Out of Character

by Annabeth Albert

  “Maybe.” His mouth quirked like he knew exactly how my thoughts kept flitting to images of that toga on the floor.

  “Remember that later.” I made him silent promises with my eyes that I fully intended to make good on. Three days with a lot of texting and an hours-long phone conversation last night had done nothing to quash my desire for him. I needed a Milo fix and soon.

  “Counting on it.” His warm smile said that I wasn’t the only one with a craving, and he stroked a broad finger down the side of my face before dropping his hand.

  “Let’s go find the others before I’m tempted to do something impulsive.”

  “Like this?” He stole my breath with a fast kiss. Sure, we were alone, but this was also a far cry from lost in the basement stacks in the library.

  “Exactly like that.” I beamed at him while contemplating the wisdom of yanking him back into a stall for a much more thorough kiss.

  Undoubtedly reading my mind, Milo gave an exaggerated regretful sigh. “Better lead me to my kingdom.”

  “Dork.” I bumped shoulders with him as we made our way out of the restroom and toward the waiting area where we were meeting everyone else as usual.

  “You love it.”

  “Yeah.” I did love this light and easy place we’d found ourselves, but the mere mention of the l-word had my muscles tensing. And I didn’t have time to dwell on why that was, not with Kellan already coming over to greet us. He had a new costume, this one an elf druid. While I appreciated the artistry, he looked a bit like a hairy green beetle. I hid a smile by rearranging my bags.

  “Hey, my dudes.” Kellan had a big smile and hearty handshake for Milo, who had apparently earned his favor on Saturday night. “Tell me about the hunt.”

  “It was a success.” Milo’s unabashed happiness made my shoulders lift even before he added, “Jasper is brilliant.”

  “You weren’t so bad yourself.” My tone was way too fond, but I was too happy to keep it cool.

  “You guys are ador—”

  “Made it.” April came rushing up, and all of a sudden, I cared way more about my tone. April and my mom didn’t need to hear Milo and me being overly friendly or see Kellan teasing us about it.

  “Okay, let’s go.” I hurried us along the corridor before any other banter could lead to uncomfortable questions and teasing. As it was, I felt my mom’s eyes on the back of my head. I’d been avoiding her for days because I wasn’t ready for a lecture but also didn’t want to outright lie about how I was spending my time these days. I was an adult and I needed some space to sort out my own thoughts about Milo without her overprotectiveness entering into an already complex equation.

  “Hey, Jasper.” Natalie, the attendant, welcomed us to the lounge as we got set up. I carried the deck bag to the back table, not terribly surprised when my mom followed me. I was asking her about her day while unzipping the bag when Milo came over, his mouth a thin white line.

  “There’s no Chase.” His whisper was urgent and stricken. “Did he…”

  “Let me find out.” I patted his arm before I could think better of it, and I didn’t miss my mom’s raised eyebrow.

  “Do you know what happened with Chase?” I asked Natalie, who was nearby, helping a little girl navigate with an IV on a pole. This wouldn’t be the first time we’d lost a patient who was a regular. Loss was a part of this gig, and I remained profoundly grateful that April was still with us. I mentally crossed everything I had that Chase was okay.

  “Discharged.” Mercifully, Natalie had a wide smile for me. “He finished this latest course of treatment and was strong enough to send home.”

  “Thank goodness.” I had to briefly shut my eyes against my sudden wave of emotions. I turned to return to Milo, but he was right behind me, eyes shining. Damn. He really did care.

  “Do you have the drawing you did for them?” I asked him.

  “Yeah.” Glancing around, he withdrew a folder from his backpack. His reluctance to hand it over to me was palpable, especially since we had more of an audience than I’d thought. Still, though, I couldn’t resist opening the folder. The full drawing he’d done from his previous sketch was nothing short of stunning.

  “Oh, let me see.” Natalie peered over my arm, and my mom along with a few others had wandered over too. Milo was turning ten shades of pink with all the attention, but everyone was murmuring well-deserved praise for him. I wanted him to believe in his talent even half as much I did.

