“I’ll ask him.” Heck. Now I needed Milo to continue this gig, and that was not a comfortable thought at all. I much preferred being the guy swooping in with the big save, not the person needing a hand. My neck itched. He’d better agree. And now I had that much more pressure to help him find the replacement cards. I might need more than good luck to pull this off.

Chapter Eight

Milo

“So, on a scale of terrifying to terrible, how bad was that?” Jasper’s smug grin as we packed up our stuff said that he already knew my answer.

“I had fun.” I wasn’t lying. Once I’d gotten over the more…breezy aspects of the costume, I’d relaxed considerably even though it was still weirdly uncomfortable being in a hospital for no medical or personal reason. Seeing how the kids reacted to us had further unknotted my shoulders. They were so happy to see Jasper and his squad, and they acted like Neptune was a pop star, not merely an illustration on some cardboard. After a while, I’d become more into the whole thing, smiling for some pictures and playing a second round with Chase and another kid.

“Not too weirded out by the medical stuff?” Pausing from putting away the card decks, Jasper gave me a considering look.

“Nah.” Actually, I had been at first, especially because of my own past. But I wanted to impress Jasper for reasons that were probably best not deeply considered. However, the longer he looked at me, the more truth slipped past my bravado. “Okay, it maybe took a little getting used to. I just…feel bad for them. I dunno.”

“It’s called compassion, Milo. Might be unfamiliar to you.” Jasper laughed like he was making some big joke, but I didn’t join in. Jasper didn’t know shit about what I’d been through the past few years.

All of a sudden, I’d had enough of this stupid costume. I pulled off the crown and shoved it in the costume bag. “That’s not fair.”

Jasper simply gave me another long look. And okay, I got where his sarcasm was coming from. I didn’t like it, but I got it. I’d been an asshole to him in high school, hadn’t stuck by him, hadn’t stood up for him when I knew good and well that I should have. It was easier to see what a jerk I’d been, especially now that I was trying to shake free of that world.