Page 22 of Every Almost

"If we start doing trust falls with this group, I think the Brontari might crush someone," the woman said.

The Qorrathi's face lit up as if she'd said the most brilliant thing in the history of organized speech.

"That's EXACTLY what I was thinking! The logistics alone." He gestured broadly with his free hand, nearly hitting a passing cadet. "I mean, do they pair by weight class? Who spots who? Or do the Brontaris just spot each other? Do they even consider factoring in species with tails? Nobody's, not a one, thought this through."

"Nobody needed to," the woman responded. "That's the beauty of said 'trust fall.' Pure faith, zero planning."

Reyna's chest stirred at those words.Pure faith, zero planning.She'd never been given the luxury of either. But, even still, she had to admit, the Qorrathi had a point about the logistics. The Brontari trust fall alone would require structural reinforcement in the flooring, the walls, the?—.

"Pure faith, zero planning," the Qorrathi repeated, delighted. "That's the Coalition training motto. I'm Jerel, by the way. But my friends call me Jere."

My friends.He'd known the woman for, what, thirty seconds? And the wordfriendshad already landed between them like it belonged there.

Reyna watched him say it, but immediately felt as though she were watching a magic trick. As though you were aware that something had just happened but not entirely sure how.

"Elena," the woman said.

"Elena." He nodded, but then his gaze shifted, following some invisible line across the mess hall, until it circled back around and landed, with an uncanny accuracy, directly on her.

Reyna went absolutely still. Like, not breathing kind of still, which was more still than she already was, making it a feat all on its own.

He'd seen her. Without a doubt, the Qorrathi with the open face and the two drinks and the wordfriendstumbling out of his mouth like an avalanche was looking right at her. And his expression wasn't like the Elena woman, assessing or curious or calculating. It was justwarm. Warm, easy-going, and totally impossible to deflect.

"That one there, she looks like she'd rather be anywhere else," he said to Elena, but not unkindly. "Same as us."

He was moving before Elena even had a chance to respond.

Reyna watched him navigate through the tables of the mess hall toward her that were separating them, twisting and turning in between the sessions of icebreakers, the sense of alarm rising within her, as though she had been spotted by a predator. But this particular predator was smiling and walking toward her carrying a drink.

And then he just sat right down at her table. And did he sit across from her like any normal introduction between strangers? Oh no, he just beside her one seat over, leaving that one pocket of space.At least there's that, Reyna thought.Thereseems to be a tiny semblance of personal boundaries embedded in this man's brain.

He set the drink down in front of the empty seat between them and looked up at her with that same open, unthreatening expression. And then, he didn't do anything. He just sat there, entirely comfortable in his skin, sitting next to a stranger and not saying a word, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Apparently, he wasn't getting the memo that Reyna's body language was sayingdon'tin so many different languages.

Her jaw tightened as she weighed her options. She could walk away and ignore him. Shut it down completely with a single word or one look. Simple, classic, wouldn't require much effort aside from her seeking out a new stakeout point. Or perhaps this could prompt her escape.

She had a dozen defenses ready, having built every single one of them.

She looked down at the drink on the table, then looked up at his face.

"You brought two drinks," Reyna said, the first thing she'd said to anyone all evening, at least that wasn't required by protocol for orientation.

Jere blinked. "What?"

"To the refreshment table. You went and got two drinks. Not three. You got one for her," a nod toward Elena nearby. "One for this chair, but absolutely none for yourself."

Jere looked down at his empty hands, looked at the drink on the table near Reyna, and then looked back at his hands with scrutiny, as if he only just realized they were empty.

"Huh," he said. "I did, didn't I?"

"You're either very generous or very bad at math."

His laugh was immediate and so loud that three cadets close to them turned to look. Reyna almost flinched at the volume, but only almost, because there was something about the sound,the unguarded delight in it, coming from someone who clearly had never once considered whether his boisterous laugh was appropriate for just any given setting.

"Both," he said, still grinning. "Definitely both."

Then he just settled in like he'd been waiting for her, waiting with a certainty that she'd meet him halfway when she was ready. She only slightly judged him for presuming something about her in that way, even if he was bordering on correct.

Elena crossed the room then and sat down across from them, pushing an extra drink toward Jere. He accepted it with a quick nod and a conspiratorial wink. If Reyna would believe her assumption, she believe that look said, plain as day,See? Told you this would work.