“Oh, come on, Big D. You can’t be allthis is about what you wantand then shoot me down.”
“I can,” I say and lean close. “Don’t call me Big D.”
“Please race with me.”
I’m about to refuse again, but she hits me with a set of eyes that hypnotize me, and her bottom lip juts out.
Fuck.
I follow her to the starting line. Hudson and Luca high-five each other and then set their sights on me.
“Good luck,” Luca says. “Shay and I don’t like to lose.”
“And I refuse to lose to Luca,” Hudson adds.
Shay and Sadie ignore their husbands and choose to give tips to Brooke instead.
Brooke listens intently while I eye the other competitors.
If I’m doing this, we have to win.
Not because I’m a sore loser, but because Brooke has to win.
Do I have a reason behind that? No, but as long as I’m by her side, she’s not going to fail at anything.
“Okay, let’s do the leg in the sack first,” I tell her.
She nods.
“And hold on to this arm,” I add, holding out the arm closest to her. “If my strides are too long for you, I don’t want you to go down.”
“Is that a thing?” Her eyes go wide just as Mr. Cotton shouts, “Ready, set, go!”
We take off, and instantly I can see that Hudson and Sadie have done this before, but what they don't account for is how tall I am. As I said, my strides are much longer.
I pick up pace, and Brooke’s hold on my arm tightens.
Luca and Shay start to speed up, so of course I do too.
I can see the finish line. It wasn’t a long shot.
I think we are going to win this.
Hell yeah!
“Is my other foot even hitting the ground?” Brooke asks, laughing as she holds on for life. She looks down at her foot, causing me to do the same.
That’s when it all blurs together.
My line of sight quickly confuses my direction as I step in front of us. Brooke tries to correct us, but her grip on my shirt pulls me forward, and down we go.
How I manage to swoop her into my arms and flip us so I take the brunt of the fall, I have no clue.
I hit the ground with a thud, Brooke's body landing on top of mine.
Instantly, I sit up as best I can and survey her for any injuries. My assessment is cut short by her laughter.
“I’m so sorry.” She rights herself when she catches me staring.