  “That’s so beautiful. Could you do one for us?” The mom of the girl with the IV had tears in her eyes. “I can pay.”

  “I don’t need money,” Milo said even though he probably did. He pulled out a bigger sketchbook than his usual pocket one and a case with some pencils. “I could work on it while she plays the game with someone, if that’s okay?”

  “Totally.” My whole body buzzed with pride in Milo, warmth spreading outward from my chest.

  “I can’t wait.” The mom followed Milo and the girl to a table with Kellan, who was already setting up for a game.

  “Can you get this to Chase’s family?” I asked my mom as I carefully put the drawing back in its folder.

  “Yes, of course.” She sounded distracted, and her gaze was locked on Milo who was deep in concentration, pencil flying over his sketchbook while the girl laughed at something Kellan said. “I had no idea he was that talented. His mother never mentioned it.”

  “She might not know.” I said the words lightly, without thinking, as per my usual, and it was no surprise when my mom’s mouth pursed. She’d always been excellent at reading between the lines.

  “Any other secrets he’s hiding?” Her voice was as dry as August grass and about as much of a fire hazard.

  “Uh…” I took far too long answering and could see the complicated calculations happening in her head.

  “I see.”

  “The mom gossip network doesn’t need more info for their alert.” I tried to pass it off as a joke, but she didn’t so much as smile.

  “Jasper.” The way she said my name all serious and slightly disappointed had me grabbing my cards in a hurry.

  “I better find someone to play with.”

  “You do that. Someone new.” She drummed her fingers against the folder. This wasn’t going to be the last I heard about this topic for sure. She wanted to protect me from hurt, and hell, so did I. But I also wasn’t turning down this reprieve from a lecture, and I quickly found a patient waiting for a game. I’d seen the boy here several weeks ago, and he was back for another round of treatments and tests. He gave me a good game, slapping down cards and doing an excellent job of keeping my mind off my mom.

  “Look at all these happy faces.” Ned from the hospital foundation came into the lounge right as I lost to the kid.

  “How’s it going?” I asked as Ned came over to my table.

  “I’ve got tickets for you for Friday night.” He took out a thick envelope and handed it to me. “Anyone need an extra ticket for a plus one?”

  “Nah. I think we’re good.” That earned me a very pointed look from my mom, but whatever. There was only one person I wanted as a date, no matter how ill-advised that might be.

  “We’ll be there,” Kellan added, looking up from his table as Milo and the girl also glanced our way.

  “Good. We have some very big donors coming. It’s going to be such fun! Can’t wait to see all the funny costumes.” Ned laughed, all jovial and friendly, but Milo’s face turned stony at the remark. Discomfort radiated off him as he returned to his drawing.

  Which turned out amazing, the little girl as a mighty superheroine, big cape and a sword and shield. But Milo still wasn’t happy as he accepted the praise from the girl’s mother and others nearby as we all got ready to go.

  “He didn’t mean funny like laugh-at-people funny,” I said to Milo in a low voice as I packed up the d
ecks.

  “I know.” Milo didn’t sound too sure and didn’t meet my eyes either. “Can I go ahead and get changed?”

  “Sure. We still on for pizza?”

  “You know it.” He smiled but the rest of his expression stayed flat, no sparkle. “Think your mom will actually send the drawing to Chase?”

  She and April were already gone because she needed to do a conference call before dinner.

  “It’ll probably be in the mail tomorrow. She always follows through.”

  “She doesn’t like me.” Milo stretched, rolling his neck from side to side. I wanted to rub it, but the room was still half-full.

  “She… It’s complicated.”

  “I get it. I screwed up. I was terrible to you and a lot of other people in high school. Guess I can’t outrun that.” His shoulders slumped and he looked away.

  “Yes, you can.” I risked grabbing his shoulder anyway because I couldn’t stand seeing him this down. “I believe a person can change. God knows I’m not the same person I was in high school either.”

  “I’ve noticed.” He faked a heated look, but my ego knew the difference between false praise and the genuine desire he’d shown me this weekend.

