“Mom got a case of Sam Adams for tomorrow’s party thing. You want a cold one?” Bruno took two bottles out of the fridge.

“Nah. I…uh…I don’t drink anymore.”

“Like, at all?” Bruno put a bottle back. “Good for you, though. Will it bother you if I have one?”

“No. I can be around it. It’s more that I don’t have to have it now. I like who I am better sober, that’s all. I make dumbass mistakes drunk, and I’m done with that.”

“I like you better sober too.” Mom kissed the side of my head before heading to the living room with her tea. “I’m going to find a movie for later. You two catch up.”

Bruno put the second beer back and returned with two sodas. My stomach didn’t really need carbonation right then, but I appreciated the gesture a lot.

“To no more dumbass mistakes.” He clinked cans with me. “Proud of you for making that change. Now if you could just convince those idiot friends of yours to give up drinking too, then you might actually get somewhere.”

“Well…” I wasn’t going to get a better opening than that. “I’m done with them too. But first I did make another dumbass mistake. That’s why I stopped the drinking. I can’t keep making the same mistakes over and over.”

“What’d you do?” Bruno sounded much more guarded now, which I hated.

“It’s a long story, so let me finish before the inevitable lecture?” I asked as I took a deep breath. Now or never. Time to be brave.

“I’m listening.”

Slowly, I told my story of what happened with the cards and the quest to get them back. Retrieving my backpack, I spread the four out as I explained. I kept thinking about the way Jasper had played the final round yesterday, the way that he’d left it all on the table. Fearless. This story wasn’t the same without him in it, and I wasn’t the same without him in my life.

“I seriously had no idea the cards were worth that much.” Bruno chewed the edge of his lip as he considered the cards in front of him.

“What?” I hadn’t considered that possibility, although maybe I should have.

He made a dismissive gesture. “Would I have kept a ten-grand item with my other cards? I’m not stupid. I won them off a guy. I knew they were ultra rares, but not that much money. You could have told me what happened, saved yourself some hassle.”

“I know that now.” I fiddled with the cracked edge on the little dining table. He might not be stupid, but I was. “I messed up, though. Again. And I didn’t want to admit it to you. At the time, that seemed like the worst thing in the world.”