Risking the Shot (Stick Side #4) - Amy Aislin Page 0,65

off again.

The smile on Dakota’s face nearly made Tay melt into a puddle.

His phone vibrated against his thigh, jolting him out of his near swoon, and he pulled it out, squinting at the screen: an email from Mason. In it was a link to a beta version of AITech’s app.

“Have you ever heard of AITech?”

They split momentarily to allow a woman with a stroller to jog past them. Why she didn’t just go around them . . .

“Yeah,” Dakota said, to Tay’s surprise. “New tech start-up on the West Coast, right?”

“How’d you hear about them? I didn’t think a lot of people had.”

“One of my brothers has his hands in a whole bunch of start-ups. He likes to invest.” Dakota picked up the pace slightly to catch up with Andy. “Why do you ask?”

“They want me to be the face of their Instagram campaign for some kind of money-manager app they’ve developed.”

“Cool.” A corner of Dakota’s lips twitched up. “Does that happen often?”

“Every once in a while, yeah. Usually it’s sporting equipment companies wanting me to advertise their equipment or clothes. Not sure about this money app, though.”

“Why not?”

“It doesn’t feel . . . on-brand? No, that’s not right. Brand’s not the right word. Just that I don’t exactly have strong thoughts for money management one way or the other, so it feels kind of . . . disingenuous. I mean, I’d love to help a start-up get off the ground, but . . .”

“The product doesn’t speak to you.”

“Exactly. Thank you.” Trust Dakota to spell out what he was thinking. “They just sent me the link to the beta version of the app for me to try. Maybe once I fiddle around with it . . . Aren’t there a whole bunch of money-managing apps out there, though? What’s different about this one?”

“Can you ask your contact there?”

“Hm.” Tay put his phone away. “It’s probably in the info my agent sent.”

Dakota led them to sit on a rocky ledge surrounding gardens not yet in bloom. It was directly across from the reindeer enclosure Andy was visiting. “Other than sports stuff, what kind of app or company could you see yourself supporting?”

“Good question.” Tay’s teammates supported a whole slew of different things: pet adoption, mental health, support for veterans, human rights, climate change. “I’ve always liked supporting organizations like the Foundation. Ones that help kids have access to sports.”

Thirty feet away, Andy did jumping jacks to entice the reindeer closer. Dakota laughed and snapped a picture with his phone. “Yeah, that’s not going to work, buddy.” He turned back to Tay. “What else?”

Biting his lip, Tay people-watched for a minute, noting the families strolling by, the screaming kids, the couples walking hand-in-hand, but not really registering it. No one had ever asked what he wanted to support before. It had always been thrust on him by his well-meaning agent. “Art supplies, maybe? Drawing apps?”

He had the full focus of Dakota’s attention now. “So you do draw.”

“Uh, yes?” Had Tay mentioned it before? He couldn’t remember.

Dakota jerked his chin Andy’s way. “Andy mentioned you’re drawing a comic.”

“Oh.” Ohhhhhh. Right. He’d told Andy when they were putting the campervan together. It was easier to talk to kids—they didn’t judge you.

“What’s it about?”

“Uh.” Shifting on the cold stone, Tay played with the end of his scarf. “It’s a fantasy about three brothers who are water witches.” Three super queer brothers. He didn’t say that. He didn’t know why. “They have to protect their small town from . . . well . . . It’s loosely based on Irish mythology.” Ugh, there was no way Dakota was interested in his stupid comic.

It’s not all about you, kid.

He jerked a shoulder in a half-shrug. “It’s just a hobby. What about you?” He bumped Dakota’s shoulder. “What do you like to do in your spare time?”

Something shifted behind Dakota’s eyes, there and gone before Tay could identify it. Frustration? Disappointment? A hint of fear? Dakota’s gaze shifted to Andy and he leaned forward, elbows on his knees, hands clasped together.

A lump squirmed in Tay’s stomach, heavy and dense. Why did he suddenly feel like he’d let Dakota down?

Squinting against the sun, a combination of uncertainty and confusion hardening into a lump in his gut, Dakota said, “I don’t have a lot of spare time. What I do have is after Andy goes to bed, and if there isn’t housework that needs to be done or something that needs decorating, I tend to fall in front of