I narrowed my eyes. “You’re enjoying this.”
“A little.”
Oh my God, were we bonding?
I stepped back into position, adjusting my stance as Sasha had shown me earlier.
“Relax your shoulders,” Sasha instructed.
“Iamrelaxed.”
“You’re not.”
“I would be,” I replied, gesturing vaguely behind me, “if there wasn’t a six-foot-something distraction hovering in my personal space.” I made a general gesture at his body.
Kyrill made a noise suspiciously sounding like a snigger. “You talk too much.”
“I think out loud.”
“You think badly.”
“That’s subjective.”
“It is fact.”
Sasha sighed. “Both of you — focus.”
I took a breath, adjusted my grip, aimed and fired. The shot rang out, echoing into the trees.
We all looked at the target.
There was a pause.
“… I hit it,” I said, my eyes wide with disbelief.
“You hit near it,” Kyrill corrected.
I threw my hands up. “Oh, come on! It counts.”
“Does not.”
I turned to him. “You’re a bully.”
“I don’t coddle.” He shrugged his massive shoulders.
I stared at him for a second longer, my lips pursed.
“You’re growing on me,” I decided.
This took him by surprise. His expression didn’t change much, but I caught a brief, almost imperceptible flicker.
Kyrill quirked a brow at me. “Why?”
“Because you’re honest. And you clearly care more than you pretend to.”
Sasha went very still behind me and Kyrill’s gaze snapped to mine. For a split second, something shifted, but it was gone just as quickly.
“You don’t know anything,” he said, his voice growing colder.