Out of Character by Annabeth Albert
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Milo
“Okay, very funny, guys.” George sneered as he entered the room, a supermodel-attractive girl and a guy who looked familiar from the revue following him. “This isn’t a duel at dawn. Did we really need fifty texts laying out the terms of engagement? Seconds? Neutral location? Judge? Isn’t this overkill?”
“Nah.” Game face on, Jasper slapped his deck bag down onto the table in one of the student union’s private study rooms. He had Kellan and me flanking him, exactly like this was a duel as we stared down the competition.
“I could have hosted.” George took out a leather-and-wood deck box that probably cost more than the heater for my car, never mind the pricey cards inside.
“I don’t trust you.” Jasper echoed my sentiments, voice cool and conversational. I’d come with him to reserve the room earlier in the day, and I’d been the one to push for a neutral location. I didn’t trust George either, and while it was rather caveman of me, I didn’t particularly want us entering his space. Luckily, Jasper had agreed. “You probably have one of those eight-grand custom gaming tables with secret panels. Or hidden cameras.”
“You’re giving me ideas.” George’s wicked smile reminded me of how I’d fallen prey to his charms to start with and made my stomach lurch. Ugh. How could I have been so stupid?
“Ideas? More like your MO.” I rolled my eyes at him. “Arthur wouldn’t even agree to you being at the game store after hours.”
“Your reputation does precede you,” Jasper added.
“Rumors.” George made a dismissive gesture.
“We’ll see.” Jasper matched his indifferent tone, like it hadn’t taken a ton of tense negotiating to get to this point where he was about to play George for one of the two cards I still needed. We’d agreed to here, two witnesses each, and a judge to enforce tournament-style rules.
“I’m here. Sorry, my seminar ran over.” Professor Tuttle bustled into the room, leaning on his cane, backpack with a math book sticking out over one shoulder.
“That I got an A in last term’s seminar is the only reason why I agreed to the ridiculous idea of having a rules judge.” George moved aside for Professor Tuttle to take a seat. “And I still say we should film this as an episode of the show.”
“No.” Professor Tuttle had firmly put an end to that idea already. “I can’t have gambling on the vlog. And this is where I should point out that a gentlemanly exchange might be more civilized than a bet—”
“But what’s the fun in that?” George all but cackled at the notion of being a gentleman.
“Let the history books record that for the first time ever, I’m agreeing with you.” Shuffling his deck, Jasper didn’t bother looking up. I was enjoying this badass side to him, the way he was projecting a confident, devil-may-care attitude. The way he’d chattered the whole walk over here revealed that he was actually amped up and nervous, but he’d settled down the minute we’d spotted George, almost like how he sank into his role in the cosplay group.
“Shall we get started?” Sounding like a bored host, George fanned out his deck, showing off his custom sleeves. “I assume the judge needs to see our decks.”
“Tournament rules,” Professor Tuttle reminded both of them as he inspected the decks. Jasper had been up late last night tweaking his deck for the new rules and trying to predict what George was likely to bring.
“Big and flashy,” I’d guessed, and I was right, as his opening play was a mirror card—an ultra-rare card type Jasper had introduced me to that was prized by players because it bestowed extra powers. He ramped up quickly after that, but Jasper attacked him with a single-minded focus that was weirdly sexy, the way he went at George, knocking down threat after threat.
“You’re more aggressive than usual, Quigley. I might be impressed.” George raised his eyebrows before smiling at his entourage. “Might.”
“Your turn.” Jasper tapped the table.
“Look at you. No trash talk even.”
“Nah. Just winning.” Unlike George, who kept playing to his audience, Jasper hadn’t glanced once at Kellan or me. He was deep in his own head, and it was almost scary the way he dismantled George’s deck. For all he’d always counseled me about not attacking too early in a game, he was aggro in the best way, attacking methodically over and over.
Kellan whistled low under his breath. “Geez. Don’t ever get mad at me.”
“Tell me about it,” I whispered back. “I might be afraid to ever play him again.”
“Oh, he’d be gentle with you. Especially if you asked nice,” Kellan teased. And for once, the double meaning didn’t make me squirm. It was getting easier and easier being a public couple, holding hands in his dorm and exchanging long looks as we walked across campus. But then, random strangers weren’t truly the issue. It was easy not to care about them and their opinions, but telling myself to do the same with Bruno or my mom was another thing entirely. Fresh dread gathered in my stomach at the thought of the coming weekend and the conversations that had to happen.
However, those thoughts took a back seat to the game as both players traded blows. Momentum stayed with Jasper, though, and he took the first match handily.
“Bad deal.” George shrugged like he couldn’t care less about being on the ropes.
And indeed, he didn’t play like someone on the verge of losing. If anything, he became more relaxed and fluid while Jasper tightened up further and further. Even his grip on his cards was tense.
“Not so smug now, are you?” Rolling his neck, George pushed back in his chair like he was about to order a drink. As I well knew, his charm tended to increase as he sensed a win. The snake.
“Take your turn.” Jasper’s mouth was a thin line. From my vantage point behind him, I could see his cards, and I’d been working to keep my face neutral with each draw. Also, I’d watched and played enough to know that he’d gotten screwed by his opening hand. His nerves probably weren’t helping, but like always, he played better as he slipped further behind. However, despite scrappy play, he wasn’t able to recover from the bad start, which meant everything would come down to the third match.
“See?” Flashing a victory smile for his friends, George stretched. “I just had an unlucky deal that first round.”
“You sure about that?” Even with the loss, Jasper seemed to have recovered some of his swagger.
“Of course.” George gave a lazy shrug.
“Put your money where your mouth is.” Jasper leaned forward as if he were about to pounce. “Put up a second card for the final round. Winner takes all.”
Kellan and I gasped in unison from the sidelines, and I watched George carefully. He loved escalating bets, as I well knew. Would he take the bait?
“Tempting. You putting up a second ticket?”
Oh.That I hadn’t been expecting. At all. George wasn’t supposed to guess our fake-out. And Jasper had scored a second from Conrad, but it had come with the warning that the event was now completely sold out. No other help was incoming.
Jasper made an indignant noise. “I don’t—”
“You’re crap at bluffing. Of course you’ve got the hookup. Come on. You want me to go double or nothing, you do it too.”
Jasper subtly darted his gaze my direction. Crap. Way to put me on the spot. I’d told him not to gamble his future. But I also believed in him, believed him when he told me the job situation would work itself out. It wasn’t so much that I thought this was Jasper’s only chance, but rather my own mixed-up emotions as to how much I wanted him to stake on me. He was a sure thing. Me? I was the bad bet. I didn’t want to be the reason he lost even a single opportunity. But I was also supposed to be working on trusting him more. Letting us each make our own choices. He was trusting me about selling the car. Maybe I was supposed to do the same here.
I shrugged, then gave the barest of nods, trying to convey that it was up to him.
“You’re on.” Jasper smacked the table for emphasis, eyes glinting. Yeah, he’d wanted this moment, wanted to have it all on the line.
And now he did, but he was playing like it too, slow, cautious moves that kept getting blocked. Where was aggressive Jasper? Was his confidence shot because of the loss? Was he too nervous now? I bit my finger, trying not to reveal my worry but probably failing.
“You’re on the rocks, Quigley. Better have a good comeback.”
I held my breath, unsure whether Jasper could pull this off. I wanted to believe in him, wanted this for him more than for me, but things were looking decidedly bleak. Everything came down to his next move.