  “Good.” I held on to his arm so that he couldn’t ignore what I was saying. “But my point is, screw what other people think. Including my mom. Just keep proving them wrong. I believe in you.”

  “Thanks. You… That means everything.”

  “Everyone deserves a second chance.” I hoped like hell that he didn’t test that belief of mine. He met my gaze, expression deadly serious, almost as if he were starving for someone to believe in him, and there was nothing I wouldn’t offer him in that moment, fresh chance to break my heart included.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Milo

  Going over to Jasper’s to get ready for the ball was a mistake. Not because I wanted to back out of my commitment to go, but because a simple kiss hello turned into us tangled up on the bed, costumes entirely forgotten, clock ticking away as I reacquainted myself with his mouth. Grinding against my thigh, he stroked my face.

  “You shaved.”

  I’d showered and shaved both, exactly like this was a hot date, which wasn’t that far from the truth. “Neptune has to look his iconic best for his big night. I went to the barber too. My hair was getting shaggy.”

  “Ha.” Stretching, Jasper dragged his own mop of curly hair against my neck. “Maybe I should cut mine too.”

  “Don’t you dare.” I chuckled wickedly, memories of what we’d done Wednesday hanging between us. “I like holding on to it.”

  “I noticed. Can we do that again now?” He plucked at my shirt buttons. “I can be fast. Bet I can make you fast too.”

  “You’re rather confident.” I shifted as my blood all rushed south.

  Dropping a kiss on my collarbone, he skimmed a hand down my torso. “Hey, I know where my talents lie.”

  “Which would not include being on time.” Reluctantly, I rolled away before his nimble fingers could reach my fly.

  “Fine. Be the responsible adult,” Jasper complained even as he too sat up.

  “First time for everything.” And speaking of first times, I had packed my bag as carefully as I’d showered. I couldn’t wait for later.

  My nerves were dancing even before Jasper winked at me. “We’re coming back here afterward, right?”

  “Better be.” I pulled out my costume and finished the job Jasper had started on my buttons.

  “Why do you have to torture me?” Jasper moaned as I put the shirt and my jeans on his chair. “It’s like eating a double chocolate doughnut in front of me.”

  “Don’t look at me like that,” I warned. The appreciation in his eyes was a drug I couldn’t get enough of.

  “Or what? You’ll drag me back to bed?” Even though he sounded hopeful, he went ahead and started getting his own costume ready.

  “Dude. You did get a bow tie.” I gestured at the fancy upgrades to his outfit.

  “Kellan came through. New hose too.” He preened as he adjusted his velvet breeches. Kellan had fashioned him a matching coat with long tails and a jaunty lavender bow tie.

  “It’s a mirror image of my drawing,” I marveled, circling him.

  “Kellan’s good. But so are you. He loved your drawing. Expect him to ask you for one of him and Jasmine. Make him pay. No more freebies.” He wagged a finger in my face. “Both of them have loaded parents.”

  “Feels weird drawing for other people, let alone taking their money.” I scratched the back of my neck.

  “Customers, Milo. They’re called customers.” He tugged his costume this way and that as he examined himself in the mirror on the back side of his closet door. “How many fifty-dollar drawings do you think it would take to cover your moving fees?”

  “I shouldn’t have told you that I called,” I grumbled as he left the mirror to come and hug me from behind.

  “Sure you should have.”

  I’d called on Thursday morning after a spectacular Wednesday evening of pizza and making out followed by returning to my cold and empty little room and having to listen to Luther and James argue over their game. I needed out of that place. So I’d called. And talked with a very nice graduate student in charge of finding a new roommate for a group house close to Professor Tuttle’s place in the historic district. They weren’t doing formal applications, but they did require an interview with the housemates and two references.

  I didn’t have the first idea of how to act at an interview with a bunch of über-geniuses. But at the same time, I kept seeing that rainbow on the flyer. I could have Jasper over and no one would likely care. I could put up my drawings, and maybe my bread and peanut butter would remain unstolen. I wanted that vision so much my muscles ached, but I wasn’t sure how to get it.

