She was so lost in her own morose thoughts that the sudden jolt actually made her yelp in a mix of surprise and pain. Blue jerked around, wide-eyed, then made a face as she scraped off the mudball, feeling the grit of sand against her skin.

But she didn't miss the cheeky smirk of her mate, some distance downriver, grinning mischievously at her. Almost daring, the brat. And Blue had never been one to back down from a challenge. Well, not until recently, but this was one she was absolutely going to answer.

--with her own handful of goopy, drippy river sand, flung like a missile directly at that handsomely smirking face.