“Hold up. You’re good enough at the game to win prizes?” Turning in my chair, I studied him, almost like I was seeing him for the first time. He’d had a whole life in the years since we’d been friends. And he wasn’t simply this computer wizard good at searches. He was…competent. Successful. A stranger.
“Why, yes, Milo. I’ve only been playing since I was sixteen. I’m on a popular vlog about the game. I’ve played at various regional tournaments. I’m not a pro, but I am good.” His expression was closer to the Frog Wizard than the Jasper I knew. This guy was cocky. Radiating confidence.
“Better than George?” I tried like heck not to let on how freaking impressed I was.
“George cheats.” Jasper made a pained face. “But yes, assuming he’s not loading his deck with bombs, I’m the better player.”
“Good on you.” A stray thought wandered into my brain and wouldn’t let go. “So you could maybe win that card?”
Jasper blinked. “You want me to enter that tournament, go to Philly on Saturday, and fetch you one of the missing cards? Is that all?”
“Well, when you put it like that…”
“It’s a ton of work. It’s not like some casual games with friends.”
“I know.” Pinching the bridge of my nose, I inhaled sharply. I should have known better than to share my big brainstorm. It wasn’t like I could do it—playing with George had proved to me how very little I knew.
“But…maybe we could make a deal.” Jasper voice had an edge to it I couldn’t quite place. A slyness almost. Not like George-level sliminess but a little more calculating than I was used to from him.
“What sort of deal?” My head tilted as I considered him.
“You can stop looking like I’m about to ask for…personal favors.”
I made an audible gulping noise. My brain hadn’t gone there at first, but now he’d said it, vivid images danced in my mind, each more enticing than the last.
“Yeah. I know. The horror.” He rolled his eyes as he laughed.
He couldn’t be more wrong, but words failed me. And even if I’d managed to speak, volunteering for those kinds of favors probably wouldn’t go well. He’d assume I was pranking him, and that would be the end of his help.
“Anyway…” He made a dismissive gesture right as the people at the table nearest to us stood. They glanced our way, and God, I hoped they hadn’t heard his joke.
“Yeah?” I whispered, hoping he’d take the hint to lower his own voice.
“The hospital is doing a costume ball in a few weeks. I need you to be Neptune for that. And maybe a few other visits too.”
“A costume ball? Like a bunch of rich old dudes in wigs and masks?” This wasn’t the worst thing he could ask for, but it also wasn’t the best.
“Probably.” Jasper didn’t sound too put out by the prospect. “And before you say no, I’m sure there will be other people in togas. Gods are always popular costume choices. Also, it would mean a ton to April.”
Oh, that was low, making it about the kids. Of course I didn’t want to let April or Chase or any of the other kids down.
“And you?” If he was going to go low, I was going to at least make him admit this wasn’t only April wanting me to go.
“Fine. I’d like to have Neptune there too. And apparently I want it enough to drive to Philly in my death trap of a car.” He finished with a groan.
“We can take mine if it’s not snowing.” My pulse sped up and sweat trickled down my back, but it was the least I could offer. If he were going to go try to win the card, I could give him a cheering section. Or whatever the heck observers did at these things. Maybe it was like golf clapping, but whatever, I’d figure it out.
“Deal. And if it is, I’ll see if I can trade with Katie. She has an SUV now that she’s all employed and stuff.”
“She graduated?” Jasper’s oldest sister had been in college last I’d heard. She’d always been nice. Super smart, like all the Quigley kids.
“Yup. She’s a nurse now, over at the regional medical center.” Pride laced Jasper’s words as he smiled. “Her specialty is outpatient surgery.”
“Wow. All I remember about her is her obsession with that one British band.” It was hard to imagine that the gangly teen Katie had been was now in charge of people’s lives.
“Well, like you said, people grow and change.”
“That they do.” I gave him a pointed look.
Expression more speculative as he narrowed his eyes, he turned toward me. “Tell me one thing different about you. And not the coffee-drinking thing. Something real.”
I knew one thing. One big, giant thing, but no way in hell was I blurting it out right then. Hi. I’d be down with whatever personal favors you wanted to request. Anything. Surprise. And yeah, the news flash that he wasn’t the only one into dudes wasn’t going to go over well. I might not have his genius brain, but I knew that much. So I tried to think of other things.
“Unlike you, the junk food–tarian, I eat vegetables now. And I’ve got a tattoo…” I could tell by his face that he wasn’t impressed by my answers in the slightest. And somehow, I hated disappointing him, wanted to prove something to both us. “Okay. Real talk. I got kicked off the soccer team. That’s how I lost my scholarship and ended up back here instead of being able to rehab and stay in school.”
I wasn’t going to tell him the whole story, not right then, and maybe not ever. But considering that soccer had been the original wedge between us, it felt…significant somehow, sharing my greatest defeat with him.
Jasper whistled low. “Wow.”
“You’re not going to celebrate that I can’t play anymore?”
“No. First of all, you got injured. I’m not going to cheer for anyone getting hurt. Second, I worked damn hard for my scholarships. I know how much losing them would suck. And no matter what you did, I can bet that getting kicked off wasn’t your intention. You lived for soccer.”
“I did.” I had to swallow hard. “And yeah, it sucked. And you’re right. It was my fault, but I didn’t think… Hell, I didn’t think, period.”
“That does seem to be a persistent problem with you.” Jasper sighed, but his tone wasn’t unkind.
“Yeah.”
“Hey.” Surprising the heck out of me, he patted my upper arm. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry about the team.”