CHAPTER 15 KAT
AFTER A week of sleeping in and breakfast on the patio—a week of unchecked afternoons, running in circles and lounging in the pseudo-salt breeze and shade with Lee—Kat had grown tired of Bri’s Bala Resort-cation.
It was nice to be back aboard the Academy and its totally conventional, recycled-air vents and eggshell-colored, paneled walls.
The transports had returned them to the ship a few hours ago.
She and Lee had grabbed a couple of sandwiches in the Canteen on their way back to their dorms. But since then, Kat hadn’t bothered to do more than drop her pink duffle at the foot of her bed, collapsing down onto her stomach to scroll through stale messages on her hyperband.
They hadn’t missed much. The release of final term schedules and course rosters. A new term, but the same old.
Kat barely looked up at the knock on her door.
“It’s open,” she called over her shoulder, despite needing her hyperband to access her dorm from the outside.
She took her time chucking her pillow then her boots at the door, one after the other, in a poor attempt to trick the sensor pane.
Giving up, she slugged over, slapping a hand by the door. It slid open.
“Lazy much?” Lee smirked, stepping over the pillow and around her boots as he followed her inside.
“Too much serotonin.” Kat gave him a loose smile before flopping back down onto her bed.
Neither of them had actually spent all that much time in the sun, other than their occasional dip in the pool and jogs about the track.
But until term officially began tomorrow, she was on break.
And she had at least another seventeen hours before then.
“I like this.” Lee tugged casually at one of the seams of her cropped tank, coming to crash beside her. “It suits you.”
Kat pulled her shoulders up to her ears, suddenly self-conscious again at Tonya’s kind gesture, even as she snuck a glance down to admire the way the dusty orange brought out the color in her arms. After a week in paradise, only the faintest shade of gold graced her skin.
She was still as pale as the asteroids in the dark reaches of the star system, a cadet of the fluorescence.
But, like with the swimsuit, Lee’s mom had gauged her well.
Not only had Tonya picked the style with her in mind, but she’d also selected something that made her feel beautiful and valued.
Kat rolled onto her side as Lee traced her shape in the faded blush comforter from shoulder line to hip and over the wedge of skin peeking below the hem of her tank.
He still carried on him the faint scents of coconut and rum butter.
The scents of Lee with the sleeves rolled on his T-shirt and the breeze on their arms. Of those last few mornings, splashing in the chilled pool. And of saltwater kisses…
“Welcome back, Hanneman.”
“Ahoy there, Waters.”
They didn’t make it out of the dorms until much later that afternoon. It went against her seventeen-hour oath, but with the new term starting tomorrow, she may as well show her face around the ship. At least for a few hours.
She flicked through her course list again, scanning the cadet rosters in more detail while they headed down to the Hideaway.
“And look at that—I’ve got Jed in one of mine. For…” She flicked back up to read the course name at the top of the roster. “Personal Enhancement and Development.” Kat snorted, stopping before the Hideaway doors. The course was basically an open study hour. “That will be fun.”
Beside her, Lee had pressed his lips tightly together, the faint lines of amusement around his cheeks betraying his efforts. He was either reigning in his laughter or working very hard to hide something from her.
“Fine. Who do you have in yours?” She came around behind him to try to gain access to his hyperband and the hand stashed too casually in the back pocket of his black jeans.
“Show me,” she squealed as he danced out of the way.
Lee finally relented, pulling up his course list and rosters.
“Kiara and Nikola—in the same course? Not even fair. Trade me!” she demanded, still gripping his wrist as she stared back at his luck with disbelief.
“Not a chance. Your little crush there would be heartbroken.”
Kat hissed. “Fine. But don’t blame me when he and I start to get things on.” She went to let go of his wrist, but Lee snatched up hers with his other hand.
“Oh, you two won’t be getting anything on.” Lee pulled her closer still by her wrist, caressing it to his chest. The heat between them rising to color her face and spark her lungs in the same breath.
They were interrupted before things could really combust by the Hideaway doors sliding open. An embarrassed-looking, second year Rad cadet clambered past them.
“Come on, you.” Yanking on the front of Lee’s dark T-shirt, she pulled him through the doors after her.
The Hideaway was as packed as they ever saw it. The cadets who’d been away for the term break were catching up with friends, and those who’d never left soaked in the last of their holiday before trainings once more dominated their schedules.
She and Lee stood in a longer line than usual to grab their green juices, before taking them over by the railing while they waited for a table to free up.
