Jasper gave a heavy sigh as he resumed putting the last of the decks away and zipping up the bags. “That remains to be seen. However, you did do a good job of making Chase smile.”
“I tried.”
“I believe you.” Jasper’s tone was less biting now.
And maybe he didn’t believe my apology, but at least he believed that I’d been sincere with the kids, and that mattered. Some of the tightness in my chest loosened. “Thanks.”
His smile also took on a warmer cast. “And now I can make good on my promise to help you.”
“Here?” There were still some families in the lounge area, although Jasper’s other friends had already headed out. His mom had come for his sister, and she’d had a hard stare of her own for me, which I supposed was understandable, all things considered. God only knew what she’d heard via the mom gossip network on top of the shit I’d actually done.
“No, not here. They have a movie night coming in next. Let’s go to the cafeteria. The Wi-Fi is pretty strong there.”
“Dressed like this?” I looked down at my toga. The administration people who had stopped by had been pretty chill, but I wasn’t exactly dressed for the coffee bar. The idea of more speculative looks made my back sweat.
Jasper shrugged because of course he had no such issues. “I don’t mind. I like making people smile.”
“You’re good at that.”
“Why, thank you.” Fully in character for a second, Jasper gave me a courtly bow and a wink. Then he straightened, regular Jasper again. “And if you want to change, we can do that.”
“Yeah, I’m a little chilly.” More like I was still slightly embarrassed, but I didn’t want a lecture.
“Okay, okay. Back to civvies.” Jasper led the way to the public restroom near the elevators.
“Ha. You sound like Bruno.” I laughed, but inside, I tensed up at the reminder of why I was even here. Bruno had the military-speak down, along with that take-charge attitude. He was the better person for sure, and knowing how badly I’d let him down weighed on me, made my movements slower as I changed clothes.
Jasper was done first and was waiting on me when I emerged from the stall. He was back to a hooded sweatshirt and faded jeans, average college-student wear, but I could still see traces of the Frog Wizard in him. The regal posture. The knowing smile. The light, confident movements as he headed to the cafeteria. He always had a bounce to his step, that extra bit of energy that others lacked.
The cafeteria had a number of food stations including a coffee bar. And damn, I was tired. And thirsty.
“Do you want a drink?” I asked as Jasper pulled a sleek laptop out of his backpack. “I can get us something while you get booted up.”
“Thanks. Yes, actually. Soda. M—”
“Mountain Dew. I remember.” He’d always had such a sweet tooth and a thing for the junk food his mom seldom stocked.
He met my gaze, and years of history passed between us. Sodas and sleepovers and secrets. “Appreciate it.”
I retrieved a bottle of soda for him because he always liked bottles more than fountain drinks and an espresso for myself. Taking the seat next to Jasper, I moved the chair so I could see the screen too. This put me close enough to smell him again, and our sleeves brushed. My body took way too much of an interest in his nearness, but I also couldn’t move away without looking like a dick.
“You drink coffee?” Jasper raised an eyebrow as I slid him his soda.
“I got into bullet-proof coffee at college because some of the guys I trained with swore by it. And I had an early-morning PT appointment on the other side of town. I need some caffeine, but unlike you, I can’t handle all that sugar anymore.”
“If I didn’t run on junk food, I’d starve.” Jasper was already clicking around his laptop, opening browser tabs with impressive speed.
“Like your mom would let that happen.” His mom wasn’t a health nut, but with five kids, she did a lot more home-cooked meals than mine, especially when they were all younger.
“Truth.” Laughing, Jasper took a swig of his soda, then gestured at his machine. “Okay. Let’s start our hunt. I’ve bookmarked some of the most likely places. A simple search engine isn’t going to turn up much.”
“I know. I tried,” I groaned. I had looked. Saturday night after the whole mess with George, I’d tried to see what I could find before I’d had the courage to ask Jasper for help. “And I suck at searching. Like, there’s 2,000 results, and after five or so, they all start bleeding together in my brain.”
Jasper nodded because this was hardly news to him. I’d talked him into doing most of the heavy lifting with group projects in middle school. His mouth pursed as his expression turned more thoughtful.
“How did you cope with papers at college? I heard you got a soccer scholarship somewhere out of state.”
“It wasn’t easy,” I admitted. And with anyone else, I wouldn’t share this much, but Jasper already knew me on a deeper level than some of the kids I’d shared a dorm with. “I practically lived at the writing center and still struggled. This one tutor there suggested that maybe I have some sort of learning disability. Like my processor doesn’t run at the same speed as others.”
“I can see that.” Jasper didn’t sound at all judgmental as he clicked away on his laptop. “There’s help for all sorts of learning differences these days. But you’re not at college now?”
“No.” I sat back in my chair.
“Oh. Right. Your leg. Was it—”
“Can we talk about the cards now?”
“Got it. No more questions.”
Predictably, as soon as his tone went cool, I missed his prying. God, I was a mess. “Sorry. That was rude of me.”
“Nah. It’s okay. I was being nosy.” Jasper shrugged, but only some of his easiness returned. “Anyway, here’s what I’m finding. Some partial sets for, like, $5K.”
He tapped his screen, which had a bunch of pictures of cards with price tags with way too many zeroes.
“F—”
“Yeah, I know. It’s a lot.”
“There’s no cheaper way to score these cards?” Squinting, I leaned forward, like that might help the screen show something different.
“Like armed robbery?” Jasper laughed, then sobered as he clicked over to another browser tab. “Occasionally, you’ll see one or two offered on a prize wall at a tournament. Like here’s one this weekend in Philly. It’s a decent competition. I won a bunch of transforming cards there last year.”