Out of Character by Annabeth Albert
Chapter Eighteen
Milo
“Ready to go?” As he’d done on Wednesday night, Jasper had parked a bit down from my building, but I’d been waiting outside for him and didn’t have far to walk. “Tell me you didn’t have to stand too long in the cold.”
“It wasn’t bad.” I didn’t want to keep him waiting because he’d been nice enough offering me a ride to Professor Tuttle’s house. And okay, I also wasn’t wanting the drama from Luther and James if Jasper came up to fetch me. I wasn’t going to repeat the mistakes of high school, and I’d tell them where they could shove it if they hassled us, but I wasn’t looking forward to that conversation.
I did a fast glance around the parking lot because I also couldn’t resist the chance to lean in and give Jasper a quick kiss hello. It wasn’t a long one—no tongues tangling like the other night—but Jasper’s small, pleased smile said he appreciated the gesture. And that made me repeat it another time before settling into my seat and clicking the seat belt.
“Wow.” Jasper rubbed his mouth, cheeks still pink. “You’re definitely getting better.”
“Yeah?” I liked knowing that, and I resisted the urge to wriggle in my seat like a puppy getting praised for a new trick.
“Your improvements have been noted, but you might need more practice later.” Jasper’s voice was light as he drove toward the exit.
“I could be down with that.” I started racking my brain for ideas of where we could go park that might allow for more kissing. I’d never done the whole parking thing in high school, but I’d heard enough from the guys in the locker room to know such places existed.
“Good. But first, we’ve got to get to the professor’s.”
“Darn.” Laughing, I stretched my legs. His car was suspiciously cleaner, and I had a feeling it might have been for my benefit. “Thanks for the ride. I could have done the bus—”
“No, you couldn’t have. It’s freezing.” Jasper spoke exactly like someone who assumed it was his personal responsibility to take care of everyone around him. I’d been watching him these past few weeks, and the boy who’d liked to help his parents with chores had grown into the adult who never said no and was always there with an offer to help whether it was his family or Kellan or me. As much as I liked being in that circle, I also found myself wanting to take care of him too.
“Well, I appreciate it. Maybe there’s something I can do for you?”
“We’ll see.” Jasper’s tone was decidedly flirty, and while I hadn’t meant it as a sexy thing, I wasn’t turning down those ideas either.
“You’re right about freezing.” I tried to adjust his heater, which was only marginally more functional than his stereo. “I’m ready for some sun.”
“Me too. Of course, the sun and I have a love-hate relationship.” Jasper laughed as he stopped for a red light. Saturday night traffic was predictably bad, but I didn’t mind the extra time with him.
“I remember some of your terrible sunburns growing up.”
“Yup. But I’m so ready for warmth.”
“Oh, I can keep you warm.” I was still testing this whole flirting-back thing, but I liked how it made my chest expand, like I needed extra room to contain these light feelings.
“Of that I have no doubt. Thanks to you, I had rather…heated dreams last night.”
“Hey, you’re the one searching out sexy drawings, not me.” I lived for his texts lately, both the ones with and without images. They weren’t quite sexting, but they weren’t all G-rated either. I liked the flirting and also the little snippets of his life, like him mentioning being tired from classes and work.
“We need to keep you properly inspired.” Jasper waggled his eyebrows at me right before turning into a neighborhood of stately older homes near the campus.
“You are. I’m totally inspired.” I shifted in the seat, needing to move away from the flirting if we were almost to our destination. “And in other art news, I finished the drawing for Chase and his dad. Think they’ll be there this week? Wait. Am I invited to cosplay? Didn’t mean to presume.”
“Neptune is always welcome. You too.” Jasper’s voice was far warmer than the air in his car. “And I’ll call tomorrow and find out if he’s been discharged yet. If he has, my mom has an address for them. We sent cookies and some Odyssey cards for Chase at Christmas.”
“Your family is always so nice.” I wanted to be more like that too. Thoughtful. The kind of person who thought before they acted.
“Well, it’s mainly my mom, but thanks.” Jasper frowned as we slowed in front of a house with a packed driveway. “Okay, now to find a parking spot nearby.”
“I don’t mind walking if it means sparing your car more of your stunt parking.”
“Hey now. Remember that crack when I cash in my voucher for learning to drive a stick.”
“We’re going to an empty parking lot.” I braced myself against the seat as Jasper did a parallel parking maneuver that was probably illegal in three states.
“Promises, promises.” He winked at me as he straightened out the car and put it in Park. We were still at an alarming angle, but the heat in his eyes had me right back to thinking about all the things we could get up to at the end of the night. But first I had to be social and hope I didn’t embarrass Jasper in front of his genius gamer friends.
“Do you need me to play this a certain way?” I asked as we got out of the car. “I am well acquainted with the ‘let’s make my ex jealous’ move, thanks to more than one sorority sister needing a last-minute date to a function we both wanted to skip.”
