Page 9 of Surge of Fire

I just hope that my feelings for Samantha don't fuck everything up.

FIVE

Samantha

I dress earlyand head outside, careful not to wake Dahlia, who isnota morning person. I’m hoping to get a little time to myself before the other students wake up, but I shouldn't have been surprised to see Aydan sitting outside on the porch of the cabin next to mine. He looks freshly showered, no doubt having taken one after his typical morning workout. It makes me smile to realize that he hasn't changed all that much since the last time we hung out.

When his gaze meets mine though, all the familiar butterflies come back. He'd been so weird the night before.Is that how things are gonna go between us from now on?

But to my relief, he smiles, and the smile reaches his eyes. He runs his hand through his dirty-blond hair and heads towards me. It's like he’s been keeping an eye out, waiting for me, instead of whatever the heck I'm sure he really is doing out here.

“Morning,” he says, coming to a stop in front of me. Then, after only a second's hesitation, “Sorry about last night.”

I shrug, although I'm more than a little surprised he brought it up. “For what? You were fine.”

He shakes his head. “No, I was tired and grumpy. Granger let me have it later on.”

“Youtired and grumpy? I don't believe it! Weird and grumpy was that summer your voice started changing and you only spoke in a grumble for like three months.”

He laughs, and I hate how much I love the sound of his laugh. "So what do you think today will be like? Think it'll be mostly a meet and greet? Or are we gonna dive right into things?"

I sigh a little dramatically. “Surprisingly, with all those nondisclosure agreements we signed, we're not allowed to talk about anything that we experience up here, which has made it pretty hard to find out what this program will actually be like.”

He nods, his expression saying he's encountered the same thing. “Did you actually talk to anyone who has done this before?"

I think of the professor I'd reached out to. It'd taken a lot of digging to see her connection to the Phoenix Institute and track her down. Fortunately, she actually worked at my university, so from there it hadn't been too hard to seek the professor out.

She'd told me the nondisclosure agreements that we sign are ironclad and that there wasn’t much she could say. But shedidtell me that if I was looking for an adventure, if I wanted to take a risk and learn more about the world than I ever imagined before, that this would be a great opportunity for me.

The professor also said that it was okay if I wasn't that kind of person. That if I was someone who just wanted a nine-to-five type of job and intended to do only research work after I got my degree, then this definitely wasn't for me.

She said it was mostly hands on, depending on my area of interest. It was also sometimes a little dangerous, and I'd learn awhole hell of a lot. So, of course, I'd signed up and then spent the last few months freaking out when I got accepted.

Not that I'd tell Aydan all of that. He already knew how freaked out I've been. The last thing I need is for Aydan to start calling me a chicken.

“My source made it clear that this would be an adventure," I told him, then smile.

“Yeah, we already knew that though, right?” he says, returning my smile.

Our eyes lock. It's hard to breathe. I imagine tension singing between us, but know deep down it's only in my head. So, I force myself not to get lost in his baby blue eyes, and look away. Finally able to breathe again.

“My sources told me nothing,” he confesses, “but I’m excited to see what happens.”

A minute later, Granger comes out of their cabin. He catches sight of us and then he lets out a hugewhoop, like we're at his favorite sport's game. “You guys still being awkward or did we make nice?”

I roll my eyes. “We made nice. Now, do you want breakfast?”

He pats his belly, sticking it out as far as he can. “You know I would never turn away a good meal.”

The urge to roll my eyes again comes and goes. My mom always said my eyes would get stuck that way if I did it too much, but I’m rolling my eyes for a reason. Granger doesn't exactly have a six-pack, but he's hardly shaped like a bowling ball. Yet, he continues to act like he’s some kind of walrus. He needs to get that idea out of his head.

"I'm sure you forget meals with your nose buried in books all the time," I tell him, slipping my arm into his.

He stands up straighter, grinning. "Way too often, actually."

We all head down to the meal hall near the front of campus. There are a couple of students hanging around out front, butmostly it's quiet and empty. Students in our field are often nature lovers, people who tend to rise with the sun and go to sleep when it sets. However, the three of us have the woods, nature, and the rising of the sun ingrained in our very beings. I have no doubt that we'll be the earliest risers for the summer.

Heading inside, we find a cafeteria setting and lots of food just being put under warmers by the staff at the institute. We select eggs, bacon, biscuits, and gravy, piling our plates up high.

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