Out of Character (True Colors 2)

“And then our SEALs came in—”

“I love how you claim ownership of the SEALs,” I teased as I warmed tortillas.

“Hey, I save their bacon all the time. Highly classified stuff, but you’d be amazed at how much the support personnel does. And I’m up for an advancement in rank later this year. Might get even more responsibility then.”

“That’s awesome.” I gave him a high five. Mom had lots of questions about what the new rank would be and what he’d be doing, and his answers took us most of the way through eating. Afterward, Bruno and I cleaned up like old times while she made herself a cup of tea.

“Mom got a case of Sam Adams for tomorrow’s party thing. You want a cold one?” Bruno took two bottles out of the fridge.

“Nah. I…uh…I don’t drink anymore.”

“Like, at all?” Bruno put a bottle back. “Good for you, though. Will it bother you if I have one?”

“No. I can be around it. It’s more that I don’t have to have it now. I like who I am better sober, that’s all. I make dumbass mistakes drunk, and I’m done with that.”

“I like you better sober too.” Mom kissed the side of my head before heading to the living room with her tea. “I’m going to find a movie for later. You two catch up.”

Bruno put the second beer back and returned with two sodas. My stomach didn’t really need carbonation right then, but I appreciated the gesture a lot.

“To no more dumbass mistakes.” He clinked cans with me. “Proud of you for making that change. Now if you could just convince those idiot friends of yours to give up drinking too, then you might actually get somewhere.”

“Well…” I wasn’t going to get a better opening than that. “I’m done with them too. But first I did make another dumbass mistake. That’s why I stopped the drinking. I can’t keep making the same mistakes over and over.”

“What’d you do?” Bruno sounded much more guarded now, which I hated.

“It’s a long story, so let me finish before the inevitable lecture?” I asked as I took a deep breath. Now or never. Time to be brave.

“I’m listening.”

Slowly, I told my story of what happened with the cards and the quest to get them back. Retrieving my backpack, I spread the four out as I explained. I kept thinking about the way Jasper had played the final round yesterday, the way that he’d left it all on the table. Fearless. This story wasn’t the same without him in it, and I wasn’t the same without him in my life.

“I seriously had no idea the cards were worth that much.” Bruno chewed the edge of his lip as he considered the cards in front of him.

“What?” I hadn’t considered that possibility, although maybe I should have.

He made a dismissive gesture. “Would I have kept a ten-grand item with my other cards? I’m not stupid. I won them off a guy. I knew they were ultra rares, but not that much money. You could have told me what happened, saved yourself some hassle.”

“I know that now.” I fiddled with the cracked edge on the little dining table. He might not be stupid, but I was. “I messed up, though. Again. And I didn’t want to admit it to you. At the time, that seemed like the worst thing in the world.”

“Well, I’m not happy,” Bruno admitted. “And it was an idiot mistake. But I could have added it to your tab.”

“And that’s exactly what I didn’t want. I owe you too much as it is.” Fumbling with my pocket, I withdrew the check I’d stashed there earlier and handed it to him. “Here. I told you, I’m done making mistakes like that and I’m trying my best to make up for past ones.”

“What the hell?” Bruno held the check like it might burst into flames at any second. “Did you sell a kidney? You’re not making this kind of money at your job.”

“No. I’m not.” I had to pause, let my pulse slow and tell my roiling stomach to deal. I couldn’t hurl. Not now. “I sold my car.”

“No.” Bruno tried to hand the check back to me. “You’re not doing that. Dad wanted you to have it.”

“He wanted a lot of things.” I let that hang between us.

Bruno’s expression hardened further. “He wasn’t that bad.”

“For you, maybe. You were the perfect son.” An edge crept into my voice that wasn’t there before. I’d tried not to think about that too much, but Bruno being so freaking perfect hadn’t made it any easier to be myself.

“Maybe he was a little…rough on you. I’ll grant you that.” Retrieving a beer from the fridge, Bruno cracked it open. Apparently we were done with the solidarity part of the evening. “But was he bad enough for you to spit on his legacy like this? You can repay me eventually. It’s just money.”