The boys’ ears perked up as the offer and their tails wiggled, since all of them were at that age where they were starting to get interested in romance with other cute little critters (although Jack was a little more interested in the cute little cougar that used to be ‘his’ boyfriend Jared). Not that they’d admit it, of course!
“Umm… I’ll beat you in a race, but I don’t care about no kissin’!” Sean the squirrel said nonchalantly.
“Nu-uh! You’re gonna lose, nut-muncher!” Jack the skunk taunted, and before long all three boys were arguing and shoving each other, trying not to show how much they were interested in getting a smooch from the cute little otter girl.
“Well, stop talking and start racing!” Marianne said with a grin, and before long the four critters were lined up facing the dock, their tails twitching in anticipation. Marianne leaned over and whispered to Rick, “Good luck, you little rascal,” and Rick blushed feeling her little whiskers ticking his ears.
The fox boy that they had roped into helping them shouted out, “Go!”, and soon the four kids were speeding ahead, with Marianne taking an early lead, while Sean and Jack both lagged behind with their heavy waterlogged tails slowing them down. Rick paddled as fast as he could, trying to keep up with Marianne, with his new raccoon body being well-suited for swimming but not as much as the otter girl’s was.
At the end of the dock, a little kitten girl was patiently waiting to announce the winner once they crossed the finish line. Marianne peeked back toward the boys, hoping she could lost on purpose and still make it look like unintentional. When she looked back, she saw that…