fires at me. I don’t know if she was a pitcher in school or something, but every balloon hits its mark.
Laughing, I grab my pail and chase her around while the girls start throwing balloons at each other.
“I’m trying to help you, Shelby,” I taunt as she hurries toward the grassy area with her remaining balloons. “Slow down, so my love will be more obvious.”
After a minute, her giggles force her to stop running and catch her breath. I nail her in the butt. She turns around and nails me in the face with a balloon.
“Bitch,” I growl in my best tough-girl voice.
“Whiner.”
Laughing, I wipe wet hair from her face. “I get what you’re trying to do. I guess I was too worried over nothing.”
“That’s the spirit,” she says, giving me a loving smile before using her last balloon to hit me in the boobs.
“They’d been neglected,” she explains as I throw a balloon at her and miss.
“Dammit.”
“You can’t throw for shit, Lana Maude Leroux. If you ever get in a fight, don’t waste time with that move. Just grab something long and swing it around wildly. I feel as if that’ll be your strong suit.”
I hug Shelby to me and whisper in her ear, “Thank you.”
“Even two hours away, you’ll always be my people.”
I hear the girls giggling as they throw balloons at Goliath, who stands perfectly still as if he’s impersonating a tree. Then he suddenly comes alive and picks up Desi. He walks through the open gate and dumps the squealing girl in the pool. Then his gaze finds Sidonie. The girl doesn’t know what to make of the giant man. So, she runs and jumps in on her own.
Walking outside to join the insanity, Bronco hands Goliath a beer.
River struts toward Max, who frowns at the mess and then Shelby. “This was your big plan?”
“We can’t all cook our way into people’s hearts, nerd. Some of us must be more creative.”
Max is too nervous to do more than shrug. She sits in the shade while River throws a towel at Goliath.
“This is a nice pool, Parrish,” River says as Bronco stands near the grill. “Think you could dunk a full-grown woman in the deep side without her cracking open her head?”
“Never considered it, but yeah, probably.”
Shelby glares hard at the long-haired blond man inching closer to her. “Don’t you dare, River Majors. I will hurt you in ways that will disqualify you from having a third child. Now just stay over there.”
Desi and Sidonie giggle as Shelby sneaks behind me. I catch Summer grinning from the upstairs window.
“I know I’ll pay a price,” River says, still inching closer. “But, it’s too damn tempting.”
“No!” Shelby screams and takes off running. “Dean, save me!”
Her man just frowns. “You used me as a human shield.”
“That was out of love!” she hollers, running around the long tables while River keeps up.
“Get her, Go-Go!” Max cheers and records the scene on her phone.
“Hey, everyone’s picking on me,” Shelby whines as River throws her over his shoulder and walks her flailing body toward the pool.
“Heads up,” River announces, and the girls move to the shallow end before he tosses Shelby into the pool.
Popping up and coughing dramatically, she mumbles, “I feel unloved.”
“Heads up,” I warn before jumping into the pool.
Shelby smiles when I emerge next to her. “You’re good people, Leroux.”
“You’re my Taylor, Campbell.”
“Oh, shit, I’m going to cry. Splash me in the face to hide my tears.”
I do as Shelby says, which she decides is a declaration of war. I’ve never known a grown woman so willing to revert to childlike antics.
Desi and Sidonie join in with the splashing until we meet in the middle where they can stand. Then it’s a long round of Marco Polo while Bronco cranks up the grill and talks sports. Max is torn between wanting to hang out with the girls or help with the food. She decides cooking will calm her down faster and ends up prepping the veggies for the shish kebabs.
I catch Bronco’s gaze and share a smile. He isn’t comfortable with the Reapers, and he’ll probably always hold a grudge against the club that absorbed the one that hurt his daughter. But he still opened up his house to make my life better. I think even Max can see how lucky I got when I agreed to get frisky with Bronco in the back seat of my SUV.
BRONCO
River, Goliath, and I don’t talk business. We stick to easy topics, eventually settling