Page 6 of Noah

For a second, Adrian’s grin faltered, but then it returned, sharper than before. “Relax, Jackson. You’re right,” he said, holding his hands up in mock surrender. “It’s not fair, is it? I mean, look at him.” He tilted his head toward me. “He’s too small anyway.”

Something inside me snapped. I lunged at him without thinking, but Adrian just laughed and stepped back easily, out of my reach.

“Stop it!” Jackson barked, grabbing my arm and pulling me back. “It’s not worth it.”

Adrian snorted, clearly far too pleased with himself. “Yeah, you’re right. Let’s just go back.” His tone was mocking, every word daring me to react. He brushed past Jackson with a smug grin. “This was getting boring anyway.”

I glared at the back of his head, my anger bubbling over. “No!” The word escaped before I could stop it. Adrian turned, one eyebrow raised, amused.

“Let’s all race for it,” I blurted out. “From here to…” My eyes darted around, landing on a large oak tree at the far edge ofthe clearing, its gnarled branches towering over the underbrush. “That tree. First one there gets the sandwich.”

Adrian slowly tapped his chin, like he was savoring the idea. “A race? Fine. But don’t cry when you lose.” His smirk deepened. “I’ll even give you a head start.”

I ignored his jab, already calculating my odds. I was fast.

I’d raced with Miles and Griffin plenty of times and almost always won. Being smaller wasn’t always a disadvantage—I could dart through tight spaces and turn faster than most.

I glanced at Jackson, noticing the way his jaw clenched. A wave of guilt tugged at me, messing with my focus.

“You’re in, right?” I asked nervously.

Jackson hesitated, his gaze flicking between me and Adrian.

Before he could answer, Adrian chuckled darkly. “What’s wrong, Jackson? Afraid you can’t keep up?” He paused, his smirk twisting into something sharper. “Or maybe you’re not worried about what might happen to Noah if you don’t keep an eye on him.”

The air suddenly seemed to grow colder. My eyes darted to Jackson, silently pleading with him not to let Adrian’s words get under his skin.

Jackson’s jaw clenched. “Fine,” he said, his tone clipped. “Let’s just get this over with.”

We lined up at the starting point, the oak tree looming in the distance like a challenge. My legs tensed, ready to spring forward.

Somewhere in the trees, a bird called out—a single sharp cry. That was all we needed.

We launched forward, a blur of motion. The world melted into the thud of my feet against the ground and the rush of wind tearing past my ears.

The cool air stung my lungs, but I didn’t care. I pushed harder, legs burning as the distance to the tree disappeared beneath me.

Adrian was right on my heels—literally. I could feel the brush of his shoe against mine, and the sharp tug almost making me trip.

“Watch it!” I snapped, twisting to zig-zag away from him.

My stomach clenched when I tripped on an exposed root but recovered, veering hard to the right. His frustrated grunt made me smirk.

For a moment, I thought I’d shaken Adrian off. But then he was there again, too close.

My chest tightened, and I pumped my arms harder, forcing myself to go faster.

Out of nowhere, Jackson appeared beside me. He surged ahead, slipping between Adrian and me like a shield.

Adrian made an annoyed clicking noise with his tongue. I could tell Jackson was trying to block him, weaving slightly to cut him off.

Adrian didn’t take it well. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him slam a shoulder into Jackson—not hard enough to send him flying, but enough to make a point.

Jackson shot back with a sharp sidestep, his movements tense and deliberate.

I looked back just in time to see Adrian stumble. For a second, I thought he was faking it—one of his stupid tricks to mess with us.

But then his eyes went wide, his arms flailing as his foot caught on something. A root? A rock? I couldn’t tell. He pitched forward, disappearing from view.

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