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She raises an eyebrow, clearly aware that I'm lying to her. I suppose that's better than her thinking that she's great at this kind of thing.
Krissi sighs and rubs a hand over her face. "It's okay, I just need to find the courage to carry on with this and not worry about making a fool out of myself." She looks over to where two of the others are jumping between posts, barely seeming to stop to look where they're going.
Despite knowing it isn't the best for us if we want to keep our friendship just that, I reach out and touch her arm gently. "You can do it," I assure her. "And I'll be here the whole time."
She smiles weakly. "I know you will."
"But it's not enough?"
She glances at her feet but not quickly enough to hide the furious blush spreading across her face. "I don't want you to think badly of me when I fail."
It takes a moment for the words to sink in, but once they do, I reach out and pull her to me. She wraps her arms around my waist and leans her head against my shoulder. I breathe her in, my sense of smell heightened thanks to the recent shift.
A flowery scent comes from her, which I assume must be her shampoo, it's pleasant and makes me want to get to know it better.
"I promise that no matter what happens, I'm not going to judge you for it," I say, meaning every word. "You could fall off every obstacle from here until the end, and I'll still be there to cheer you on."
"I thought cheering was my job," she mumbles.
I chuckle, causing a small sigh to come from Krissi, though I don't think it's a bad one. More a sigh of contentment.
My tiger is ready to come out and start protecting her from anyone who makes her feel bad about her poor shifting skills. I'm of half a mind to let it happen.
"Sometimes it needs to come from someone else or it doesn't count as cheering," I point out. "So when I'm following you around the course, you can know that in my head, I'm chanting your name over and over again."
She half pulls out of our embrace and frowns at me. "You realise that sounds really creepy, right?"
"Only if you're not into it."
She chuckles. "You've got me there, I actually thought it was cute."
"Good to know." And that she doesn't seem to be thinking of me injust friendsterms anymore. If she ever really has.
No. I can't think like that. She's made it clear that she doesn't want to be anything more than friends and I need to accept that. Even if I hope there's still a chance for us, it needs to be on her terms.
I study the gorgeous brunette in front of me, and what strikes me the most is how different I feel now than when I was in this position with Kayra. She told me she just wanted us to be friends and I accepted it without question and never really thought about the chance of more. But with Krissi, the feelings haven't gone away just because she says she wants us to be friends.
I push the thoughts to the side. There's no use dwelling on them when they won't change anything anyway. And now really isn't the time to be thinking about anything other than getting Krissi to the end of the course.
She steps back and I immediately feel her loss.
"I'm ready," she says. "But you have to promise to catch me if I fall."
"I'll promise that I'll try," I counter. "Whether I succeed is another matter."
"That's fair." She closes her eyes and before her words have even fully registered, she's back in her leopard form.
I stare at her for a moment, lost in how beautiful she is. A small part of me wants to reach out and put my hand in her fur the same way she did to me, but I don't dare to unless she initiates.
Pulling myself out of it, I tug my own big cat to the surface and transform into my tiger form. I'm bigger than she is, but the difference isn't as big as I expected it to be.
I gesture with my head towards the next obstacle, which appears to be a set of stones over a fake river. I can already see what's going to happen, but luckily, I like the water.
Krissi leaps towards the first stone, landing on it in the exact position she's supposed to. She glances back over her shoulder, gleaming yellow eyes locking onto mine.
I don't need to be able to understand her to know what she's feeling.
Surprise.
