“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.”