Bare Skin (Skin Deep 5)

Leah’s eyes got teary at that. “After me?” she asked, softly.

Chloe nodded, smiling at her, then said, “Actually, after all three of you. Allie, Emma, Leah…Amelia. Just a little tribute to you guys, since you were there for me so much when I showed up. I just…I love you!”

“We love you, too!” they all said at once. All four of them were crying and hugging then, but as I looked around, I realized there wasn’t a dry eye to be found, including my own.

After a while, I followed Allie in and helped her and Emma clean things up before I went back outside. Hayden and Jarrod were in the pool again, while all of the younger kids were napping in various locations throughout Allie’s house, including Kaden.

Calland was leaning down along the side of the pool, helping Hayden get into a floaty-thing of some kind…

And then he wasn’t.

It was so fast, if I would have blinked, I would have missed it.

Hayden suddenly giggled and flipped off the raft as Calland’s mom, Jan, walked by. Next thing I knew, Calland was in the water, coming up sputtering and shooting daggers at his mother with his eyes as she nonchalantly walked back towards the house, laughing along with everyone else.

She blew on her knuckles and rubbed them against her shoulder, then winked at him. “Son, I told you I’d get even one day.”

Calland slapped the water, trying to splash her, but she was too far out of range already. “That was like a year ago, woman!”

She just shrugged and gave him a smug look, which made the angry, put-out expression he was trying to hold crack into a grin. He laughed and sputtered playfully as Hayden swam by and kicked a barrage of water in his face, then hauled himself over the edge and out of the water. He sloshed over to me and stood there, dripping wet and looking absolutely too delicious for words.

“Damnit, that water is cold!” he whined, trying to garner my sympathy.

I held my hands up, shaking my head. “You obviously deserved it, so…”

“Traitor,” he grunted, glaring at me.

Hayden’s voice rang out from the pool, “Uncle Calland, the water is not cold! You’re just a p-”

“HAYDEN!” Jenna shrieked out of nowhere, her face an interesting shade of mottled red. “DON’T YOU DARE!”

“What?” Hayden asked, put out. “Mo-om…I wasn’t gonna say anything bad.” She swam away mumbling to herself and shaking her head.

“Yeah, I’m sure you weren’t,” Jenna huffed, then turned to glare at her brother who kept laughing.

“She gets it from you,” she muttered as she passed him.

“Your husband said something similar already today. You gave birth to her, though. Serves you right for tormenting me when I was young,” Calland drawled, looking smug.

Jenna gasped in outrage. “Tormented YOU? You asshole! YOU’RE the one that tormented US!”

Emma, Leah, and even Allie all nodded in agreement.

“Hey, I can’t help it. I’m the favorite,” he said, shrugging. “You know the rule anyway, right Dad?”

He turned to look at his father, Ben, who just grinned and grunted.

“Mom!” Emma called, rolling her eyes. “Calland’s trying to bring up the penis rule again!”

Jan just smiled, coming out of the door with a towel for Calland. She handed it to him and he looked over his shoulder, giving Emma an over-the-top smarmy little grin. “See? Favorite. And he who has the penis makes the rules, so…”

I couldn’t do anything but laugh as Emma threw her hands up, growling out a disgusted, “Uuuggghhh.”

“Stop tormenting my wife, Calland,” Luke called, but I could hear the humor lacing his words.

It was Emma’s turn to give Calland a smug look then, but it didn’t last long when Calland replied, “Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know the only reason he’s saying that is so you don’t cut him off.”

Luke snorted and tried to cover it with a cough, then winced as Emma’s hand swung out and smacked his stomach.

“Well, if she cuts you off, hot stuff, you just come see Nanny,” an old, gravelly voice called out, cackling heartily.

Luke’s eyes widened and his wife lost it, bending over and holding her stomach because she was laughing so hard.

I just stood there, grinning madly and laughing along with all of them, glancing around with a full heart that I was a part of it all…and it was awesome.