“You’re flying too fast to aim straight on,” Tristan said. She dropped a second line of missiles, all of them creating rings along the computer-generated ocean. “Unless of course you’re aiming for submarines.” He reached for her controller, and she could feel his attention like heat coming off an engine.
“I’m figuring it out,” she said coolly, pulling her hands farther away.
“Let me help you.”
“Are you supposed to?” She locked her eyes on the screen and flew her fake jet even farther over the ocean. “Aren’t we supposed to be opponents?”
“A little bird told me that we’ll have new offenses to face during the trials.”
“Is that bird white-haired and lab-coated?”
“She is.” He touched Chase’s arm and she crashed. “You’re all right, aren’t you?” The tenseness of his voice directed her toward his meaning.
“The drone?” she asked. He nodded. “I’m fine. We’re all fine.” She ground her teeth on the word, trying not to remember Pippin’s cruel snap.
A glimmer of his anger from earlier returned. “Sylph should have lost her wings.”
“If that were true, then you should have lost your wings for leading me back to JAFA all those weeks ago. And I should have lost my wings about sixty times.” She stared at the spot where his hand held her elbow and remembered the way their jets had glided across each other when they passed too close. Her skin tingled, and she wanted his palm against hers, fingers laced, in a uniquely brilliant way.
It made her heart rev like an engine…and then wonder what she was doing. Was she getting back at Pippin by getting close to his crush? No. In fact, however much she wanted to give her RIO a taste of her fist right now, she did not want to sweep in and steal his crush.
Tristan returned to his controller, firing a string of missiles to take out a structure similar to the Golden Gate Bridge.
“See, that! How did you do that?” she asked.
“Here.” He moved to the edge of his seat. She slid next to him, her hip and leg against his while the light from the simulator danced over his eyes. He handed Chase his controller and pointed to a trio of battleships. “Swing back around and try to hit the middle one.”
Chase did, and he folded his hand over hers on the controls. “You have to aim before you get there. The missile has a trajectory like a jet.” Tristan’s finger twitched over hers, and she fired, hitting the middle ship. It tipped and burned, sinking fast. “There you go.”
She swung the jet back around and shot at the first battleship. It hit straight on, and Chase couldn’t help letting out a whoop. The fake boat split and sank like the Titanic, butt up. When she turned, she found Tristan too close.
He bumped her leg with his. “We work well together.” His smile held a fair amount of swagger, like he loved how much tension bounced between them. She eyed his lips. All she could think about was that kiss, and she couldn’t help wondering if he was thinking about it too.
“Should we talk about what happened in the infirmary?” Apparently, he was.
“Do you want to?”
Now he was looking at her lips. His smile started to lean in and she looked away.
“Pippin,” she said. Her emotions corkscrewed through her chest from his name. “He…pointed out that I’ve been distracted. I need to focus on flying.”
“All right, I have to ask. What’s up with your RIO? Is he always this bipolar?” Tristan said. “Romeo is worried about him. We can never tell if he’s going to hang with us or act like we don’t exist.”
“I have to admit that I’m glad I’m not the only one he does that to.” She paused and chewed her thumbnail. “Have you and Pippin had a moment or something? In the hangar?”
Tristan blushed through the cheekbones, and she wasn’t imagining it. “What? You can tell me,” she said. “I’m cool about whatever.” Her voice cracked ironically.
“I’d rather not say. It was embarrassing for everyone involved.”
“Okay…” Whoa, what in the world had gone down? Did Pippin come out to Tristan? Tell him about his feelings? “What…how…”
Tristan saw her spinning out. “Hey, look, it was crazy when you guys got back—after the drone. He woke up on the concrete and thought you were dead. It took Romeo five minutes to get him to stop screaming. Pippin loves you, Chase, but I think he’s melting down inside. I admit…I was pretty upset too.”
Chase gave his speech a solid minute. Picturing Pippin like that—losing it—made her feel like running after her RIO that second. But what would she say?
“We’re all melting down.” She looked at Tristan. “Is there anything else going on?”
Tristan didn’t catch her nudging. Or he caught it and went another way. His eyes drifted over her neck. “You tell me. What about our moment?”
Chase’s mouth went dry. Tristan was. So. Close. And it sounded like he thought about that kiss as much as she was trying not to think about it. Another reason not to burst out. “Kale,” she said like she was coming up from underwater. “He doesn’t want us to get friendly.”
Tristan sat back, frowning. He felt bigger than he had a few moments ago, like a sudden aggravation had puffed his shoulders. “You always do what Kale tells you?”
“Wow. You really don’t like him,” Chase said, factoring in the tense conversation she’d overheard. “Why? Kale’s a seriously decent commanding officer. Haven’t you seen how relaxed he runs this place? How many freedoms he gives us?”
Tristan didn’t answer. His eyes trailed some faraway spot.
“Kale has saved my butt so many times. You wouldn’t believe what he’s done for me.” Her mind skimmed the day she’d met the brigadier general. The way he’d given Janice murder eyes. “He’s the only reason I agreed to come here,” she admitted.
“I understand you have a relationship with him, but that does not extend to me.” Tristan paused. “And he already told me to stay away from you.”