“I’ll miss you,” she says. “All of you.”
“Me too,” I reply, giving her a small smile as I step back and meet Grandma next as Mom meets Theo, scolding him for hitting Carter.
“He deserved it, just like Jaycey said.”
Mom snorts, knowing Theo isn’t the most innocent, before she hugs Ares and Renji.
Once we’ve bid farewell, I head back, ready to get back to the Academy.
After checking inand notifying the office of my return, I go straight to the training grounds, not wasting any time. I’m about to text Sienna that I’m headed there when I catch her scent. Reaching the open training ground, I see her jogging around the length of the area.
I watch her for a moment. Her hair is up in a bun, and she’s wearing her suit. The fabric clings to every curve of her perfect body, and even with the compression of the fabric, her breasts still bounce slightly as she runs. She has earpods in and clearly hasn’t noticed I’m here.
I cross my arms, leaning against the wall, watching as she does a few cartwheels before continuing running. I suppress a smile. I do wish she were herself more often. I remember her as a kid. She always stood out. Not that I’m about to admit that. When she turns at the far corner, she notices me and comes to an abrupt stop, breathless. Her cheeks flush as she raises one hand to her breasts, that tantalising move she always does when she’s shy or nervous.
She walks towards me, removing her earpods and tucking one of the few curls that frame her face behind her ear. “Hey…”
“Hey,” I find myself replying. Yeah, I’m settling for that when what I want to do is pull her close and kiss her.
She blushes again, looking away, and once again, I’m flooded with what happened last night.
“Ready for training?” I ask, trying not to think about how much I want to yank her against me.
She nods. “Yes. It looks like it might rain.”
“Well then, let’s hope we’re done by then, although I don’t mind the rain.”
She tilts her head up, looking at the sky. “Same…”
“Alright, so, we’re doing something a little different tonight. See those?” I point to swaying metal beams that are suspended twenty–thirty metres above us.
“Yeah,” she says, planting her hands on her hips.
“You’re going to be running along those whilst I shoot balls into the sky, and your goal is to destroy them before they hit the ground. And the beams will be moving.”
She looks at me before looking up at them. “I’ve used the beams, but I don’t know how good I’ll be at shooting targets…”
“Only one way to find out, then.”
“What if I lose my balance?” she asks.
“Then I’ll be here to catch you if you fall.”
She tilts her head to look at me, and I try to ignore the way her heart rate picks up.
“You have a lot of faith in yourself. I might just have to let myself fall to see if you really will,” she says with a glint of mischief in her eyes.
“Go ahead, I wouldn’t mind having you in my arms again.”
Shit.
Our eyes lock.
Are we really flirting?
I look away and focus on the swaying beams that are at a slight angle so they’re never really steady, feeling her gaze burn into me.
“So, let’s start,” I say quietly, massaging my jaw.
