“I’ll bet Kai will wish that he had that ability,” I said, nodding my head toward him.
“Yeah… he’s an idiot sometimes, but he has always been there for me when I needed him,” he said.
Once Lucy finished her bottle, I put her back into the bedroom. Even if she did manage to get out of the makeshift bed, there wasn’t anything she could get into in there. I changed into sweatpants, a sweatshirt, and my shoes. Quinn went into the bathroom and changed into his running gear. We both went outside.
“Let’s run down the riverbank, check on the eaglets,” I said.
“Catch me if you can,” he said, before taking off into a sprint toward the river.
I took off running, my legs going as fast as they could. I’d never catch him. He was way faster than I, but sometimes he slowed down and gave me the illusion that I might catch him. Then he would take off again. He let out a little laugh each time right before I got to him, and he started to run faster.
We made it to the eagle’s nest, and both big eagles weren’t in the nest bowl. One of them was on the branch right above, staring down. We both stared up, and then a little head bobbed up and down, and then another. My heart flooded with joy, and a smile painted across my face. I looked over at Quinn, and he, too, was smiling. They were still young and not expecting to leave the nest for another couple of months. Hearing them and seeing them were two completely different things.
The squawk came overhead, drawing both of our attention to it. The bigger eagle—the mother—flew into the nest and pranced around before she settled in.
“Alright, let’s go downstream,” he said.
I smacked his arm. “You’re it.” Then I bolted down the riverbank.
“We’re not children,” he yelled out, “and I’ll always win.”
“Not if you’re gonna stand there staring at me,” I yelled back.
“Maybe I like to watch you run,” he yelled out.
My cheeks instantly flushed with heat, and it wasn’t from the run. I didn’t say anything but kept running as fast as I could. I could hear him finally running behind me, and he was catching up fast.
“You couldletme win,” I said.
I didn’t know exactly how close he was, but I knew he had gained ground on me and was close behind me.
“That wouldn’t be any fun,” he said in my ear.
Shit. He was literally right behind me. Chills ran down my spine. I turned left and ran back to the cabin, which only made him fall back for a couple of seconds.
“Where are you going, my little doe?” he said.
“That doesn’t even bother me anymore,” I replied.
“Yet, your little heart beating faster says otherwise,” he said.
“Maybe, because I’m running from you,” I said.
“Except it got just a little faster,” he said.
“Then let’s watch Bambi tonight,” I said.
“Deal,” he said.
Then he tapped my shoulder. “You’re it.” Then he ran past me and onto the porch. We didn’t run as far as we usually did, but I ran faster overall this time. I took in some deep breaths to steady my breathing.
We walked into the house, and Kai wasn’t on the floor anymore, but his car was still outside. Quinn and I both looked at each other, our brows furrowing. Then we looked around. The bathroom door was open. Our bedroom door was ajar. Except it was closed when we left. He must have clocked it at the same time as me, both of us walking that way.
Kai was standing in the room, holding Lucy in his arms, looking out the window. As soon as we both entered he spun around to face us.
“What are you doing in here?” Quinn asked.
“I heard the kitten… I thought y’all were only friends,” Kai said.