Everything he said was a nervous question. Guess he wasn’t used to a big crowd. They didn’t usually bug me, but right now, I understood how he felt. It was too much, and I wanted to take him out of it.
“Um.” Mylo paused as if summoning his courage. “What about you?”
“Aur—”
I cut myself short. Fuck. I had to remember the plan.
“Or, we can go talk elsewhere,” I said, smoothly correcting my slip-up.
Mylo’s pupils blew out. His eyes rounded wide as plates, sporting a thousand-yard stare. “Okay,” he finally said.
As we passed by the drink table, Poppy waved goodbye with an encouraging smile. Meanwhile, Alaric scowled as if his favorite TV show just got cancelled for the fourth time in a row. He poured half the bottle of wine into his glass and chugged it.
I led Mylo further from the crowd of minglers, but stayed within range so Jade wouldn’t come on set to yell at me for disrupting filming. Camera kobolds lingered in my peripheral vision. I could tell they made Mylo anxious. He shuffled his feet together and he licked his lips, eyes darting around like a gazelle surrounded by hyenas.
“Hey,” I said. “Focus on me.”
His warm brown-eyed gaze snapped to mine. His eyes were nice, even behind his glasses.
Since Mylo seemed too shell-shocked to talk, I took the initiative. “Sorry about the crowd,” I said.
“Ah. Yeah. It’s... big.”
“Didn’t you know that, though? It’s been wild since the first season aired. Like, way more contestants applying each time.”
He stared down at the sand, looking almost guilty. “I’ve never watched the Dragonfate Games.”
He’d never seen it? That was weird. Then why was he even here?
“My parents signed me up,” Mylo explained, sensing my unspoken question.
“Oh,” I said.
Taking my surprise the wrong way, Mylo winced. “Yeah. So, I probably shouldn’t be here.”
“Dude, stop.” My tone was unexpectedly firm. For some reason, that statement got on my nerves. “You deserve to be here as much as anyone else.”
Mylo blinked. “I do?”
“Yeah, duh.”
He fiddled with his little hands. His timidity reminded me of Poppy, but different somehow. It was uniquely Mylo.
“Thanks, um... I actually never got your name?” he said in that questioning tone again.
I took a second to compose myself so I didn’t blurt out the wrong one. Er, the right one.
“Saffron,” I said.
Except this time it was weird. Earlier, pretending to be my twin came naturally. When I lied to Poppy and Alaric just minutes ago, it felt good. Easy. Fun.
So why did lying to Mylo feel uncomfortable?
“Thank you, Saffron,” Mylo said, a smile poking into his soft cheeks.
I smiled back and ignored the irritating buzz in my chest at getting called the wrong name. “No problem.”
“So, um,” Mylo said, chewing his lip. “You’re a twin?”
