Out of Character by Annabeth Albert

Chapter Two

Milo

The cold of a New Jersey winter smacked me in the face as soon as I exited the game shop, but the chill in the air was nothing compared to Jasper’s frosty expression when I’d asked him for help.

You think I’ve forgotten?Jasper clearly hadn’t. Every mistake and transgression from high school had been there in his eyes. Every time I could have done things differently. All the moments I’d replayed in my head for years. Jasper wasn’t the only one with a long memory. I remembered, too, remembered his cluttered basement playroom, the hours and hours we’d spent there. We’d been so in sync back then, him ready with the exact piece I’d needed at the perfect moment to complete our latest Lego build. Everything had been so much simpler, no need to ask…

Hell.I paused in front of the stationery store a few doors down to try to regroup. I hated needing help. Hated it. I’d needed far too much assistance in the last year, and every time I resolved to fix my own problems, some new situation would crop up to kick me where it hurt. And okay, some of that was my own doing. I could admit that. I’d been drinking the night before and was distracted in a way I didn’t really want to examine too closely right then.

I’m so glad you came.

You’re so good at this game. Like scary good.

Come on, don’t you like a friendly bet, pretty boy?

I won fair and square. Unless there’s something else you’d like to put on the table?

And there hadn’t been. Even buzzed, I hadn’t missed how George’s voice had gone from warm and welcoming to cold and calculating. And in a single harsh look, I’d gone from distracted to heartsick, intuition kicking in a few hours too late. Not to mention literally sick, too, puking in the bushes, my notoriously weak stomach registering its opinion of what had gone down.

Such an idiot.I had to stop myself from beating my head into the exterior brick of the stationery store. The holidays were over, but the window featured a bunch of whimsical angels. My mom would love all the merchandise on display, and simply thinking about her gave me a sick, hollow feeling in the pit of my stomach. She too was going to be horribly disappointed in me. Again.

What is it this time, Milo?I could almost hear her too-weary voice, the one that said she’d been dreading this latest screwup. My fingers skated over the edge of the phone in my pocket. I could call her. Get it over with. Maybe she’d have better advice than Jasper after she finished being sad. Again. A-freaking-gain.

Chances were also high that she’d attempt to dip into money she didn’t have to try to make this right. I withdrew my hand. I was going to have to solve this on my own.

In the window, a notebook cover featured a particularly celestial-looking guardian angel, and the same sick stomach I’d been battling all day roiled again. Where had mine been last night? Mom was always saying that Dad was my guardian angel now, but I’d seldom felt as alone as I did right then. No Dad. No guardian angel. No common sense. Ten thousand dollars. Wasn’t that what Jasper had said? For cardboard. Seriously?

I had only one thing worth that kind of money, and I sure as hell wasn’t parting with it, no matter how much I’d screwed up. And he’d said something about a hunt too. Research. I had a stack of less-than-awesome grades showing how much I sucked at that skill. Jasper would know, though. He’d always been wicked smart, fingers flying over the keyboard, sharp mind organizing search results while my brain was still sputtering. I supposed there were other genius gamers I could try to recruit to help, but if the incident with George had taught me anything, it was that I couldn’t trust my instincts about people.

And Jasper might die mad at me, but he was also honest to a fault. And nice. He’d never take advantage of even his worst enemy. Who was apparently me. Damn it. I wasn’t giving up, though. I’d wait until his shift ended, try again.

It was cold, but I’d been in worse, and at least it wasn’t actively snowing or sleeting. Luckily, I had gloves and a hat in my pockets, so I went around to the alley that ran behind the row of downtown shops. Sure enough, the old beater hunk of metal that Jasper called a car was parked in one of the spots behind the gaming store. Finding a convenient concrete planter to lean against, I settled in to wait, but I hadn’t been there long when my phone buzzed.

Bruno’s face flashed on the lock screen, and I almost dropped the phone. Hell. My pulse raced, my stomach rebelling all over again. I could let the call go to voicemail, but that was the way of a coward. Bruno got so little time to call home that Mom and I always made a point of answering if at all possible. He was out there saving everyone’s asses and keeping us safe. The least I could do was pick up the phone.

“Hey, Bro.” I tried to keep my voice steady, play it cool.

“Hey. I’ve only got a few minutes here, but I wanted to check in on my favorite baby brother.” The phone crackled with every third word, but still the warmth in his voice came through loud and clear. His voice was deeper than mine, more naturally authoritative without trying. “How’s it going?”

“Fine.” Maybe the less I said, the better.

“Only fine?” Bruno’s tone shifted, concern replacing the easy warmth. “You okay?”

“Yeah, of course. Nothing for you to worry about.” I sped up, trying to convince both of us at the same time. “Job’s going well. They said they might have more hours for me.”