  “I have news on your housing quest too.”

  “Oh? Tell me you didn’t meddle.” I carefully added my coat over my toga. Didn’t match the costume in the slightest, but it was too chilly outside to skip it.

  “I didn’t… Okay, okay. Not much. I saw Professor Herrera on campus today and asked him if he could say you’re a cool guy who needs a chance and how you’re learning how to cook for groups.”

  “That’s definitely meddling.” My heart thumped against my ribs. Jasper would take over this quest of mine if I wasn’t careful, and I wasn’t entirely sure how I felt about that. “What did he say?”

  “Maybe. Said to bring you to another game night so he can talk to you more.”

  “Oh.” That wasn’t a no, but it did feel like I was on probation for a spot in Jasper’s life and for earning a new start for myself. Interviewing for a room. Begging for a reference. Trying to prove to Jasper and others that I was truly changing. I wanted to earn it, though, no question.

  “Come on, Neptune. We’d better not be late, especially since you made me skip more making out.”

  “I’m so cruel.” I followed him to the door. “How about I drive, Speed Demon?”

  “Not too nervous?” He raised an eyebrow even as he handed over his keys.

  “Less nervous about my ability to go under the speed limit,” I teased him, although my pulse still sped up at the thought of driving with passengers. “And besides, I wanted to offer because I heard Kellan say that this thing will have an open bar. If you want to drink something, I can drive back.”

  “Nah, if you’re not drinking, I’ll skip too. I’m more of a soda guy anyway.”

  “I know.” I clicked his door shut behind us.

  “Looking good, Jasper!” The second we stepped into the hall we encountered a group in the hallway playing some sort of board game and splitting a pizza. And maybe I was an idiot, but I hadn’t been prepared for this, people seeing us leave his room together and seeing us in our costumes out of the context of the hosp
ital or the ball.

  “Thanks.” As usual, Jasper didn’t look disturbed at all. And he undoubtedly wasn’t sharing my internal freak-out about what these people might have heard through thin walls. I shuffled my feet, fighting a churning stomach and the urge to flee.

  “Need to get Prince Charming to the ball before midnight?” One of the girls laughed.

  “Something like that.” Jasper glanced at me and frowned. “Have fun, guys.”

  Heading to the stairs, Jasper walked quickly. “Sorry. Didn’t know they were out there.”

  “It’s okay.” I knew better than to share my churning thoughts, but I had the feeling he’d picked up on my discomfort anyway because he was quiet on the way to the car and slumped in the passenger seat until I parked at the upscale hotel that was hosting the ball.

  “My car makes the others look like they’re slumming it tonight.” Jasper laughed, but he was right—his beaten-up, dusty car was in between a BMW and a Lexus.

  “Yeah,” I said weakly. Maybe Jasper was slumming it too. I hadn’t thought of it that way before, but it fit. Jasper went to a near-Ivy, had rich friends like Kellan and others, and had a stadium-lights bright future waiting for him. He wouldn’t drive a crap car forever. He didn’t belong with a guy with limited prospects like me. Now I was the quiet one as we made our way to the grand ballroom and checked our coats at the coat-check room.

  “Wow.” Jasper inhaled sharply at the entrance to the ball. The place looked like a very upscale prom—lots of silver and gold decorations, multiple areas for taking pictures, tables for the silent auction items, a dance floor, sitting areas, and a fleet of waiters circulating with appetizers. Even the guests’ costumes were classy—lots of flappers and 1930s-era suits and elaborate celebrity look-alikes. More women than men were in costume, with a lot of older men in classic suits and tuxes hanging out in clumps. They exuded a wealthy vibe, as if they were too important for costumes.

  We’d been told by Ned’s assistant that we’d be mainly working the photo areas, hanging out if people wanted pictures, encouraging people to check out the silent auction items. A couple of other charitable cosplay groups were also working the event. A number of Star Wars characters and popular superheroes were already hanging out near where people were snapping pictures. We met up with Kellan and the rest of the group, and I relaxed a little, feeling less like all eyeballs were on me.