He was relieved that he’d managed to pull her out of her negative mood, and he genuinely enjoyed the rest of the afternoon, which wasn’t a surprise.  He had always enjoyed Claire, at least as a friend.  She was beautiful, fun and intelligent.  There really wasn’t more a man could want from a woman when he stopped to think about it.  He’d envied Gavin more often than he would ever admit, and now he’d gone and complicated things.<br/><br/>With a grunt he pushed those thoughts aside as the house came into view and she laughed.  The sound was so unexpected and delightful that she got a good head start on him before he took off, sand peppering his lower legs as he ran with a grin on his face.  He’d worked hard to maintain, or rather reacquire his physical prowess after his injury, which meant that he had to slow himself down to keep from overtaking her too quickly.  He wasn’t about to let her win, but he didn’t want to completely decimate her either.  There wasn’t any fun in that.<br/><br/>They were almost to the deck at the back of the house when he caught up to her with an extra burst of speed that he’d been holding back.  He didn’t pass her, however.  Instead he wrapped an arm around her waist and picked her up, twirling her in a circle as they reached the deck, his own laughter a base rumble within his chest.  “You’re still fast…” he gasped out, noticing lights on in the house.  “it looks like you were right, let’s see what the old man is up to.”<br/>