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For a long time, Tim's morning run was the only part of his exercise routine he didn't like. Not because it was difficult at all – running hadn't been hard since basic – but because it gave him too much time to think. If it wasn't about the job, the last thing he wanted to do was be alone with his thoughts.
These days, of course, his thoughts were generally much more pleasant to be around. As for being alone, well... that was only going to be for a minute or two.
Exactly 47 seconds later, Lucy ran up with Kojo right at her heels. When she saw him leaning against a tree, having just barely stilled his breathing enough to look unaffected, she stopped and glared at him in indignant exasperation. "You cheated," she accused him without heat, dropping to a crouch to give Kojo the affection he was demanding.
Tim had absolutely cheated. "A master never reveals his secrets."
She just raised an eyebrow, still petting Kojo as she studied him for a moment. "You went over the O'Brien's fence," she said finally, a decisive analysis rather than any kind of question.
He had, in fact, gone over the O'Brien's fence. "I have no idea what you're talking about," he said with all the false superiority he could muster, which wasn't much given how hard he was fighting the urge to grin.
She gave him an indulgent look, her own lips curving as she straightened. Kojo, only just satisfied with the attention that had just been bestowed upon him, danced around Lucy's legs as he waited for whatever they were doing next. "You know I can't go over fences with Kojo. I assume that getting him to stick close to me was all part of an evil plot of yours?"
A full third of his "tests" happened just like this, where someone accused him of planning something and he took credit for it after the fact. He wasn't about to do it now, though. No one should be made to feel love was a trick. "Hey, it's not my fault Kojo's taste is as good as mine." His lips curved. "And, if I remember correctly, you beat me yesterday."
He'd always been competitive, and he could admit now that there'd all too often been an edge to it. Like beating everyone else was more a matter of survival than it was winning whatever random contest he was competing in. He'd never let it stop him, but he was aware it was probably something a therapist would try to harass him about.
With Lucy, though, it was a game. Not even like a football game, where you stopped yourself just short of killing the other team for legal reasons, but like he'd always imagined playing with your best friend was supposed to feel like when you were a little kid. Where all that winning meant was you switched sides and started over again, because what really mattered was playing with the other person.
She grinned, closing the little bit of distance between them as she slid her arms around his waist. "I do believe I did." The kiss was slow and sweet, more addictive than any alcohol Tim had ever tried. He let it wash over him, the rest of the world going fuzzy at the edges as his senses flooded with everything about her.
Then she was gone, and by the time he came back to himself she was already running down the street with Kojo at her heels. "See you at home!" she called out, still moving as she turned around to wave at him. "I'll be waiting!"
Fighting a grin of his own, Tim hurried after her.