Page 16 of The Unknown Birds

Rook cast a long shadow. Everything about him seemed too much for her to take in. But he stood closer to Charles’s medium height—closer to her own height—as she’d noticed before.

“No,” he said, somehow reading her mind.

“If I said please?”

He shook his head. “Absolutely not. I don’t participate.”

Just as well, she supposed. Being that close to him, joined at hip and ankle, would probably make her trip over her own bootlaces and break both their necks.

There was a great deal of yelling at the starting block, and Ash turned to see the others waving for her attention.

“Come on, Ash,” TomTom yelled. “Surreys are disqualified if we can’t field three teams!”

Ash saw the moment Rook was ripe for surrender. His eyes closed and his jaw popped like he wanted to plot her murder.

“Come on, Private,” she begged. “You wouldn’t let the whole regiment down, would you?”

He sighed. “There are a hundred other men here who could partner with you.”

“No time!” she called, jogging backward towards the starting line, somehow confident he would follow.

The others let out a cheer the moment he finally did, and he sighed again, a bottomless, gravelly growl.

“Which leg do you like?” she asked when she was given a bandanna to bind them.

He shrugged. “You’re the runner. You choose.”

“My left, your right then.”

There was something very intimate about kneeling down to tie their ankles together, and when she stood back up, he had a funny look on his face she couldn’t quite parse.

“Any tips?” he grunted.

She felt almost hysterical when she laughed and said, “No idea. I’ve never done this before either.”

He sighed again.

“Just… go slow and steady I suppose. When I say one, do your outside leg, and when I say two, your inside leg.”

Nodding at her strategy he said simply, “Fine,” and held out his right arm.

Hardly breathing, she tucked herself against his side, putting her own arm around his waist, every nerve ending lit on fire.

Someone blew a whistle, and they set off.

“Outside, inside, outside, inside,” Ash called, and together they made their way across the field, passing Tom and Stewart already tumbled in a heap with Maxine jumping about licking their faces while somebody bellowed to get the damn dog off the field!

“You drag your feet when you run, do you know that?” Tom complained.

“Outside, inside, outside, inside,” she kept chanting as she and Rook found their stride and picked up speed.

“Out, in, out, in!” They were catching up to Blake and Cooper, and then Blake tripped and the pair went down right in front of them.

“Jump!” Ash yelled, and they leaped over her friends and made it first to the finish line.

“We did it!” she exclaimed, as shocked as anyone.

Rook leaned over, hands on his knees, gasping for breath. “You said,” he panted, “one, two.”