“I did.” I had to swallow hard. “And yeah, it sucked. And you’re right. It was my fault, but I didn’t think… Hell, I didn’t think, period.”

“That does seem to be a persistent problem with you.” Jasper sighed, but his tone wasn’t unkind.

“Yeah.”

“Hey.” Surprising the heck out of me, he patted my upper arm. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry about the team.”

“Thanks, man. That means a lot.” And it did. Him voluntarily touching me, that meant something, too, made something fluttery break loose in my stomach. “And I do appreciate your help. I know my dumb ass got me into this mess, but I’m grateful you’re bailing me out.”

“I haven’t bailed anything out yet.” Jasper’s laugh was warm and welcome.

“But you will,” I insisted. Our faces were much too close now, but hell if I was going to be the one to move first. “I’ve got a good feeling about this tournament.”

“Does your good feeling extend to the seventy-five-dollar entrance fee?”

“It could.” The money wasn’t nothing. My wallet felt every penny lately, but it also wasn’t five-freaking-K, so I’d happily take it. More peanut butter and soup, maybe, but I’d also get a chance at some cards.

“Okay. We’re on, then. You sure you want to spend yet another day slumming with the nerds?”

“Yeah. I am.” And I was. Gamers might be an improvement over another weekend of listening to James and Luther bicker. And if there was one particular geek I was really looking forward to spending the day with, well, I wasn’t going to tell Jasper that.

Chapter Nine

Jasper

“You didn’t warn me that gamers get up at the ass-crack of dawn.” Milo was waiting where we’d arranged to meet, at the campus parking lot near my dorm. However, instead of me needing to search out his car, here he was standing in the cold on the sidewalk, stamping his feet and looking down at his phone. His knit cap, same one he’d had at the game store, was out of place on his usually stylish head. One of his many aunts undoubtedly knitted it. And maybe it was the cold or the early hour, but I was oddly touched that he’d left the car instead of waiting for me to find him. As a result, I kept my tone light as I followed him across the parking lot.

“Gamers do when they want to win prizes. Or stand in line for new releases. We’re killer at standing in line.”

“I’ll keep that in mind for the next Marvel movie.” He came to an abrupt stop between a beat-up Toyota and a classic Mustang.

“You still watch superhero movies?” I reached for the passenger-side door of the Toyota, but to my surprise, he unlocked the Mustang instead.