As Axl ran across the sand, Maile ran behind him.
“Holy shit is she gaining on him?” Kawehi looked up and saw Twinkie and Chicago come to a stop beside their towel. She smiled and nodded but spoke up because they were watching the show on the beach. “Yeah. She’s played beach volleyball for years. Unless your friend has practice running on sand, she’s going to catch him.”
Chicago laughed out loud and shouted. “Get ‘im!”
Kid and Riptide joined in. Kid laughing and Riptide whistling with a couple of fingers in his mouth.
They were coming up on a part of the beach where a river emptied into the ocean.
Maile was at Axl’s side, the two of them shoulder to shoulder.
“I think she’s going to pass him!” Twinkie sounded amazed.
Kawehi shook her head. “Nope. Not there.”
She felt a hand on her elbow and looked up to see Dom standing beside her. Kawehi took his hand and got to her feet.
“What’s going on?” Dom’s voice was soft in her ear as he leaned in against her arm.
She gestured just beyond the pair, but she wasn’t sure that Dom would know what she was pointing at. “Just watch.”
“Hey!” Riptide waved in her direction. “Do they know-“
“She does!”
“Know what?”
Before she could explain to Dom, Maile started to pass Axl, and the Marine had his gaze on Maile instead of the ground in front of him.
“Oh no.”
She reached out and grabbed a hold of Dom just as Maile and Axl disappeared out of sight.
“Shit!” Kid started running.
Kawehi bit into her bottom lip and watched.
Kid came to a sudden stop just before the sand bank that led down to the river and shook his head. He turned back and made his way over to the rest of the group.
As pale as Kid was, the ruddy color on his cheeks was easily seen.
Twinkie met him coming back. "Are they okay?"
"They'll... they'll be fine as long as they come up to breathe eventually."
Kawehi laughed out loud and Dom joined her as he pulled her into his embrace.
He lifted a hand to brush her hair back from her face. "You knew, didn't you?"
"Well, I knew that she could easily beat him running across the sand. I just didn't know what would happen when she caught him."
"Or when he fell into the river."
She shrugged. "I knew they wouldn’t get hurt. I just didn't know what they'd do when they stopped running."
Dom turned so that his broad back was between her and the others. "Maybe that's their thing," he murmured to her, "they like the chase and the hunt."
She looked up at him grinning. "Maybe. Maile's been so busy trying to get me to get back out in the world, I don't think she expected Axl to stir her up like this."
