I was a smart guy. I knew that always could be a rather finite amount of time. Short. But in that moment, I didn’t want to think about that or any of my worries from earlier. I wanted to pretend that always meant forever and that meant having everything I’d ever wanted, even if it wasn’t going to be easy. And as I rested my head on his chest a few minutes later after we’d cleaned up, snuggling in to drift off, I tried to ignore the way his heartbeat sounded suspiciously like a ticking clock.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Milo

There was a certain weird energy that the world took on after midnight. And I’d seen midnight enough to know, especially lately. Being in the game store this far after closing time was weird, especially as all the other downtown lights flickered off one by one, even the bars hitting closing time. Arthur’s bulk card haul had ended up being boxes and boxes of assorted cards in apparently random order, and we’d spent hours trying to make sense of them, taking over the private game room at the back of the store with our sorting.

“If I see another scroll card, I might scream.” Jasper, who usually was such a fountain of cheerfulness, sounded exhausted, and I rounded the table so I could rub his neck.

“You? Getting frustrated? Never.”

“Hey, you don’t have the market cornered on brooding and bad moods, you know.” He stretched into my touch like a cat demanding more. His funk was far faster to fade than the one I’d been fighting for days now.

“Sorry. I don’t mean to be so down.” I kept rubbing his neck because it felt like the least I could do since he was putting up with me and this seemingly endless quest for the lost cards.

“You’re going through a lot. I get it.” Of course he did because he was like the most understanding person ever, which simply made me feel guiltier.

“I don’t think I could be as nice as you,” I admitted. He was in all respects the better person, and I remained in awe that he’d decided to turn all his wonderfulness in my direction again.

“Many have tried. Few have succeeded.” He gave a regal nod, adopting his Frog Wizard persona for a beat, which earned a laugh from me.

“Goof.”

“You love it.” Moving away from my massage, he preened on his way back to his pile of cards.