Page 104 of Power Play

“Say it,” I told him.

“Te extraño.”

I repeated the phrase, and Ryan shook his head.

“Try it again. You’re losing the ñ.”

“I knew you were going to find something wrong.”

“I’m teaching you.”

“You’re enjoying correcting me.”

“That too.”

He said the phrase slowly, and I repeated it until his expression softened with approval.

“Better.”

I stared at the words. “How do you say come back?”

Ryan turned his head toward me. “Planning ahead?”

“I’m learning verbs.”

“Sure you are.”

“Ryan.”

He smiled and wrote Vuelve beneath the first phrase.

“Vuelve,” he said.

I repeated it.

“Again.”

“Vuelve.”

“That was better.”

I looked at the two phrases sitting together on the page.

Te extraño.

Vuelve.

Seeing them together made everything I wasn’t saying feel embarrassingly obvious.

Ryan rested his forearm against the table. “You planning to order me back from Flint?”

“I might require additional tutoring.”

“You’ve got my number.”

“That isn’t the same.”

The words escaped quietly, and Ryan’s smile disappeared.