Page 41 of Running With Lions

Sebastian wants to bang his head on the table.

“Cool,” Willie says, because he is a godsend. “I could use a dip.”

“Me too.” Nodding, Hunter slings an arm around Willie’s neck.

Sebastian sags in his chair; his chin nearly hits the table. He peers at Emir’s table, praying his moronic display has gone unnoticed, but Emir hasn’t moved an inch. Obviously, Sebastian isn’t worth noticing.

* * *

Sebastian wakes up on Mondaywith orange sunlight beating against his eyelids. His cell, still hell-bent on betraying his rest, squawks. Sebastian almost tosses it across the room but remembers his mom won’t buy him another one, so he rolls his eyes at it instead.

He makes it through his morning routine of clothes, sneakers, and stealing Willie’s iPod: a major accomplishment Sebastian completes with one eye open. He records a video of Willie making out with his pillow. He’ll use it for blackmail if Willie ever tells anyone Sebastian ate a cricket on a dare.

Camp Haven is quiet, the morning hues of tangerine and ocean blue painted across the cabins and trees. Sebastian squints against a glaring sun. He’s in that hazy space where he’s not asleep but still dreaming, and that’s his only reason for stumbling to Emir’s cabin after he brushes his teeth.

The window is already propped open. Sebastian’s sense of comfort quickly fades. This might be a trap. Maybe thumbtacks are waiting on the other side of the window.

“Nah.” He laughs to himself, pressing his arms on the ledge of the window to vault inside.

Sunlight draws crisp edges in the cabin. Emir is tucked into a small ball, buried under mounds of blankets. His head is sticking out. He’s sucking his lower lip like an infant.

Looks are definitely deceiving.

Emir rolls away from the sunlight, exposing his shirtless back when the blankets slip lower. Staring at the hawk tattoo between Emir’s shoulder blades, Sebastian bites hard on his own lip. He’s always wanted a tattoo of his own, but this sweet piece of artwork drives the thought home. His mind starts to drift in a wicked daydream of tracing all the ink under his fingertips while Emir gasps and—his whole brain derails.

“Okay,” he whispers. “That’s not healthy, at all.”

Floorboards creak on his way to the bed. Sebastian pauses. Emir’s shoulders rise and fall; the side of his face reveals a mask of peace. His hand curls into a fist on the pillow.

The urge just to let Emir bealmostbeats out Sebastian’s plans to wake him.

Sebastian’s hand is cold against Emir’s sleep-warm back. Goosebumps raise across Emir’s skin. Sebastian’s fingers outline every knob on his spine. “Emir,” he whispers. Emir is icy and petulant, so words like cute and adorable should not be crossing Sebastian’s mind. “C’mon, man. Get up, Emir.”

Emir shakes awake like a puppy, nose twitching and body convulsing. His eyes pop open, then glare. “What the hell, Bastian?”

Sebastian wants to point out that Emir was expecting him, since the window was open, but he says, “I—”

“Nope. No way, mate. Go away.” Emir turns to snuffle into his pillow. “Not happening.”

“Emir—”

Emir, completely destroying all of those “innocent” thoughts that crossed Sebastian’s mind, starts to hum. He curls inward as if he can disappear.

Sebastian knee-walks his way onto the bed. He jabs a hand under the blankets and tickles Emir’s ribs until he jerks and yelps. It’s a small victory. “You know you want to—”

“Kick your ass?”

Sebastian can’t figure out how Emir can be so devilishly handsome while peeking through his eyelashes. “Funny,” he says.

Emir squeezes his eyes shut. He tries to squirm away, mumbling, “Go screw yourself,” but his expression is soft, like a feisty kitten coming down from a catnip high.

Poser. “Time for a run. All of the experts, and Oprah, say exercise is good for you.”

“They lied, all of them. Horrible, disrespectful lies,” says Emir. “Now leave.”

Sebastian squawks pathetically before flicking Emir’s spine. “Don’t be a dick,” he says, then pulls on Emir’s resistant shoulder. Sebastian’s stronger than Emir, which pleases his ego. “We’re doing this. You’re going to get better.”

Emir growls like a sleeping lion. It doesn’t help that whatever is going on below Sebastian’s belly likes that noise. Horrified, he turns away to take a deep breath and calm down. He’s disappointed in his body, because getting aroused while trying to wake a teammate is so inappropriate.

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