Mati tilts his head. “The tenth is when I leave for Kabul.”
“No shit?” Ryan exclaims. “I’ve gotta say, another month in this town would be insufferable if I didn’t have Elise to hang out with. And speaking of Elise,” he says, swinging his attention to me. “Uh, why didn’t you tell me about the MLI?”
The Military Language Institute, in Cypress Valley. It’s a language school for service members. My brother considered it but decided he’d rather start his career sooner than later. All I know about the MLI is that it’s open to all branches, and that students move to Cypress Valley to attend full-time, living in barracks on campus while immersing themselves in whatever language their aptitude tests and future job assignments point them toward. I remember Nick talking about the barracks and what a drawback they were; with the exception of a legit deployment, he didn’t want to be anywhere Audrey wasn’t.
I squint at Ryan. “Why do you care about the MLI? Planning to ditch A&M to enlist?”
“I care because it’s a wealth of possibility.” He gives me a frisky smile, winking all provocatively. “I’m looking for the next best thing, if you know what I mean.”
“I do,” I say, laughing.
I catch Mati surveying me, brow lifted in a revelatory way. Abruptly, he says, “I should go.”
“Nah,” Ryan says. “Hang out.”
Mati shakes his head. “I need to get home.” He looks at me again, questioningly,dejectedly, and it hits me—he thinks Ryan’s into me. Or maybe he thinks I’m into Ryan?
“I’ll see you out,” I say, a gratuitous gesture because we’re alreadyout, but I need a minute alone with him.
I let Bambi off her leash to roam the yard, and then I follow Mati through the gate and onto the sidewalk. We move a few steps away from Iris’s house, clear of her supersonic hearing.
“Thanks for walking me home,” I say.
He pushes his hands into his pockets, his ocher eyes dull. “You’re welcome.” In a strained voice, he adds, “Thank you for introducing me to Ryan.”
It’s hard not to smile because, God, heisjealous. It’s cute, and complimentary, and so, so unnecessary. “There’s a reason he’s all fired up about the MLI, you know. There are a lot of guys at that school, which is what he was referring to with his ‘wealth of possibility’ comment.”
Mati’s eyes widen. “I’m… surprised. He seems to like you.”
“Yeah, because I’m awesome. But I assure you, he doesn’tlikeme.”
He gives me a smile that reads like relief. I resist attempting to analyze its implications.
“Okay,” he says.
“Okay?”
“Thank you for explaining.”
“Thank you for listening.”
“I’ll see you and Bambi tomorrow at the beach?”
Now I’m smiling, too. “We’ll be there.”
MATI
We take walks for the next seven days,
meeting at the beach after prayer, after sunrise.
There are no more inquiries about Ryan’s motives,
or questions about my extremist-leaning uncle,
but there is talk of everything else.
She tells me about her plan
