For The Win (Gamer Girls, #6) - Auryn Hadley Page 0,8

even call you by your deadname, if that's what you want. I honestly don't care about that shit. Look like a man or a woman. Doesn't matter. I keep telling you that I don't care, and you don't believe me. So, let me prove it?"

"Ok," she said again. "When?"

"Um..." He was thinking fast. "Say, Denny's tomorrow at seven? Evening, I mean," he added. "I'm not really a morning person, but if breakfast is better, then I'll make it work."

"Evening is fine," she promised. "I have to work in the morning, but I'll be there."

"Me too." He paused, and she was almost waiting for him to end the call when he added, "I'm kinda nervous too."

"What? Why?" she asked.

"Because at the conventions I'm some big and important game developer," he explained. "Believe it or not, the only reason I'm still working for Deviant is because Dez is amazing. She's busted my ass for the last few years to get me up to speed. I should be the asshole who fucked up the code. Instead, I get to call myself the head developer for first person shooter mechanics. I'm kinda nervous that if we aren't talking about tournament matches, you might figure out that I don't really know as much about coding as you do."

"Nah, I already knew that," she teased. "I mean, look at the mess you made of Shots of Conquest."

This time, his laugh was a little easier. "Hey, it runs. Granted, it shouldn't, but don't tell on me. That was my first time trying to make a working engine. It was also a bet."

"With who?" she asked.

"Chance," he groaned. "Man, he told me that if I could get it to run, he'd let me take lead on Eternal Combat. I made that piece of shit run. I even made it limp across the line to be counted as stable, but it's a pile of crap."

"You did the whole engine on your own?" she asked.

"No," he admitted. "Just the shooter mechanics. Well, and the user interface. Kinda why I'm hoping to pick your brain. I mean, Renegade's moving along, and guess who gets to make the Heads Up Display?"

"You do," she realized. "So, what do I get if I help you with this?"

"Mm," he purred, the sound clearly flirtatious. "Well, in my dream world, it would start with coffee, work up to dinner, and end with a long night talking minimalistic graphics interferences in my room afterwards. Granted, I have a feeling you're going to make it clear that you aren't that kind of girl, so how about you tell me what you want, young lady?"

"Man," she reminded him. "Remember, I'm not out yet."

"Doesn't really change the fact that you still prefer female pronouns," he countered. "And trust me, Dez dresses like a guy often enough that I know the clothes do not make the woman. But seriously, what do you want to get out of this?"

"Maybe a reference on my resume?" she asked.

"Yeah, sure," he promised. "But for what? I mean, you looking for a job in the industry?"

Rhaven just sighed. "That's why I'm gaming, Braden. I don't want to be a pro like QQ or Void. Don't get me wrong, I love playing, but I want to make the games, not just play them."

His breath rushed out. "Really?"

"Yeah," she mumbled, "but it's not easy. I didn't even think about it, but I put all of my mods out under Rhaven Moore. Legally, that's not my name, so I can't exactly claim them. I don't want to change the tag on the mods, because then everyone would know. I can't apply to get a job under a name that isn't legally mine, so... yeah, I'm kinda stuck. Good ol' 'Ethan Moore' has worked fast food, cashier at the local grocery store, and as a clerk at the gas station. Not exactly begging a development company to give me a chance."

"Have a degree?" he asked.

"Nope," she said. "All self-taught. That makes it even harder."

"Yeah, it does," he admitted. "But I'll gladly be a reference. List your mods, hun. I'll verify that the ones for the Deviant games - all of them - were made by you. Community-recognized name and all, you know? I got your back, just do me one favor?"

"What's that?" she asked.

"Don't work for Bioware? I mean, they keep trying to outperform us, and those bastards are too fucking good. Go work for EA and get them in the scene again or something." Then he made a funny