Prove To Be

27

Breathing deeply through her nose, Jay let the crisp air fill her senses, enjoying the coolness brought to her lungs. Her eyes wandered across the open clearing around the Bohannan sibling's backyard, watching past the treeline to the mountains standing tall on the horizon. It was early in the morning, sometime just before dawn. The sky was an inky purple, but she knew the sun would rise within the hour to ignite a fire within the vast emptiness of space.

Butterflies fluttered within her stomach as she thought back to where she and the brothers were on the couch, concocting a silly game. Their little game of hide-and-seek was childish, but she was intrigued. Their eyes were dark as they watched her, and although she felt like prey playing cat and mouse, she couldn't help but feel excited about what their imagination might hold.

Jay didn't make it easy for them. They gave her a five-minute headstart, which was their first mistake. Jay used the time to run around all corners of the house, leaving her scent everywhere to confuse them. Finally, she decided she would crawl onto the roof, and her plan seemed to be working as it had been over half an hour since the game officially started. They set the boundaries; she was not to leave the house. Jay found a loophole. She smiled slightly, listening to the night animals of the forest wander around until they retired, sleeping for the day.

Technically, Jay was cheating. Her eyes scoured the rooftop, noticing an owl on the far side, which was watching her intently. However, she didn't care. She didn't leave the house—she was sitting on top of it. The owl blinked one eye, then the other, before turning toward the forest.

Grabbing her phone, Jay saw it had been forty-seven minutes. Growing bored, Jay stood from her position, deciding to make things more interesting.

Moving her body through her bedroom window, Jay's feet landed silently inside the house. She listened to her surroundings as she closed the window, but nothing stirred beyond the door. Swiftly making her way downstairs, Jay poured an amber drink into a crystal glass, swirling its contents before taking a deep sip of the alcohol. Checking her phone, Jay read the time. She still had nine minutes until the game was over.

Wondering if the brothers were terrible trackers or if they were letting her win, Jay walked around the perimeter of the living room before descending into the basement. She immediately noticed the popcorn had been cleaned from their earlier food fight. Jay shook her head as she realized the two of them probably didn't go looking for her at all.

Jay racked the pool balls into a triangle and grabbed a cue from the wall as she bent over to break them up. The cue ball cracked into the triangle, sending the balls flying in multiple directions. Jay sunk two balls, one striped and one solid. Rising from her position, she circled the table with a calculating eye. As she bent down to shoot another ball, she felt a presence behind her.

Jay smirked as she lined up her shot, arching her back as she aimed at her target. "Did I lose?" Jay questioned, sinking a ball. Jay rose from her position, meeting Brennan's swirling forest-green eyes. With the soft light hanging above them, the green in Brennan's eyes looked vibrant while the brown turned to an amber flame.

"It looks that way, Sweetheart," Kieran replied from behind her. She craned her neck to see that he was now standing on the opposite side of the table.

"Oh shoot," Jay replied, sarcasm leaking from her voice as she tried to stifle the growing smirk on her face. "I grew bored." Jay's eyes scanned the table before deciding on her shot. She stood beside Kieran, bending over the table as she lined up her target. Just as she was about to hit her cue to the white ball, Kieran's nimble fingers danced through her hair, down to her cheek and across her neck. She missed her shot.

Standing straight, Jay glared at the ball as it rolled away from the pocket.

"My turn," Brennan said as he grabbed a cue from the wall.