diego.” Peyton waved as she came in to rescue him. “Grab us a seat, and I’ll get some coffee. We have a ton to go over today.”

  “We do?” Diego frowned. It was their first real meeting, so he couldn’t imagine what she had to discuss yet. He’d just emailed her yesterday with his completed homework list she’d given him last time.

  “Tons.” She threw her hands up in the air. “I brainstormed a design concept for your app. I can’t wait to show it to you.”

  “Really? I can’t wait to hear it.” He moved to set up his computer at a booth by the windows. He wasn’t sure he was ready to give up that much control to Peyton, but he was happy to hear her ideas.

  “We won’t need the computer today. I don’t have any sketches for you yet.” Peyton sat her drink on the table, and he was happy to see she’d brought her own mug too. “I wanted to run this past you before I go down that rabbit hole.”

  “You can draw?”

  Peyton snorted. “Of a sort, I guess. For the program I’m in at MIT, I’ve had to learn how to piece a design concept together, but when I say sketches, I mean doodles. Organized doodles to illustrate a full concept to the real artists. But I think we can do this on our own without using a digital artist. At least for the beta version.”

  “I’m all ears.” Diego sipped his latte and leaned back against the booth.

  “I’ll just pitch my idea like I would for school, and then you tell me what you think.” Peyton paused to take a deep breath. “I think your app needs a homemade look. But like a killer one. We could design the game map using recyclable materials. Lots of cardboard, plastic pieces from water bottles, news print, stuff like that. The game board would be designed as a pathway through a forest. So, these materials would be cut into the shape of leaves, trees, rocks and all kinds of nature things. We could create all the individual pieces, have them photographed and from that point they would become digital components we could arrange with the right coding sequences.”

  Diego nodded, loving her idea so far, but he needed to see it first to really grasp it. He wasn’t much of a visual thinker.

  “When the players start the game, their profile icon could be this cute little seedling that grows each time they level up. So, let’s say the first ten levels would yield them a ficus tree planted in a garden pot they get to choose. Then over the next ten levels, their tree would have to go in the ground and with each level their tree grows with all of these amazing things they’re doing for the environment until it becomes a gigantic, mighty oak or whatever kind of tree they choose in the beginning. And each time they level up they get to watch a little animation of their tree growing. But they have to take care of the tree. They have to water it and keep the area around it clean, raking leaves etc. They earn the tools to perform those tasks by doing real world tasks on top of what they already do in the game. These might be bigger tasks.”

  “Peyton.” Diego looked at her like an angel from heaven. “It’s perfect. I love it. Let’s do it. What do we need? How can I make it happen? What’s the first step?”

  “Well, stop talking for one.” Peyton giggled. “Take a deep breath, and work with me one step at a time, and we’ll get it there.”

  “It’s such a huge project. I can see the big picture, but I’m not sure I can get it there.”

  “That’s why I’m here. I read over your project summary you sent me. You’re a brilliant coder, Diego, but you need some guidance, and that’s not a bad thing. In the real world of app development, you’d work with a team to get this done. It’s not feasible to expect one person to tackle a project like this and see it all the way to the end on their own. Let me give you some tips, and we’ll get to that finish line. But I need you to do two big things for me before we meet again.”

  “Sure, whatever you need.”

  “The second thing I want you to do is bring that big picture in a few miles. When this app is in full swing, you’re going to have a million levels and thousands of working components. But you aren’t there yet. You’re trying to go into beta mode with the full concept, and that will have you spinning your wheels forever. I want you to redesign the whole game in your head or on paper if that helps. Take the general idea, and make a twenty-five-level game for the first beta version. Keep it as simple as you possibly can. We won’t scrap anything you’ve done so far. Not by a long shot, but we do need to take several steps back before we can go forward.”

  “Okay.” Diego nodded. He could see the sense in her plan.

  “We’ll do a beta version of this game to test among your friends, and then we’ll take their feedback and our own and move forward from there.”

  “What’s the first thing you want me to do?”

  “Take one day off. Twenty-four hours of not thinking about any of this.”

  “A whole day?” He wasn’t sure he could sacrifice one full day of his break to do nothing. What would he do if not work?

  “Think of it this way if it helps. I’ll be working on the design sketches and gathering materials, so we’re not standing still. You’re just in charge of clearing your mind and backing away from this project long enough to gain a better perspective of the new direction we’re heading.”

  “I can do that.”

  “It’s going to be harder than you think.”

  “I’ll find something to occupy my time.”

  “And when we meet next, be prepared to get your arts and crafts on. It wouldn’t hurt to enlist a few friends too.”

  “Arts and crafts?” This was going to be interesting.

  “One more thing. Trust me.” Peyton placed her hands over his. “I won’t let you down.”

  Finding something to occupy Diego’s mind was a lot harder than he’d imagined. For so long, he’d thought of nothing but schoolwork and his app. With neither, he was left wandering the campus looking for things to recycle. But with most students home for the holidays, there wasn’t enough recycling for him to sort.

  Diego waited by the front gates for his pizza to arrive. He wa
s bored eating, something he never did, but his favorite pizza was just the distraction he needed. It occurred to him he could just ignore Peyton’s directions and go back to his room and dive into rethinking the beta version of his game, but somehow, he knew she would know, and he was a little bit scared of her. Scared of disappointing her.

  With his pizza warming his hands, he headed to the arena to watch the guys practice. He’d never been to a hockey game, but he was intrigued with his new friends’ pastime. They took hockey seriously, and he’d heard Defiance Academy had a pretty good team.

  Kenny and Will charged down the ice, flying on their skates passing the flat ball thing back and forth between their clubs. They made it look easy.

  Killian skated up and down the ice, maneuvering his feet and changing direction every few feet. His arm was still in a sling and Diego wondered if it was only for while he was on the ice. He used his free arm to throw a ball against the wall every time he reached it. That same hand caught it without missing a beat. It didn’t look too much like hockey was supposed to look, but Diego assumed he knew what he was doing.

  He sat a few rows up and propped his feet up on the seat in front of him. Taking a bite of his first slice, he watched the guys practice, analyzing their movements and trying to figure out the goals of their practice exercises. Kenny and Will seemed to be working on moving the ball around the rink as quickly as they could. He thought they might be trying to get the ball past each other, but they were quick to pull it back in with their weird-looking clubs. He still didn’t have a clue what Killian was doing, but he was working up a sweat. Maybe, he was just trying to stay in shape while his arm healed.

  “He brought pizza?” Will skated past where Diego sat, and Kenny managed to get the ball away from him.

  “Focus, Will.” Kenny batted the ball back around to him. “You need to work on your passing skills. You have good control of the puck until it’s time to pass it, and that’s when your weakness shows.”

  Puck? That must be the ball thing. Diego reached for another slice.

  “My current weakness is for whatever’s in that box. Dude didn’t bring any to share.”