Page 103 of Power Play

Ryan tapped one finger beside the first pronunciation guide. “Start with vowels.”

I looked at him. “When do you go back?”

His hand stopped.

The question had come out too abruptly, and I immediately looked down.

“To Flint,” I added unnecessarily.

“I figured.”

“Obviously.”

Ryan studied me for a second before answering. “A couple weeks.”

My stomach sank despite already knowing it would be soon. “That soon?”

His expression changed slightly. “Yeah.”

I traced the edge of the notebook. “Right.”

Ryan didn’t move on to the vowels. Instead, he watched me pretend the answer hadn’t mattered.

“You worried about something?”

“I’m not worried.”

“Terrible lie.”

“I’m not.”

“That one was worse.”

I gave him a look. “You’re supposed to be teaching me Spanish.”

“I can teach you how to lie in Spanish if you want, but you’ll still suck at it.”

I tried not to smile. “Fine. Teach me something useful.”

He waited until it became clear I wasn’t going to offer more, then picked up the pen.

“What do you want to know?”

I looked at the page, and the answer came before I could filter it.

“How do you say I miss you?”

Ryan’s pen stopped above the paper.

Heat moved into my cheeks. “For vocabulary purposes.”

“Obviously.”

His mouth twitched when I nudged his arm.

“Write it down.”

He wrote Te extraño beneath the other phrases, his handwriting darker than everything around it.