But before she could put it all together, she remembered that tormented look she’d gotten out of him in the hallway, and she couldn’t.
When they entered the Green, a group of her fellow juniors walked by and said hello to Tristan. Nothing to Chase, although one of them chanted her call sign. It had the effect of insinuating that Tristan was now with Chase…of course.
“Aren’t you the star of the Star?” She winced at her lameness. “How do you find the energy?”
“I’m not as popular as you,” Tristan said. “Nyx is a big deal. Everyone knows you.”
“Everyone thinks they know Nyx,” she corrected, a little stumped as to why she’d take the time to set the record straight.
“They like you a helluva lot better than Sylph.”
“That’s not a fair comparison. I’m pretty sure not even Sylph likes Sylph.”
“Maybe not. Although, no one seems to know anything about you. You’re a mystery,” he said. “For example, when I asked people what part of the country you’re from, I got three different answers.”
“That’s because I don’t answer that question. They only know what I want them to know.” Chase lost her amusement, remembering Tristan’s tandem dark look with Tanner. She could only imagine what Tanner would say. Actually, she could imagine exactly what he would say. “I’m the heartbreaker. Is that what you’re hearing?”
“I believe Tanner Won used the term love vampire.”
“Jesus Christ.”
Tristan smiled, not that genial look he tossed to everyone, but a genuine smirk. She liked it a little too much, and it encouraged her to give him just a little more. “It’s a bad habit at this point. I say I want to fool around. The crush in question agrees, but then they want more…”
Chase let him think she meant sex. Most of the time, her hookups did want sex, which she didn’t mess around with. Pregnancy, STDs—no thanks. Of course with Tanner, sex wasn’t what he wanted. “I’m not into more,” she added a little late.
“Tanner said you forgot who he was. Walked right past him like he wasn’t there.” Tristan whistled. “That’s tough stuff. He seems like a worthy sort of guy.”
“He was different.” Chase started to walk slower, feeling herself defocus. She remembered lying on Tanner’s bed and telling him to kiss her, only for him to stare at her with eyes that stirred in warmth. He asked about where she came from. About her family and dreams. It wasn’t until she started to want to answer him that she had to cut him off.
Chase had walked past Tanner in the hall, avoided his smiles, then his scowls, and then his heartbreaking glances. She had fed tears to the shower and ached to explain. Instead, she found the opposite of Tanner: Riot. A boy whose needs were upfront, like the kind of restaurant where the ketchup and mustard are always out on the table.
When she blinked back to Tristan, she couldn’t quite tell how much she’d said aloud. He had that affect on her. And his eyes put Tanner’s to shame. The blue was so focused. It was worse than warm; it was acceptance. But then maybe Tristan did this to everyone. Maybe that’s why people liked him. After all, he’d already proved he was a social chameleon.
“You do realize this is the first real conversation we’ve ever had.” She paused. “Why are we talking about my exes?”
“You brought it up.”
A few freshmen passed, and Tristan bumped fists with two of them.
She was annoyed all over again, and it was much more familiar than being honest. “You think you know me because you watched my tapes at JAFA. But you only know how I fly. You don’t know anything about me on the ground. Besides the fact that…”
She couldn’t say it. Couldn’t bring up her father.
Tristan eyed her. “I bet you think you know me because you’ve seen me fly a few times.”
“I know you’re—” Chase’s voice cut off because they’d turned the corner. The auditorium door was open, and Riot stood cross-armed in the entrance. He looked from Chase to Tristan, and his face twitched.
“You stood me up last night.” Riot was angry, but he forced a smile, which made her want to punch him.
“We already talked about this, Riot.”
“Are you breaking up with me?”
“Did you think we were together? Wouldn’t that involve dates or hand-holding or anything vaguely romantic?” Riot looked more hurt than she had intended, and she was overly aware Tristan was listening. “We’re friends. Just no more…you know.”
“Nyx,” he said. Chase tried to pass him, but he tugged on her bag. She checked the desire to throw him off, not wanting to embarrass him. To make a Tanner of him. “I knew you were a tease when we started this, but—”
Tristan stepped closer. She expected to see some variety of testosterone overkill, but he was wearing that polite I-love-everyone look.
“Riot. I thought you were a RIO. I hear it’s pilots only for this class.”
Chase pushed Riot. “He’s leaving.”
Riot’s eyes lit up for a fight. “You fuc—”
Sylph flew out of the auditorium. She got Riot by the ear and dragged him down the hallway. “Everyone can hear you blabbering at Nyx. Get your head together and get to class!” She shoved him and stomped back toward the door. “You,” she snapped at Chase. “You fix him ASAP.” Her braid swung as she whipped into the auditorium.
“Wow,” Tristan said. “You guys definitely have more fun than we did at our academy.”
“How’s that?” Chase felt a creeping blush. “You guys didn’t mess around?”
“There were thirty-four cadets at JAFA. Eleven girls. We were close like a family. I think it would have been like dating my cousins. I mean, consider the breakups…yikes.”