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Faster.

Further.

Both of us sprinting away from something. Toward something, I'm not entirely sure.

But as we head into the back corner of the path again, the shady part that disappears into a large cluster of trees, we simultaneously stop pushing forward and start drifting closer.

Neither of us acknowledges it—the fact that our shoulders now brush with every step or that I can hear his panting sync with my own. But when the rising sun is hidden behind the density of the trees, the area only lit thanks to the stream of it through the bare patches sprinkled among the branches, Jace stops completely.

"Fuck," he yells, throwing his hands on top of his head and tipping his chin into the air.

I fall forward, dropping my palms onto my thighs as I suck in air I didn't think I needed until now.

"What's wrong?" I manage between gasping breaths. I stand back up and bring my hands to my hips.

Jace lets his arms settle back down by his sides, his chest rising and falling in deep waves. He doesn't answer with words. But he looks at me—

Holy shit does he look at me.

He turns and takes a step to one side, then one back in the opposite direction.

Pacing. Thinking. Stalling.

"Jace…" I breathe.

As if his name were the permission he needed, he rushes toward me, and before I realize it, I'm meeting him halfway.

Jace lifts his hand by my chin, flexing his fingers as if he's miserably trying to resist sliding them into my hair. His jaw flexes, his nostrils flaring from the combination of the exercise and whatever's happening now.

I stare up at him, eyes wide, lungs straining, begging him to say the words he's holding on to.

"Jace," I repeat, steadier now.

Once again, his name sets him free.

"There's no outrunning you," he murmurs, palming my cheek.

I press myself closer until we're toe to toe and chest to chest, our lips nearly touching. "Then stop trying."

He studies me a second longer, searching my eyes for answers—or excuses.

"Lenny." He doesn't say it like a question or a hesitation, even. He just… says it. Like he never stopped. "You know this changes everything?"

My sharp inhale is his answer.

Then, his restraint snaps.

His mouth crashes into mine, and it's nothing like last night—less careful, more desperate.

Our tongues tangle together, and my lungs burn, but I don't pull away.

I can't. I don't want to.

My hands dive under his shirt, my nails dragging down his slick back, both of us arching into each other like we're still too far apart. Jace tangles his fingers in my hair, tugging gently as he sucks my bottom lip, and I whimper something embarrassingly soft as he tips my head back.

For a moment, I let myself think about what might happen if we weren't tucked away in a public park. Our hands able to explore everywhere. Our mouths free to taste every salty inch of skin.

But then a dog barks in the distance, and the sound brings with it a heavy dose of reality.