“Neither of them are my ex. Like I said, we’re all friends. It’s just…weirdish now. And is that you offering to be my date or you being scared I might claim that without clearing it with you?”
“Which gets me more practice kissing after this is over?” I gave him my best smile, even as my heart threatened to pound its way out of my chest.
“You surprise me more every day.” Jasper shook his head, and I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing. “And you look like you did right before that roller coaster. So, no, I’m not going to make you hold hands or anything like that, but if you can manage not to freak if someone makes the assumption, I’d count that as progress.”
“And the kissing?” I didn’t particularly like that his expectations were so low, even if he wasn’t wrong about me being nervous.
Jasper glanced down the street, then gave me a lightning-fast peck on the mouth. He pulled back to study me closely. “Okay. You’re not melting like a snowman. I think you might be cool for later.”
“Good.”
“Milo?” He stopped right before the house, which was a Victorian in immaculate repair. His face was serious enough to make my stomach flip.
“Yeah?”
“I meant what I said the other night. I believe you can change. Don’t prove me wrong.”
“I won’t,” I promised, hoping like heck I wasn’t lying because the absolute last thing I wanted to do was hurt him. Especially right then when what I really wanted was to get better at kissing him senseless. And better at…everything when it came right down to it. I’d decided at some point in the last few weeks that I wasn’t going to settle for spending the rest of my life as a loser. I wanted more, and that meant finally being willing to crack that closet door and let a little fresh air into that dank, windowless space that had been my home for far too long.
“Jasper! You made it. We’re about to start filming.” An older man wearing a Gamer Grandpa T-shirt under a thick cardigan opened the door after Jasper rang the bell. “Thanks for meeting here. My old bones haven’t been getting around as well these days.”
Leaning heavily on his cane, he moved aside for us to enter.
“I don’t know about old. You look ready to kick some Odyssey butt, Professor Tuttle.” Jasper had a big smile for the man, then gestured as me. “This is Milo. He’s the friend who’s been playing Prince Neptune with our group.”
I almost preened at having graduated to friend. And I supposed “Milo the guy I’ve been sending racy fan-art drawings to and kissing good night” didn’t especially roll off the tongue, even if it was maybe more accurate. But friend meant I was doing something right—and also meant there was more at stake if I screwed up.
“Welcome.” Professor Tuttle nodded at me. “We’ve got plenty of food for after we film. I assume you play?”
“A little.” I had at least learned something recently: not to brag about my skills playing a game that most of these people probably had played for a decade or more.
“Good, good. We won’t put you in front of the camera. Yet.” His sly wink made me smile. I followed him and Jasper to the rear of the house. We tossed our coats onto a pile on a bench in the hall before entering an impressively renovated kitchen that smelled like enchiladas and made me forget to be nervous about meeting new people.
Another older gentleman with a red apron and salt-and-pepper hair placed a steaming tray of rice on the counter. I guessed he was Professor Herrera, Professor Tuttle’s husband, even before the introductions were made.
“Call me Julio,” he said breezily. “And help yourself to a drink.”
“What can I help you with?” I asked, ignoring the cooler of drinks on the floor at the end of the island. Jasper and the professor had started talking filming specifics for their vlog episode, drifting toward the dining room where I could hear Kellan’s deeper voice amid some unfamiliar ones.
“Can you cook?” Julio asked, raising an elegant eyebrow. He was a drama professor, and I could totally see him onstage himself. I hadn’t known many older same-sex couples, and he and Professor Tuttle fascinated me.
“Better than I can help with the vlog stuff,” I admitted. “But not like expert level.”
“Fair enough. In that case, you can stir this pot.” In short order, Julio had me in an apron, stirring a giant pot of beans with a long wooden spoon while he carried on an entertaining monologue about the hazards of loving a gamer. I liked that he didn’t require much conversation from me, which gave me ample time to peek into the dining room where the play mats had come out and much discussion was had as to who was playing whom.
And Jasper was right in the middle of things, talking animatedly, hands flying, smile never dipping. Others had louder opinions and might have been objectively better players, but to me, Jasper was the sun to which my eyes kept returning.
“How long have you been friends?” Julio asked, probably catching on to the direction of my gaze.
“Uh…this time around, like, two weeks? But we went to school together.” I left out a giant chunk of our history while also trying not to outright lie.
“He’s a great kid. One of my favorites of the Gamer Grandpa gang.”
“He’s the best.” Of that I was sure, and watching him with his friends from a distance only made me more aware of how lucky I was that he was having anything to do with me, especially given our past. And I didn’t ever want to be the one who dimmed that light inside him, that light that I couldn’t get enough of. Even now, it wasn’t only kisses I was counting down to, but simply getting a slice of that attention and energy. Forget spring. It was his warmth I wanted to bask in, even if meant risking getting burned.
