“Did Luke go to the house?” Olivia asked, turning to find her brother. She spotted him as he slipped inside the cabin and frowned. “Is something wrong?”
“I think he’s having trust issues with anyone else handling the food. He hasn’t forgiven us for the reaper slice last night.” She grimaced. “But he’ll be back. Oh, and we still need to remake our picture from when we were kids.”
Olivia laughed. “We were eighteen and twenty-three.”
“Like I said,” I deadpanned. “Kids.”
She looked toward the lake and pushed to her feet. “Oh, well. Guess we’d better head inside then?—”
“Oh, no, you don’t,” I said, snatching her around the waist. I tossed her over my shoulder, playfully smacking her ass as I turned away from the kids. Cleo and Grady cheered as I jogged with her to the dock.
Lukas appeared on the porch a second later, a bag of marshmallows in one hand and a box of graham crackers in the other. “Wait for me!”
“There’s no way I’m going to let you toss me in the water, Duke Bennett!” she cried, kicking her legs wildly. “I refuse!”
“Come on, honey. I know you’re already wet for me.” She guffawed at my joke, pounding my back with her fists.
Lukas was out of breath as he skidded to a stop in front of us. He called for Grady to grab his camera. “It’s tradition!”
“I don’t think doing something one time is considered a tradition,” Olivia interjected. I kept her in place over my shoulder, knowing with certainty that she’d run off if I let her.
Lukas peeked at his sister. “Well, this makes it two times, so…”
“Kind of feels like we’re making a tradition,” I agreed.
“You guys are the worst.”
As Grady came running up with the girls in tow, I helped set Olivia down on the dock. The moment her bare feet hit the sun-warmed wood, Lukas and I grabbed an arm and a leg, swinging her back and forth over the water.
“I’m so going to kill you for this,” Olivia squealed as we tossed her into the water.
As she surfaced, I pushed Lukas in next, and then followed suit. Before long, all six of us were wading around, sending waves of water speeding toward each other.
Olivia tried to sneak toward the shore, but I grabbed aroundher middle and yanked her back to my body. “Where do you think you’re going?” I whispered in her ear.
“Away from you,” she said, kicking her legs in the water. “You don’t fight fair.”
“When it comes to you?” I pressed a kiss softly along her neck. “Never.”
OLIVIA
The orange glowof the fire danced along my skin as I watched Harper struggle to put the sticky marshmallow on the skewer. “It’s so sticky,” she complained, staring at her fingers. “Why is it so sticky?”
“It’s basically all sugar,” I laughed. “Here. Let me help.”
She quickly shoved them into my waiting hand before plopping on the ground in front of me. The flames really brought out the red in her hair. It seemed much more vibrant after being in the sun all day. After we went swimming, I carefully combed and detangled it, then braided it to keep it out of her face. Duke had offered, but Harper insisted I do it, which made me feel warm all over.
Grabbing a new marshmallow, I placed it on the skewer and handed it back to Harper. “Good as new. Now, gently place it in the fire.”
She thrust the entire thing into the flames, engulfing the pillowy confection. I laughed and pulled it back until it hovered over the heat. “Not quite. Like this. See how it’s slowly turning golden?”
“Why does my dad keep burning them?” Harper asked. I followed her gaze to where Duke was currently sandwiching something charred between his graham crackers. When he realized we were staring, he paused, sticking his thumb in his mouth to clean it off.
The move shouldn’t have had heat licking at my skin, but it did. At least I could blame my flush on the fire.
“Well, there’s no accounting for taste,” I murmured, pulling back the stick. It didn’t take long at all until I had the white, sticky goo all over my fingers as well. “I don’t think you’d like it like that. Try this one first and let me know.”
Harper took it with a smile, heading over to where Charlie sat with her uncle. Both their cheeks were puffy and swollen as they yelled, “chubby bunny,” at one another in between stuffing their mouths with more marshmallows.