“It’s not a Solar Flare,” Kat teased, taking a long swig.
Lee tapped his plastic cup against hers, a warm, familiar light crinkling the corners of his eyes.
She spotted Whistler across the room, his arm slung loosely across Demi’s narrow, sculpted shoulders.
When he met her eyes, Demi leaned over to whisper something to Whistler, and the two of them came over.
“Hey, how was the break? You look like you got some sun,” Whistler said, motioning to Kat, her hair, and the barely perceivable tan on her pale arms. He and Demi leaned in to give them each hugs. “You look amazing.”
“Thanks,” she grinned, sinking into Lee’s touch as he slipped his arm casually—and maybe just a tad possessively—around her shoulders. It was cute to see Lee riled up about another guy. Even when he had absolutely nothing to worry about.
Whistler, she noticed, had also slung his arm back around Demi. Like even a few seconds apart was too much. And when his gaze met Demi’s—
“Wait, are you two—” Kat began.
“We made it official before the break,” Whistler announced proudly, cutting his boyfriend a softer version of his usual crooked grin.
“Aw!” Kat squealed, bouncing up onto the balls of her feet. “Congratulations.”
“I’m happy for you,” Lee said sincerely as she wrapped her hands once more around his arm.
“How was your break?” Kat asked. “Did Demi go with you, then, to visit the family?”
“Nah, not this time.” Whistler shrugged, eyes slipping back over to Demi. “He had his own plans.” Whistler didn’t seem too upset by his boyfriend’s decision.
Demi nodded, smiling politely. “Another time, maybe.”
Demi had a very handsome face. His golden-brown eyes seemed to warm further under these lights.
“How are the folks?” Lee asked.
Whistler shrugged a shoulder. “Same, same. They’ve both been busy with the garage. Dad’s finally allowing my younger cousin to take on ships of his own. And mom, well, she’ll never understand what I see in this place. But they’re happy that I’m happy.”
“Family can be complicated,” Lee said, smoothing a thumb softly over Kat’s shoulder blade.
“An understatement,” Whistler agreed. But he didn’t look troubled by it. On the contrary, with his hair waving freely about his shoulders, Whistler looked more relaxed than they’d seen him in weeks.
“I like the new addition,” Kat nodded to a couple of piercings that had been added to the gilded collection on Demi’s ear.
“Thanks. End of term present. I’ve got the full set now.” He didn’t elaborate on the cultural significance, but she could see that pride in the way he angled his head.
Kat did a double take at the flash of lavender she glimpsed over Demi’s shoulder. And for a split second, a surge of uncertainty welled up inside of her. But then she realized it was just the purple dress on another cadet on break. It wasn’t Levy.
She could feel Lee’s attention on her face as she blinked to clear her eyes. But Kat subtly shook her head. She was just delirious.
As her gaze refocused, her stare landed instead on another, very real cadet standing over by the vending machines. Zane was again on his own today.
He still wore his all-terrain suit and sported a fresh cut, the Academy’s broken triangle prism shaved into the side of his head. The golden-brown of his neck and forehead glistened like he’d just come from a workout. One of them, it seemed, wasn’t waiting for the term to begin.
“Did Zane take off for break?” she asked, eyes slipping between Lee and Whistler before glancing back to watch Zane pull a power drink from the slotted window.
Zane either hadn’t seen them standing here, or he hadn’t cared.
He barely paused to crack the top of his power drink before striding back out of the Hideaway.
“I don’t think he left the ship. He’s been in a weird place since last term. I think it’s family drama,” Whistler informed them quietly.
Kat peered back over her shoulder to the doors where Zane had disappeared.
Of all of them, Zane was the one she’d thought would bounce back the quickest. He had been raised on AMG loyalty.
Zipping up their straight suits and submitting to the Commander’s latest tests of discipline and regulation should have been a reprieve for him.
A realignment. Not this brooding, imitation they kept coming across.
But it made sense now why he’d opted to stay here for break.
“I’ll find him later,” Lee said softly before she could even voice her worry.
Thank you. She held his gaze, letting his assurance ease her breaths until she could again relax into his touch.
“You guys ready for one final go of it?” Whistler asked, holding out a fist to them as they turned their attention back to him and Demi.
Even without an official squadron assignment, they were still a team. Perhaps now, more so, than ever. And as she raised her fist to bump Whistler’s, her eyes again drew back to the Hideaway doors.
They could do this.
They could do this.
They could do this…