“Yeah.” Undoubtedly, that was the right option for Jasper. And it wasn’t his fault that the thought of him in NYC instead of Gracehaven sucked the energy right out of me. He’d be moving on to bigger and better things. As it should be. And I had no reason to let that make me sad. Pushing those thoughts away, I gestured at the crowd around us. “So how does this work?”

“I get registered and my decks get checked out, then I get a schedule of matches. From that point on, I’m pretty busy.” Jasper bounced a little, like this was an excellent development. Him excited was simply too cute and I had to smile at him. “You’re free to watch any of the matches, shop the vendors, or get some casual play in. I brought an easier deck like the ones we use with the kids if you want to try some of those games.”

“That was nice of you.” And it was, made my insides bubble to think about him packing up, thinking about me right as I’d been thinking about him with the doughnuts. Maybe—

“Eh. We can’t have you bored.” Well, okay then. Not a personal thing at all. I frowned as Jasper continued, “Most likely I’ll barely get any breaks. Thank goodness for those doughnuts.”

“I’ll leave around lunch, get you a sandwich and some soda, and bring it back,” I offered. Perhaps he hadn’t meant anything by packing the deck for me, but I was still pleased enough to do him a favor. And he was trying to win the card for me after all.

“Thanks. That would be sweet.” Not that I would be sweet, but the gesture. He undoubtedly didn’t mean it as some sort of deep sentiment. However, my face still warmed at the compliment. I liked doing things for him, far more than was probably smart. It seemed to make me happy in a way I hadn’t been in quite a while.

He fished a ten out of his pocket. “For my food. You got the doughnuts already. And my registration.”

“Least I could do.” After the parking fee we’d encountered, I wasn’t too proud to take his cash. I pocketed the money as we shuffled forward again.

“Jasper! How the heck are you?” A tall Asian guy around our age who seemed to speak exclusively in exclamation points strode over to us.

“Eugene.” Jasper gave him a high five and a big smile. “You playing or watching?”