“Shit.” Sara took off, a full footstep behind everyone else.
I counted down the seconds, heart pounding, ready to chase her—ready to catch her.
Sarawasfast, always had been—and she was competitive.Even with the late start, she was already ahead of most of the group, and for a split second, I genuinely wondered if I’d overestimated myself.
When the moment came, I was focused on one thing, and one thing alone. Her. The cold air stung my cheeks as I passed the bulk of the group in long, hard strides, quickly closing the gap between us.Naw, I totally had her. Knew it.
“Going somewhere?” I sprinted alongside Sara, a mere pace away that I could easily close if I wanted to.
“Agh!” She dodged away from me, but I cut her off, and we did a lunge back and forth as she tried to get around me to get her egg into the pink bowl on the podium.
“Fine, I guess I’ll just take the scenic route.” Sara shouted with a wild grin before sprinting off the platform; she darted through an archway that led into the elaborate gardens her mother kept.
Game on.
Finding people who didn’t want to be found was my expertise. Finding the girl I couldn’t keep my eyes off of—well, that was just toodamn easy.
Inside the maze of evergreen shrubs, I lost the sound of her footsteps, and I listened with a grin, knowing she couldn’t have gotten very far. “You can run, but you can’t hide.” I taunted, every cell in my body awake and electrified.
Pebbled stone exploded from the next row over, and I grinned, not quite close enough to grab her before she ducked through another archway and out into the damp woods behind the estate.
The soft ground absorbed the sound of her sprinting steps, but now she had nowhere to hide. Her pink knit hat was like a beacon amidst all the dead winter foliage, and it wasn’t long before I was pacing right behind her.
Sara looked over her shoulder, giving me the most beautiful grin, and then she tripped on a tree branch and promptly ate it.
Right behind, with no time to slow down, I slammed into her and we both went down in a tangle of limbs.
She yelped as I twisted, hitting the ground first, and we tumbled a few times before landing in a hard heap of grunts and groans with her every supple curve draped over the top of me.
Her eyes blew wide as she gazed down at me for a split second before she frantically scrambled across me—or tried to, at least.
I grabbed her foot with a grin of my own. “Nah uh—not so fast, Rookie.”
She shrieked with laughter as I dragged her towards me. “You’re going to break it.” She accused when I yanked her zippered pocket shut before she could stuff one of the eggs into it.
“You’regoing to break it.” I argued, dirt and leaves sticking in both our hair as I wrestled her mercilessly for that egg, effectively destroying it as sparkles crumbled everywhere.
“Cheater!” she shouted, her voice gloriously joyful.
“Just give. Me. The egg.” I gritted, but suddenly she paused, looking at me with a devious grin. I stopped and gave her a goofy smile back—only to be hit in the face with a handful of leaves.
With a dirt-covered leaf stuck to my mouth, I narrowed my eyes. “Oh, you’re in for it now, you little troublemaker.” I wasbigger and stronger, and I’d be damned if this wasn’t the year I finally stole her smug little Egg Master Crown. No more Mr. Nice Guy.
I rolled on top of her and secured her hips between my knees while she laughed hysterically, going for another handful of leaves. “You already used that little trick.” I grinned, pinning her hands above her head before she could throw another pile of dirt at me.
“Hah! I got it!” I cried triumphantly as I wrenched the egg out of her hand, holding the broken thing up in the air, like the victor I was.
Beneath me, Sara had finally gone still, and when I finally looked down, time stopped moving in an instant.
I froze as the air suddenly charged with something wild and forbidden. Her every panting breath curled into the cool air, each warm wisp an inviting caress across my face as it danced past.
All the feelings I’d had this morning—that I’d so carefully tucked away when she’d walked downstairs half-naked—came rushing back with a vengeance. Only now, Sara was lying underneath me, looking like she’d let me do one of the many things I’d shoved out of my mind this morning.
The pink hat was long gone, and her curly chocolate brown hair was fanned out underneath her, framing her rosy, windburned cheeks. Her dark lashes fluttered as she laid beneath me, giving me a doe-eyed look that was completely submissive.
I slowly slid my free hand into her other jacket pocket and retrieved the second egg. “I win.” I rasped, watching her gaze drop to my mouth, finding her eyes dilated to the size of quarters.
“I know you broke the eggs, because there’s glitter all over the ground!” Sloane and Jules burst through the trees.
