“Working on it.” The look he shot me was so vulnerable that a tremble raced through me that had nothing to do with the weather outside and everything to do with Milo and the way he was steadily working his way past my mountain of grievances against him.

“You know, Kellan and the rest of our group didn’t hate your presence at our gig.” I wasn’t quite ready to offer up myself as a friend, but maybe if he saw that he had some options, he might further distance himself from his old crowd. “Just saying that you might not have to look far.”

“Playing Neptune isn’t the same as a cheap place to crash, but I get what you’re saying. Thanks.”

“And now your dad is gone.” I didn’t like pointing out the obvious, but it needed saying.

“Yeah, he is. And that’s part of what I get all…tangled up in. Like, I didn’t want him to die. At all. But…yeah. Anyway. He’s gone, and I’m pretty sure Mom knows.”

I made a startled noise. That, I hadn’t been expecting. Milo’s mom was a meek but nice woman who probably should have left his dad decades ago. My mom had said she seemed to be thriving now, on her own with a recent promotion at the college in the registrar’s office. Still, though, I had no clue how she’d take this news from Milo. “She knows?”

“Uh… I had to stay with her after my accident. And remember how I’m bad at search engines—”

“Wow.” I choked on some spit. “Your mom found your porn browser history? Rough.”

“Pretty much. I thought I’d cleared it, but then one day there was a sticky note from her on the monitor with instructions on how to actually erase the history. And she added a little line about loving me no matter what and being there if I need to talk.”

“That’s cool. But you haven’t taken her up on that?”

“I’m…not good at hard talk.”

“No kidding.” My own mom would have hounded me until I gave in and talked. But Milo’s family had never been as big on conversations, particularly embarrassing ones. Outside, the flurries were picking up, creating a fine white powder—still not sticking, but worrisome.

“I’m working up to talking. It’s not her I’m worried about as much as Bruno.”

“Ah. You think he might react worse to that news than the fact that you lost his ultra-rare cards?”

“Maybe. He could be like Mom and surprise me. Or he could be another Dad. And, dude…I can’t even tell you how much he’s done for me. I fucked up. Big time. And he was there for me.”