Every Little Piece - By Kate Ashton Page 0,11

this summer. Together. Hang out as much as we can,” I said.

Kama splashed her hand against the water. “That’s right. We’ll make so many memories, that Haley will have to plaster her ceiling with all the photos and memorabilia.”

We heard a splat.

Something hit the wall of the house barely missing us. Another one hit the tub, splashing water up into my face. And a third splattered the post of the back porch.

Water balloons.

We screamed and ducked into the water. “We know you’re out there. Cowards!” I yelled.

“Dare to show yourselves!” Brin called out.

We grabbed our fluted glasses and filled them with water but realized how pitiful our ammunition was. “We have to get out of the tub,” I whispered.

“Then what?” Brin asked, her feet landing on the slippery tiles.

I grinned. “We run straight at them and grab some ammo.”

Once we were all out of the tub, we sprinted, screaming and waving our arms. They highly underestimated their opponents.

Balloons flew through the air. One hit my arm, and another splattered against my stomach. I pushed through, shoving my way past the boys, squealing. I dug into their arsenal. Armed with a handful of water balloons, I tossed some to Brin and Kama. Then we attacked.

They flipped around, and we pelted them with balloons. Then there was an all-out fight in the backyard for the ammo. It didn’t take long for the balloons to be gone. By the end we were all soaking wet and tiny colorful pieces of balloon decorated the yard. My stomach ached from laughing and my throat from screaming.

Kama clapped her hands. “You might as well join us.”

Seth grinned. “We thought you’d never ask.”

Kama elbowed me. “So, you never tell Seth about our private affairs, huh?”

My cheeks flushed with heat. “Not about any of the super important stuff. I might’ve let the hot tub part slip.” I plastered on a cheesy grin. “Sorry.”

“Forgiven.”

The guys changed and soon we were all in the hot tub, crammed together. Kama turned the jets on high and the top of the hot tub looked like a frothy milkshake. Bubbles popped. The conversation flowed like beer at the party that was starting pretty soon. The tense fear of the future had dissolved and we were all feeling the buzz of life.

Carter raised his arms and cleared his throat to get our attention. “We’ll be honest. We decided we’d have to keep a close eye on all of you in case you decided to get out of our little wager.”

Jamie waggled his finger. “Tonight at midnight, girls. A run down Main Street.”

Brin grimaced. “I’ve been thinking about that. It seems like a pretty stupid thing to do. Even after losing a bet.”

“How about this,” Seth said, “we’ll supply the hot chocolate afterwards, because you might be a little chilly.” He rubbed his arms and fake-shivered, then he burst out laughing, soon followed by Carter and Jamie.

Brin pressed her lips together and the doubts flickered across her face. I nodded to Kama, and we poked her leg under the water with our toes.

Finally, she succumbed. “Fine. But if anything goes wrong, like if we get arrested, I blame you!”

Seth nodded. “Agreed.”

I stood up, the water dripping off me. “Well, then, I hate to break this party up, but we have to pack for a sleepover and make sure to cover our butts with who is sleeping at whose house.”

We all climbed out, and Kama shut off the jets, the bubbles slowly disappearing. I wrapped in a warm towel and headed over to Seth. I bumped his hip with mine. “Hey,” I said.

He grabbed my fingers and held them loosely in his. “You ready for tonight?”

“Sure.” I noticed that even though he was looking at me, he didn’t really see me. Not the way he was usually tuned in. “Are you?”

“What?” Then he coughed. “Um, yeah, ready.”

After years together, instinct told me something was wrong. I rubbed the light scruff on his cheeks and kissed him. I giggled. “You need to shave.”

My touch seemed to pull him out of whatever funk he was in and he grabbed hold of me. “Really? I need to shave? Are you sure?” He rubbed his cheek against mine.

I held back a giggling fit and squirmed away but he clamped down on my waist and tucked me into his arms.

“Haley!” the girls yelled.

“Seth!” the guys yelled.

Just to spite them, I reached up and pulled Seth toward me. We engaged in a long, slow kiss. The heat spread throughout my body and