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Oh. Wow. “Fuck me. For both?” I’d given him two different apps.
“For one. You have a few choices to make over the next few days, and none have to be made impulsively. I’m going to give you one to think about right now. We can keep doing this, but if you’re tapped out on ideas—”
“I’m not.”
Xander’s grin broadened. “Whatever you’ve got, you run it by me. It won’t all be good, I’ll be honest with you right now, but if it is, we’ll refine the concept, you’ll build it, I’ll sell it. There are a handful of people who write the cores of so much of what we use, and you could be one of them. You can be a big name, or you can stay anonymous forever. It’s up to you.”
This was so much to take in, but I already knew one thing. “I’m not a spotlight kind of person. What’s in this for you?” I didn’t mean it to be a cruel question, but Xander wasn’t doing this completely out of the kindness of his own heart. I wouldn’t let him.
“I take a significant finder’s fee-slash-agent’s fee.” His answer came easily.
That made sense.
“Besides, finding a mind like yours? No one gets to do that. That’s better than money, it’s bragging rights. Biggest reason though?”
“Yeah?”
“You’re family. Anyone who can make Maddox smile the way you do deserves good things.”
That warmed me all the way through. “I’m in.”
“And if you decide to quit your job, let Judith down easy. She thinks she won because she hired you first.”
“I did win.” Judith’s voice came from behind me, startling me. “I saw your potential long before he did.”
“And yet you squashed it.” Xander was focused on her now, but there was no malice in his voice.
Judith shrugged. “I make video games and she’s a brilliant coder. I gave her a place to shine.”
“Pft. My offer is better,” Xander said.
It was still odd being talked about like I wasn’t here. “Am I the trophy in this discussion?” Spending holidays with the pair had taught me they were intensely competitive. Especially with each other.
“You are. And you deserve it,” Judith said.
Adam’s sharp whistle cut through the room.
“Five minutes,” Maddox shouted.
“Speaking of trophies.” I wanted to win one. Today.
Judith squeezed my arm. “Good luck. And be good to my baby brother.”
I rejoined everyone else, and settled on a bench seat between Maddox and Onyx.
When Markus came on the air, a hush fell over the room. A chair scraped against tile, and as many people winced as laughed lightly.
We listened through the drug out explanations and descriptions. The third and second place. It was as disheartening as it was encouraging not to hear our name in either slot—we’d placed second or third on multiple occasions.
“And now the moment you’ve all been waiting for,” Markus said, and a drumroll played in the background.
“Get on with it,” Maddox shouted at the speakers.
“Our first-place scavenger hunt winner this year, a team who had incredible entries—twice—”
Holy shit. It wasn’t— We weren’t—
“The Wonderland Crew.”
