Lag (The boys of RDA #2)(24)

I scoff at his answer. “Then why would it matter?”

“It just does,” he answers with a slight high and mighty tone.

“But…”

As we continue to walk on Lombard Street, I stare at Trey and realize regardless of how much I want to argue with him, I have no comeback. Mainly because I can’t remember what we were even arguing about. Anchovies? Pizza toppings? Picky girls? The man has completely talked me in circles. By his smug little smile, he knows it too.

“So you’re okay with green peppers, mushrooms, and onions?” he asks while typing into his phone.

I nod, it’s actually what we ordered the most when I still lived at home. I went through a big vegetarian phase in high school. Those were the three non-meat ingredients we agreed on and they sort of stuck even after I admitted I missed steak.

Trey puts his phone in his back pocket and steps closer but doesn’t grab my hand. I’d make the first move myself, but my nerves won’t allow me. For lack of a better topic I try to keep the conversation going.

“So where do you live?” Hey, I said I could keep it going. I never promised stimulating conversation.

“I’m off Fillmore Street, a few blocks from our office. My house was one of the first purchases I made after we sold Dragons Reborn. That and the car.”

I have no idea where Fillmore Street is considering I barely know where I live. “It’s in Knob Hill, right?” I remember Aspen telling me that's where Trey lived, and I try to play it off like I have knowledge of the city.

Trey’s head turns to me and his brows furrow. “Um, no. The opposite direction to Cow Hollow.”

My face heats, but I hope he’ll think it’s from the cooler evening air not my embarrassment. “Aspen said…” I trail off.

Trey snorts. “I told Aspen I lived in Knob Hill once,” he does this silent chuckle thing, “it’s kind of a long story, but I can see how it might be a memorable fact. Anyway, no, my place is a few blocks from the office. I walk some days.”

I still have no idea where Fillmore Street is, but I don’t question it more. “Where did you and Finn work before you sold Dragons Reborn?”

Trey’s gait slows for a moment while he looks to the sky. His smile and slight head shake suggest he’s lost in memories of their early days. When his pace picks back up, he starts talking. “Originally there were four of us. Finn, Ryland, Grant, and me. Our freshman year we all ended up roommates in the quad.”

He says the term with a deep voice but explains before I probe him. “The dorms all had a quad room on each floor. It was the room at the end of the hallway, which used up all the extra space. Since it was bigger, they put more of us in them. Living with three other guys was not always the easiest thing.

“Ryland ended up walking on the soccer team sophomore year, so he had to live in team housing, but the rest of us stayed together. Finn was always messing around with his computer. While most of us were studying, he’d design these simple games. Our favorite was a picture of the most hated professor on campus. The object was to throw things at him. You’d get points for direct hits. It was silly and stupid, but we all loved that one.

“One night, after a few beers, Ry suggested Finn make a soccer game. It would use most of the same code but wouldn’t get anyone sued if we let other people play it. The four of us talked it out and Finn started coding the game that night. He finished the next morning still hungover."

He runs his hands through his hair and slows our pace again before he picks up. Trey in full story mode is a sight. He looks younger and more laid back as he relays the start of their profitable company. I don’t want to interrupt him to ask questions and ruin the spell.

“That’s how smart Finn is. He coded our first real game while drunk. The concept was simple. Players had to use their fingers to swipe at the screen and make a goal. It was so basic, but once we stuck it online it went crazy. We sold it our junior year and that summer I finally convinced him to focus on making more games.

“I had dollar signs in my eyes. The soccer game sold for twenty-four thousand dollars, but I thought we were rich. I had no idea how much it cost to keep a gaming business afloat.” He laughs at himself and turns to me.

“How did you go from soccer to Dragons Reborn?”

“It never would have happened without Grant. As you know, he has a bit of family money.” Trey pinches his fingers together in front of him. “He invested in us and his money was the start-up cash we needed to keep the lights on.

“It was a crazy time for all of us. It took over a year of solid coding, but Finn finished Dragons Reborn next. We had half a million downloads in the first month and were caught unprepared for how quickly it would take off. We were always on the defense. Buying more server space as we overloaded the old one, working on one bug just to discover five more."

Trey stops when we reach a brick building with a bright red door, the word “Pizza” written in neon lights above it. He opens the door allowing me to enter first. One step inside the building and the smell of cheese has my nose searching for the ovens where the dairy goodness is cooking. My stomach growls in excitement.

The restaurant is small with less than ten tables for people to eat inside, half-filled at this moment. We approach the main counter, a tiled affair separating the eating area from the prep and ovens in the back. As we wait for the pizza to cook, we take seats at the farthest corner next to the large glass window to watch people as they walk by the store front.