“Oh god,” I groan, sinking my face into my hands, my dreams of becoming an Academy cadet suddenly slipping through my fingers.
“Don’t worry about it, Ari,” Jesse murmurs, wrapping an arm around my shoulder and giving me a manly squeeze. “We’ll train you up good. You just had one bad day, and they didn’t measure any of the things you’re actually good at.”
“He’s right,” Rafe says, and I raise my head to see my brother looking at me seriously. I blink a little, emotion swelling in me because Rafe looks so much like dad when he looks at me like that, with a mix of stern expectation and love in his eyes. “We’ll get your number up fast, Ari, you just need…a little more training.”
“Not like you two have to worry,” I sigh, leaning into Jesse for just a second before glancing up at the board aga
