“You’re right on time.” Kellan gave her a smile.

“Good. And Neptune made it again. Nice job.” April nodded at Milo, who shrugged.

“I’m here. Still a little chilly though.”

“You’ll adapt.” She was nothing if not pragmatic. She’d make a good leader someday, and there wasn’t much I wouldn’t give to see that she got the chance.

“Okay, are we ready?” Kellan asked, and the group murmured agreement. We all headed to the same lounge as the week before. The same medical assistant was on duty, and there was a mix of new and old faces to greet us.

“That was nice of you,” I said to Milo in a low voice as we entered the room. “About Kellan, I mean.”

“You said to make friends. Was that okay?” Milo offered me a crooked smile, but his eyes were worried. Vulnerable even. “I mean, I don’t have to take the tickets.”

“Take them.” Strangely his uncertainty made me surer.

“Okay. Maybe.”

“I’ll be going to at least one show. Maybe we can sit together,” I offered before it hit me that I was being awfully chummy with a guy I was supposed to still have a grudge against. And being nice and making sure he didn’t have to sit alone was a far cry from an actual date, but that didn’t stop my pulse from revving.

“That might be cool.” Milo shifted his weight from foot to foot, almost like he was doing fast internal math about how likely any of his buddies would be to see him at a show consisting of musical numbers from hit Broadway plays. “I’ll check my work schedule.”

“You do that.” I put the odds of us actually going at subzero.

“Prince Neptune came!” Chase had a weak smile for Milo as his dad pushed him over.

“Hey, Chase! How’s it going, buddy?” Milo crouched next to the wheelchair, and some soft place inside me pinged.

“Okay.” Chase’s voice was lethargic, and I exchanged a worried look with my mom. “I had a new infusion today. Sleepy.”

“Are you up for a game?” Milo asked, voice as gentle as I’d ever heard it.

“I can try.”

“Good.” Milo’s smile was as tight as my chest felt. After rising from his crouch, he followed me as I set my deck bag on the rear table. He lowered his voice to a bare whisper. “Give me your two easiest decks. Don’t want to exhaust the little guy further.”

“I can do that.” I picked the decks from the box and handed them over. “Pretty cool how you remembered his name.”

“He’s a hard kid to forget.”