I messed up an attack step, and Naomi went in for the kill. I narrowly managed to block the lethal blow. I couldn’t afford another loss. By my calculations, I needed this match and one more. No more looking in Milo’s direction. Head in the game in more than one way. I had a mission and I couldn’t afford any more mistakes.

Chapter Twelve

Milo

I wanted Jasper to win, but not only for the reasons he thought. Rather, I wanted him to win because I liked the way he smiled when he won, liked the looseness in his step, liked the way he’d joke with me in between matches. Every win made me buoyant, riding high on his good mood. I hadn’t forgotten about him needing points for the prize card, but I was having fun simply hanging out at the tournament, meeting his friends, watching him play. I liked seeing the hustle and bustle of the tournament, but also liked the way Jasper reigned over it, gamer royalty almost.

Everyone seemed to know him either from the vlog he was on or past tournaments and events. And they all liked him. He was…popular. Which shouldn’t have been that surprising—he’d always been an easy-to-like guy, but high school was not kind to nice guys like Jasper. Yet he’d survived, no thanks to me. And now here he was, thriving. He’d found where he belonged, and I couldn’t stop the ache in my chest as I wished I could say the same for me.

“Move to attack.” Jasper narrowed his eyes. I’d watched and played enough Odyssey to know this was likely his Hail Mary move, a last-ditch effort to stay alive before Naomi did him in. And her smug smile said she knew it as she moved her cards into position to block.

“Any responses?” She sounded bored, probably already looking ahead to her next match.

“Yup.” One by one, Jasper flipped his cards over, playing the scrolls to transform them into bigger attackers. Freaking brilliant. I’d seen him pull similar moves all morning, and I was still impressed. It was like watching a soccer star zip down the field, avoiding the defense and scoring the winning goal against all odds.

“Oh, f—flying monkey butts. Really?” Naomi thumped her own head. “How did I not see that coming?”

“Because I’m good.” Jasper smiled, energy infectious, making Naomi smile back even as she groaned.

“Yeah, you are.” After considering the board for a long minute, she stuck out her hand. “Good game.”

I managed to wait until Jasper was packing up to hurry over. I smacked him on the shoulder. “You did it!”

“Yeah, I did. Ow.” Jasper rubbed his shoulder.

“Oops. Too much?” Sometimes I didn’t know my own strength. Or maybe he didn’t want me touching him. “Sorry.”