Out of Character by Annabeth Albert
Chapter Nineteen
Jasper
Milo wasn’t the only one with kissing on his brain. As my friends and I took a break from filming so that Professor Tuttle could go find a missing deck in his office with Jasmine’s help, my thoughts kept drifting back to Milo’s unexpected but very welcome new interest. The kisses hello had been sweet, especially knowing he was risking James or Luther seeing. I had no clue what we were doing other than that I liked it and wasn’t about to put a stop to it, not yet.
“So. Your friend. The one with a burning desire for the Royal Frog Court cards. He’s…different.” Conrad looked up from shuffling cards. He seemed older than the last time I’d seen him—nicer clothes, good haircut, all those real-world employment perks.
“Hey, we welcome jocks here too.” In a good mood from a rare win against Conrad, Kellan laughed. He tinkered with the cameras for the next segment.
“He’s not a jock.” My emphatic denial surprised me, so I softened my tone a little. “Exactly.”
“You like him.” Conrad raised an eyebrow, apparently all- knowing about matters of the heart now.
“I don’t dislike him.” I glanced back at the kitchen, hoping he wasn’t in earshot of this little exchange.
“Well, as long as he’s got nothing in common with that jock guy from high school who was such a jerk.”
Heck. Of course, Conrad would remember that story from one night when he’d needed a place to crash. We’d had one of those sleep-deprived oversharing conversations where I probably should have kept my mouth shut rather than sharing all my Milo angst.
“Um…”
“Oh, Jasper. Really?” Frowning, now Conrad was the one to glance at the kitchen. “I know you’re big on seeing the good—”
“People change.” I was back to being defensive about something I wasn’t entirely sure about myself. I wanted to believe in Milo, but a mountain of past evidence told me to be wary. And there was a difference between believing and trusting, a distinction my overclocked brain kept obsessing about. “They do. I’ve seen people change.”
“Not as often as we’d like.” Conrad sighed like he was oh so ancient now. “And it’s your life. But I feel like I should have words with this guy anyway.”
“You’re going to give a scary don’t-mess-with-our-friend lecture?” Alden sounded both impressed and dubious.
“If he doesn’t, maybe I should,” Kellan mused. “I mean if you and Jock Neptune are—”
“No one is giving anyone else a lecture.” I glared at Conrad, not really mad as much as frustrated. This was why I’d brought Milo in the first place. Being the single friend sucked. But my shoulders also sagged. I was setting myself up for a big disappointment if Milo wasn’t as changed as I’d begun to hope.
“Okay, okay. Besides, he seems cool so far.” As always, Kellan was quick to change directions. “The kids at the hospital love him. And look at him helping Professor Herrera, who usually doesn’t let anyone help in the kitchen.”
My gaze returned to the kitchen where Milo was grating a large block of cheese and laughing at something Professor Herrera said. Milo seemed totally at ease, perhaps even more so than I would be in there. I was always a little intimidated by Professor Herrera, who never had a hair out of place and who counted actual Broadway stars among his friends. My heart did this weird gallop watching Milo, remembering him talking about learning to cook and seeing him actually go for it, even if only to be helpful.
“And we found it!” Professor Tuttle came back in, followed by Jasmine and with two new decks for us to examine and talk about.
“Let’s get the filming wrapped,” Jasmine said as she moved to fiddle with the cameras, undoing Kellan’s adjustments. The two of them had taken over a lot of the editing from me, and their little squabbles over minute differences were fun when they weren’t making me feel even more conspicuously single. “I’ve smelled what they’re doing in the kitchen. I want to enjoy it sometime before midnight.”
“We will.” Professor Tuttle settled into his spot in front of the camera, but he was careful to finish up right as Professor Herrera came to tell us that the food was going to get cold. He helped Professor Tuttle up and already had a plate waiting for him at the kitchen table. The two of them were legit relationship goals, not unlike my parents. I wanted someone to take care of like that, someone to—
“Snagged you the last Mountain Dew.” Looking adorable in one of Professor Herrera’s aprons, Milo handed me a can. “And here’s a plate.”
“Sorry if the filming took too long.” I put my soda at the table and joined the line for food.
“It didn’t. And now I know a bunch of new tricks.” Milo’s smile was so bashful and genuine that he was damn lucky that I didn’t kiss him right there, especially when Kellan wrapped Jasmine up in a hug, lifting her off the ground. And Conrad was having some sort of conversation with his eyes with Alden, one that made Alden blush. Bah. At least I got to soak in Milo’s cuteness instead of drowning in the sea of the happily coupled.
Eventually we all filled our plates for our late-night feast and found places to sit. I ended up at the table next to Milo and near Professor Herrera. None of us ever drank before gaming, but now that filming was done, Conrad and Kellan had beers with their food. Milo, however, stuck to soda, whether in solidarity with me or as part of his newfound resolution I wasn’t sure, but I appreciated it.
“Thanks for loaning me your friend,” Professor Herrera said. “He’s a fast study.”
“Hey, I thought I was your favorite helper.” Kellan faked being wounded, undoubtedly because Professor Herrera was one of his advisers.
