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When she passed, my mother said that she left her spirit with me. Looking at her now, the bothered look on her face settles over my heart.
I’m pretty bothered, too. Hours after our practice session has ended, and I can’t stop thinking about him. It wouldn’t annoy me so much if he hadn’t stared.
The competitive streak in me won't be able to resist him now if he flirts with me. Eye contact isn’t its own catalyst butstaring. He might as well have dared me.
I turn the locket over and click it shut before stuffing it back into my undershirt. It feels lukewarm against my skin as I make my way to my window. The inn they’ve put us in sits downhill from Mt. Sanat. From my angle, the Cradle of the Gods towers ominously in the distance, beckoning me back to the wild as it’s done before.
I can’t wait to hear the sound of the gun. When the race starts, and my blood pumps with the lure of adventure, I know that long-awaited sensation will flood my senses as it has time and again.
When it’s quiet in the trees, and my bow awaits the slip of my fingers. When the snow begins to hush the mountains. There’s a lure to survival I can’t ignore. It’s the best, most fulfilling thing I've ever known.
But the weight of my grandmother’s locket presses into my chest, reminding me there could be something more. I have a hard time admitting it, even to myself, how much it would thrill me to have someone to do it with. That’s what’s been so tough about my so-called ‘downtime’ before the League’s pre-race party.
I should be resting. I should be relaxing. I shouldn't be thinking abouthim. But the way he moved his body on that course today sent a wave through my brain that I'm powerless to stop. The thought that he’s actually my type.
I've lived on this planet my entire life, and I've never met anyone who I thought could keep up with me. They callthemselves a warrior culture, but he’s more than that. Seeing him move out there, he’s like a god.
He has the confident allure of a man who knows what he’s about. I wouldn't have to lead him or follow him. We could be equals.
I’ve never seen potential in a partner like I have today. Potential for something like what my parents and grandparents had. But a man who isn't intimidated by a strong woman? I won't get ahead of myself.
As I dress for the party, donning a short green dress and heels, I’m struck with the notion that if I see him tonight I'll gravitate towards him helplessly, and I wouldn't like myself much for it. I keep my eyes glued to the floor as I approach the bar.
“What’ll it be?” the barkeep asks.
“Just no alcohol. Whatever is fine.” I’m in a zone, and I intend to stay there. The race is barely 48 hours away, and I can’t let anything, especially a party, yank my thoughts out of the game now.
“Zankini twists for you and the gentleman,” he says, ushering two lime-green concoctions in my direction. “Sans alcohol, at your pleasure.”
Then I feel a presence towering behind me. Sweat builds on my forehead as I turn around and see that, as I suspected, it's him. Rylan.
He gives me a stiff stare as though he’s uncomfortable. It's awkwardly silent until he speaks. “I saw you. Out on the course today.”
A smile pulls from my lips. Damn it. I just can’t resist. “I saw you, too, my Kiphian friend.” My mind replays the gorgeous cut of his abs on the ropes this morning. I’m lost in my own delicious thoughts until he tears me free.
“No,” he says, setting his drink down. “I mean at dawn. I saw you on the course before anyone else.”
I can’t tell if he’s intimidated or intrigued. In any case, my interest is piqued. “And what did you think?”
He licks his lips in a cool, careful way that makes my heart skip. “You’ll wind yourself, hitting the mountain with that kind of intensity. You should pace yourself.”
“Is that so? Well, you would know, I guess.” I give him what he wants to hear, without dropping the challenge in my eyes. “Mr. Two-Time Champ.”
He stiffens again. The farm girl in me can’t help but prod. “You don't like being called that, do you?”
“No,” he admits, his shoulders easing. He places his weight on the bar in front of us. Suddenly, his features are closer to my eyes than ever before. “I’m Rylan.”
“Iara,” I introduce. “I’m sorry. I was only teasing. So pace myself, you say?”
“Yes.” he turns to face me. Now I have full sight of his rugged features, I can hardly look away. The dark of his eyes offsets his light blue skin in a way that has me entranced. He is easily the most handsome thing I've ever seen.
“Coming from the man who was doing Tai Chi at six a.m., I’ll take it you know what you’re talking about.”
“I wondered if you saw me.”
“Everyone here knows you.” I remind him. “So where did you pick up Tai Chi?” I remembered the word a few hours after practice had ended. Still, even now, I’m a little surprised that a Kiphian was doing an exercise from Earth as expertly as he was. Hell, I’m a human myself, the people who invented it, and I could barely remember what it was called.
“Human settlement in the Lakes Kingdom.”
