Out of Character by Annabeth Albert

Author:Annabeth Albert
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Published: 2021-04-06T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Three

Jasper

My phone dinged with a message as soon as I let myself into my room after work, and I didn’t have to look to know who it was. I miss your room.

Because your roommates trashed your place? Jaw tight, I typed fast. I was still all kinds of mixed up where Milo was concerned, even more so after our awkward parting. I’d had that moment in the parking lot when I’d gazed deep into his eyes and I’d seen uncertainty. Like peering into a murky crystal ball and seeing the shadow of a guy who didn’t quite believe he was worthy.

He might be trying to change, but he was also scared to death of the possible consequences of those changes. And that made it hard to trust that any changes he made would stick. Which Milo was he going to be long-term? My best friend or the guy who ghosted on me when I needed him? Frustrating as all of that was, however, he was also the guy who had held me all night long, the one who made treasure hunting fun, and the one I couldn’t wait to see again. Not surprisingly, my heart still thumped when a reply came in.

Well, that and your room has *you*

So you miss me? I wasn’t above making him say it, and I took way more satisfaction in the three dots that said he was replying than I should have.

So much. Is that cool to say? We left things kinda… He’d added an emoji of a guy with question marks over his head. My fault?

I exhaled hard and flopped onto my bed, coat and all. It was actually made, for once, Milo having somehow accomplished that even in the rush of getting dressed. It wasn’t his fault that I’d had a minor freak-out at the realization that I might be heading for heartbreak with someone unable to give me what I needed. I’d been so happy to find the card, but resignation had come fast on the heels of the initial rush. If he couldn’t tell Bruno that he’d messed up with the cards, was he ever going to come out to anyone else who mattered to him? It was one thing to sneak a few kisses in quiet spaces, and another to decide to live fully and openly. To be the sort of boyfriend I craved, the one I could trust with my heart.

We’re cool. I lied because as much as I was twisted up over him, I also wasn’t about to end this or to be the kind of guy who gave him an ultimatum simply because we’d shared some incredible hours together. My pillow still smelled like his shampoo, and my head danced with all the good moments of the last twenty-four hours. My gut might say we needed to have a serious talk, but my heart wanted to give him space to arrive at the same scary, wonderful place as me.

Good. His one-word reply would have further frustrated me, but he’d added an image.

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