fifty sokeefe kisses

(21) distraction

Sophie shifted uncomfortably. The bush she was crouched in is prickly and itchy, and she wanted nothing more than to stand up and shake the thorns out of her cape.

She suddenly remembered that it's not an option when footsteps race by, accompanied by shouting.

"I know you're there, Biana!" Fitz yelled as he barreled through the trees, chased by seemingly no one.

Sophie stifled a laugh, imagining Biana's infectious grin. She was probably having the time of her life.

"Anything yet?" Linh whispered from above her.

Sophie poked her head up, catching sight of Linh perched in the tree branches. "Dex, Tam, and now Fitz are already by the creek," she answered. "That just leaves..."

"Keefe." Linh groaned.

"I don't think he'd fall for this one. We might have to seek him out ourselves."

"You mean, you'll seek him out for yourself, right?" Linh said cheekily, then quickly added, "I mean, he's probably the one guarding their base. There's no way he'd give it up so easily."

"Right." Sophie's face warmed.

"Good luck!" Linh called as Sophie darted away. "Stay in constant contact so I can warn you when the plan goes into motion."

Sophie kept her head down but stayed alert as she tracked Keefe through the woods. Picking out his mind from the others came as easily to her as finding her own Cognate's. At this rate, getting to their base would be as easy as—

Something slammed into her from behind. Sophie gasped as the wind was knocked out of her.

"Oh, hey. Didn't see you there."

She groaned. "Get off me, Keefe. You guys have practically lost already."

He scoffed. "Uh, no way. You may have chased all my team members off but you haven't even seen my master plan in motion yet."

"What master plan?" Sophie snorted, but then Keefe flipped her onto her back and suddenly she was staring right into his face.

Her face warmed. "Uh," she began, but he cut her off.

"I know what Biana likes to choose as her base on that side of the woods. Which is it? The big pine tree? The rocks that look like deer droppings?"

Sophie blinked. "What?"

"The mushroom clearing? The rose bush?" Keefe continued listing options, and Sophie slowly realized what he was trying to do. "What about the saplings?"

LINH! Sophie transmitted. Do the thing.

Um. Linh responded. One second. I need to find Biana.

Sophie struggled against Keefe, but he had her pinned firmly under his arms. "The log with the flowers on it?" he guessed. "The waterfall that feeds into the creek?"

Yikes—the waterfall was chosen by Biana to be their base. Sophie did her best to keep her emotions neutral, but she knew by now that lying to Keefe was pointless.

Keefe stared at her intently, then smirked. "Bingo."

Linh. Do it now, Sophie transmitted. No response. Her only option now was to stall him.

Sophie rolled her eyes. "Great plan, genius. You're on the other side of the lake. How are you supposed to get to the creek from here?"

Keefe pouted at her mockingly, looking annoyingly cute. "When did I say anything about me, Foster? You're not the only Telepath that can transmit over long distances."

Sophie widened her eyes. Linh! Fitz is transmitting to Keefe right now.

What? Transmitting what?

"We may have left our base undefended. And you may have sent Fitz screaming into the woods. But we're not entirely defenseless." He leaned in closer until his nose pressed against Sophie's. "We'd be pretty stupid to not suspect that your strategy would revolve around Linh."

Sophie? I'm not going to blow up the lake when you're still on the ground.

"Why do you think we let Biana lead them straight to the creek?" Keefe taunted. "Tam might be an idiot, but he's not that dumb."

It's fine, Linh!

"So what?" Sophie shot back. "You've told Fitz already?"

Keefe smirked. "Actually, Fitz should be getting into contact with me about riiiight..."

Linh. NOW.

"...now," Keefe finished. Sophie shoved him over onto the ground and kissed him.

He yelped in surprise and Sophie winced as his teeth smacked against her lips awkwardly. "Sorry—" she gasped, pulling away, but then he slid his arms around her neck and pulled her back down into a deep kiss that warmed Sophie all the way down to her toes.

They parted for air and Keefe stared up at her, wide-eyed. "I know that was your way of throwing me off my master plan," he gasped, "but I can't even hear anything right now because my heart is beating so loudly."

Sophie laughed. "I guess my master plan was better." She furrowed her eyebrows. "Wait. I can't hear anything either."

"It's the passion in my heart for you—"

"No, that's not... it..." Sophie faltered and looked up.

Keefe followed her gaze. "Oh no."

A huge wall of lake water roared through the woods. Bushes and undergrowth were uprooted and swept away in the current that thundered directly towards them.

"Run!" Sophie cried.

"I have a better idea," Keefe said, and grabbed Sophie around the waist. Before she could react they were hurtling upwards.

They both yelped as they barreled straight up into the trees and got caught in between the branches. Sophie caught her breath and watched as the waves swept through the woods below them.

"That was close," Keefe muttered by her ear. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she replied. "Nice levitation trick." She looked up and almost jumped at how close his face was. The fact that their limbs were hopelessly tangled didn't help, either.

Suddenly, a chorus of shrieks erupted from below and a group of people swept by in the water. Linh balanced on top of a wave, sailing into the clearing and smacking her hand against the large oak tree.

"Got your base!" she yelled happily. "Take that, suckers!"

Linh raised her arms and pushed outwards. The water reversed in motion, curling in on itself and shrinking back into the forest. It washed over the grass and revealed Fitz, Tam, and Dex, all of them soaking wet and coughing.

Biana appeared out of thin air. "Nice work!" She exchanged a high-five with Linh, then added, "Now, are the lovebirds going to come down anytime soon or do you guys actually need help?"

Everyone's heads swiveled upwards to catch sight of Sophie and Keefe. Tam groaned. "Fraternizing with the enemy team. No wonder we lost."

"I hope it was worth it!" Dex yelled up at Keefe. The girls laughed.

Keefe grinned at Sophie as she flushed bright red and their friends squabbled below them. "It kinda was." He lowered his voice. "But the next time you ruin my master base quest plan, you will regret it."

She could only smile sweetly in return. "If you say so."

(Sophie and Keefe were subsequently banned from being on opposing teams in future games. They were more than fine with that.)