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Blaire sighed as she slipped on her socks. “Yeah, I know… I feel bad for him because he seems like such a good guy. He shouldn’t be alone.” She got up and grabbed her brush off the nightstand to brush out her hair.

Riley watched her, her brows knitting together in confusion. “How do you know about my brother?”

“Well, you mentioned it before the first time we had a movie night in his room, but we do share a lot of classes together, so we’ve had a chance to get closer, I guess.” Blaire shrugged. “We’ve gotten to know each other.”

Riley stared at Blaire like she’d grown a second head.

Blaire sighed and set the brush down before turning to face Riley. “Why can’t we just have relationships the way we want, with who we want? Why does it need to be this fantastical ‘soulmate’ kind of deal?” She huffed out a breath, frustrated by the whole thing and the mixed-up emotions warring inside her.

Riley blinked, her mouth hanging open in shock. “How could you not want a soul—Wait a minute!” Riley shouted. “Do you like Aiden?”

Blaire winced and looked away. She was attracted to Aiden. But “like” in the way Riley implied felt like too strong a word to describe her feelings for him. Lukas, on the other hand…

“Holy…”

“He’s a nice guy, but I barely know him.” Blaire shrugged and tried to play it off. It wasn’t a matter of liking him. Of course she would like him; he was a good guy. Kind, funny, and he protected her. He didn’t make her feel inferior for being human, like she wondered if some students thought of her. He didn’t look at her like something to eat. That didn’t necessarily mean she wanted him as a romantic partner.

Blaire sat on the bed and pulled her knee-high boots over her jeans, zipping the sides.

“If I’m being totally honest, I had a feeling Aiden liked you from the start.” Riley sighed. “But dude… I had no idea you might feel the same. Poor Lukas.”

Blaire shook her head. “What? No. It’s not that serious for either of us.”

Riley laughed awkwardly. “Well… of course it’s acceptable to form a relationship with a compatible partner, but it’s never the same as finding your Korrena. Being paired is unlike any regular relationship someone could have. Most Vasirian don’t go the route of a compatible partner because they hold out hope for their Korrena. Unless they really have strong feelings for someone, that is.” She got a dreamy look on her face as she sat down again. “Once fully bonded, you can feel each other’s emotions. Up until then, you can usually pick up on their feelings and sense things about them. Some have even been able to share thoughts. And the sex? It’s amazing. Or… so I’ve been told. I don’t have any experience with any of this.” Riley shrugged. “Oh! And the blood of your Korrena? Well, that supposedly tastes like the best thing ever.”

Blaire cringed at the mention of drinking blood. Then she crinkled her eyebrows at Riley. “Wait… Vasirian drink each other’s blood?”

“Yeah.” Riley’s tone indicated this ought to be obvious.

Blaire rolled her eyes. “Me, human. You, Vasirian. I don’t know this stuff, so don’t ‘duh’ me.”

“I didn’t ‘duh’ you.”

“You were thinking it.”

Riley rolled her eyes. “Point. But yes, pairs exchange blood. But we don’t just randomly drink each other’s blood. Same with humans. We don’t drink their blood aside from the medic packets supplied by clinics. Never from the source.”

Blaire shuddered.

Riley got a serious look on her face, her features sad. “Do you feel anything at all for Lukas? I mean, it sounds like you want to be with my brother instead.”

Blaire sighed.

“I… I am attracted to Lukas. A lot. Like, I can’t describe how he makes me feel all over, and even my heart has started to respond to him when he’s not running cold. When his actions say he cares. He just keeps doing things that confuse me. He stirs up my heart and then he turns around and throws me back into hell the next minute when he distances himself like he doesn’t want me.” She looked down at the floor. “Nothing makes sense.”

Riley shook her head. “You told me yourself you haven’t been able to be with anyone before. It’s confusing. No one expects you to have the answers. I’m sure Lukas doesn’t have the answers either. It’s not like he’s ever had a girlfriend.”

Blaire blinked. That would explain a lot.

Riley cringed. “Forget I said that.”

Blaire looked at Riley with confusion. “It feels like it’s moving way too fast because any connection we’ve established is weak, but at the same time there’s this… pull… I feel toward him deep within myself, and I’m not sure if I like it, because it feels like I’m not even in control of my own feelings anymore.”

Riley sat with a hand over her mouth, staring at Blaire with widened eyes. She lowered her hand and shook her head. “It has to be the bond forming.”

“I don’t get how that’s possible, considering we haven’t done anything.”

Riley shrugged. “I don’t know how it all works, but something is there, and it seems like you both are fighting it, which honestly doesn’t make a lick of sense when, if you guys would just let go, you’d be happy.”