“Was that you grating two pounds of cheese?” Professor Herrera laughed. “Now, everyone eat up. I don’t want leftovers.”
Milo pulled his chair closer to me, explaining which parts of the various dishes he’d helped with, and I again resisted the urge to touch him because his enthusiasm was so infectious. I liked how everyone tried to include Milo as we talked—Professor Tuttle getting him talking about classic cars while Kellan involved him in a discussion about the upcoming revue. I waited until Professor Herrera returned to the kitchen to ask Conrad what I’d been trying to get at all evening.
“So tell us, oh Great Odyssey Employee, do you have any inside scoop on getting the Royal Frog Court rares?”
“There seriously isn’t a vault of rares or something we get to raid on our lunch hour. I know some of my coworkers who are collectors, too, and they still have to navigate the secondary market, same as everyone else. But I put out some feelers. I know some people now.”
“We know,” Kellan and I groaned simultaneously.
“I heard George, the jerk who Arthur banned, bragging that he got hold of a set,” Jasmine shared. Next to me, Milo stiffened, and I tapped his foot with mine, trying to let him know that I hadn’t told and wasn’t going to break his trust like that.
“There’s no way to guarantee George’s cards are legit.” Kellan stretched, eyes pinched together, a rare sign of irritation from him. “He’d probably part with them, though. For a price.”
“And no one wants to pay his prices.” Conrad sounded like he knew a thing or two about George’s tactics.
“Is this George criminal or merely underhanded?” Professor Tuttle stroked his chin. I hadn’t meant to include him in this conversation, and the last thing I needed was him thinking we needed law enforcement or something.
“A scuzzbucket, but he’s careful to walk the line,” Jasmine answered for me. “I definitely wouldn’t do something stupid like try to play George for the cards.”
I had been considering doing exactly that all week. I had something he might covet—my ticket for the Odyssey launch party next month, and I also knew I had the skill to at least have a chance of beating him. But Milo tapped my foot hard as he frowned. He wouldn’t be down with that idea, but I wasn’t completely discounting it yet either. I liked the idea of the big rescue, probably more than I should have, but Milo kept making me want to save his day.
“Why play George when you can hunt treasure?” Conrad leaned forward. “One of the people I know at the office told me about these secret treasure hunts. Like geocaching or letterboxing puzzle hunts where you can find rare items as the prize. She thinks there might be one around here with one of the Royal Frog Court cards as the lure. She gave me some top-secret links.”
“An old-fashioned treasure hunt.” Professor Tuttle rubbed his hands together. “I approve.”
“Have you ever seen one of those cards?” I asked him.
“The queen, once. Had a chance to win her, but I was outwitted. Later, I thought about acquiring a set for display here, but I ended up getting us some better cameras and microphones instead.”
“And an air fryer,” Professor Herrera added mildly as he handed out cookies. “I’ve heard about some secret treasure hunts around the campus too. There was one with Broadway tickets.”
“Exactly. I’ve been doing some investigating with these links and I think it may be legit.” Conrad leaned forward. “Of course, with all these things, the rule is that if you take something, you have to leave something of value behind.”
“I’ve got that other rare I won at the tournament in Philly. We can use that as the trade.”
“That would be awesome. When can we try?” Milo’s eyes were big, and the hope there made me ready to agree to anything—even setting my alarm.
“I work tomorrow afternoon, but maybe we could try in the morning.”
“I’ll bring the doughnuts.” Milo’s big smile was worth any lack of sleep.
“As long as it’s not the crack of dawn, you can call us if you’re stumped about campus clues.” Conrad leaned closer to Alden, who nodded.
“And me.” Professor Tuttle yawned. “And I’ll make some inquiries as well. I may not know as many people as Conrad these days, but I’ll see what I can turn up.”
“Thank you, sir.” Milo nodded at him.
“And on that note, I think it’s getting late.” Professor Herrera started clearing plates from the table. “The professor needs his beauty rest.”
“Oh, hush. Once upon a time, I could greet dawn after a night of cards.” Professor Tuttle smiled fondly.
“We’ll help clean.” The six of us managed to get dishes done and camera equipment stored in short order. As soon as we were outside on the sidewalk, Milo pulled out his phone.
“Sorry. My phone was blowing up in there. Wouldn’t stop vibrating. I better make sure it’s not my mom.” He clicked it on and then groaned, breath hanging in the chilly evening air. “Oh, F my life.”
“What?” I touched his arm, finally getting the contact I’d been craving for hours, but his thundercloud expression had my back tightening.
“James and Luther are having a party. Again. Damn it. I don’t want to go home and deal with that crap. And there goes any chance of sleep before our early start tomorrow.”
Finally, an easy problem I could solve. “So don’t.”
“Don’t what? Get an early start? I’ll be fine. Extra coffee or whatever. Just wish my stupid door locked.”
“You don’t need to deal with all that. Come back with me.” My heart battered against my rib cage, like hurricane-strength winds sweeping through me, equal parts terror and anticipation as I waited for his answer.