“Good. I knew when I told Juan about you needing work that you’d make me proud.”

“Trying.” God. Like I needed a reminder of all Bruno had done for me. He could have washed his hands of me a half dozen favors ago, but he was Bruno, full of patience and intrinsically good, a better person than I’d ever be. Jobs for a college dropout with an iffy record had been in short supply, but Bruno had leaned on his old buddy from high school to get me work in the online shipping warehouse. Decent hourly wage and health insurance, which had been the main incentive for me.

“Excellent. How’s the leg holding up?”

“Fine. I mean, it doesn’t really hurt these days,” I lied. Rehab on my surgically repaired leg was a work in expensive progress, but the last thing I was going to do was complain to a guy who routinely dodged actual bullets.

“You’re a fighter, that’s for damn sure. When I first saw you after the accident… Well, never mind that. Proud of you.”

And that right there was reason number one why I needed to get Bruno his cards back. He’d been my first call that terrible night, and never once had he complained about having to be the one to tell Mom or all the ways, big and small, that he’d had to help me in the months that followed.

“Thanks. And, uh…you hanging in there?” I never knew precisely how to ask about his work.

“Yup. You can tell Mom I’m keeping my head about me. Don’t worry her, but shit’s been real here.” There was an edge to his voice that hadn’t been there a second before, but then he exhaled hard. “Anyway, I’m hoping to get word that we’ll be heading back to the States soon. Can’t wait to see you both. Think you’ll be up for an Odyssey game?”

“Maybe,” I hedged, bile rising in my throat.

“It was fun, right? Nice to have something to do now that kicking the ball around is out…”

Soccer had been his sport first, then mine, and something we could always share. Except I’d gone and ruined that too.

“Yeah. It wasn’t bad. Fun game.”

“And you’re a natural. Got those killer reflexes left over from the field.”

Oh God. Panic joined the nausea party. A natural. George had said that too. And I’d been my usual cocky self and believed him. And look where that had gotten me.

“I’m not that great. Not like you.”

“Hey, you’ll get there. I’ll show you more about deck building when I’m home. We’ll go through all my cards, maybe have a beer now that you’re actually legal.”

“Sounds good.” I had no idea how I managed to get the reply out without croaking.

“Soon.” Bruno said the word like a prayer, and I knew he’d be in mine later. Real shit indeed. I wanted him home safe in the worst way.

“Soon,” I echoed. This was it. I really was going to retch now. I was a crap brother and worse human. Bruno had asked for one thing after all he’d done for me, and I’d fucked it up.

A voice sounded from near Bruno. “Lionetti. Gotta go, man.”

“Time’s up.” Bruno sounded weary, like Mom at the end of a long day. My chest ached as surely as if he’d landed a fist there. “Take care.”

“Stay safe, Bruno.” No way could I fess up, not right then, not with him heading out to God knew what danger.

“I try.” And then he was gone, and I was left holding the phone, my entire body hurting like I’d been laid flat on the asphalt. In a way I had. I had to get those cards back. Whatever it took. Even if it meant—

“Milo?” Jasper emerged from the back of the game shop, wearing a bulky duffel coat and carrying a backpack that appeared to be more colorful patches than canvas. “What are you doing here?”

“Waiting for you.” I was too wrung out from the call with Bruno to come up with anything other than the truth.

“Figured.” Jasper’s voice was marginally less hostile than earlier. As before, he looked…different than last time I’d seen him. Older. Good in a way that I hadn’t been prepared for. Less scrawny for sure—more filled-out shoulders and defined arms that I’d tried like heck not to notice while he was stocking boxes. And failed miserably. His voice was more adult too. Firmer. “Was that Bruno on the phone?”

“Yeah. He’s on some top-secret mission. Needs me to tell Mom not to worry.” I gave a harsh laugh. “And needs me to be less of a dumbass, but what else is new?”

“You did screw up pretty spectacularly.” Jasper shook his head like he was admiring the wreckage of my life.

“I did,” I agreed mournfully. “And now I need help.”

“So you said.” Jasper paused, gaze dropping to my phone, almost as if he expected Bruno to emerge from it, special forces gear and all. “And I can’t believe I’m going to say this—”

“Please.” My eyes squished shut as I did some major-league bargaining with the universe.

“My help is worth something. What you’re asking for, it’s not five minutes of work—”

“I know. I’m not asking you to do it for free.” My head did a ridiculous bobble as I tried to will him toward a yes. And paying him would be hard, but I’d make it happen. Anything to avoid disappointing Bruno yet again.

“Good. Because I might have a proposition for you.”

Relief coursed through me, so swift and overwhelming that my eyes stung from more than the cold. I had no idea what he was going to ask for, but I was going to do my damnedest to give it to him, even if it sucked.