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“Your turn,” Thomas, the guy running the game, barks as he holds a football in his hand with an annoyed expression on his face. Clearly, we’ve missed the announcement for our turn long enough that he’s grown irritated by the wait.
“Hold that thought, Pipsqueak.”
“Pipsqueak?” She rolls her eyes and brushes past me, snatching the football from his hand. “I played QB in flag football.” She glances over her shoulder. “With a bunch of boys. Boys that all thought I was cute.”
“Yeah, I bet.” I brace my hands on my hips and watch her every move as she lines up, eyes the pins, and lets the football fly. The football smacks into the front pin and knocks down that one and four others.
“Perfect. There’s no way you’re getting the rest. You’ve left me needing to get a strike, or we’re going to lose. Always leaving a man to pick up the pieces.”
“Watch and learn. This big girl is going to teach the little boy a lesson.” She catches the ball when Thomas throws it at her. Despite myself, I laugh, which earns me an elbow in the ribs.
“Ouch.”
“You deserved that.” Her eyes dance as she turns to focus on the remaining pins. She’s played more sports than I have. I had Emilia at home, and she was a cheerleader, not a get-down and dirty type. And Ben, he’s years younger than us. We weren’t allowed to roughhouse with the baby. With four brothers, Harbor didn’t stand a chance at missing the competitive gene.
Five seconds later, the pins are lying on the mat, and she points at Connor. “You’re going down, birthday boy.” With the flip of her head, her ponytail snaps behind her back.
After I match her pin count, also in two tosses, we move to the cornhole game. There’s one pairing at the line completing the task, and everyone else is busy with their own portion of the competition.
I face away from the crowd and lean down. “Good job, baby. You never cease to amaze me.”
“Thank you, sexy.” She bites her bottom lip. “But don’t think for one second I’m going to forget those insults. You’re going to pay for them.”
I raise my hands in defense. “You know that was for Connor’s benefit. But….” I wink. “I can’t wait. I’ve been very bad for a reason.” One of the girls Connor works with walks by with a tray of drinks. I snatch a bottle of water off the tray, twist the top off, and hand it to her. “Drink. You need to stay hydrated. It’s hot today.”
She lifts the bottle toward her face. “You are so right, it is. I think I need three or four of these. Do you think you can accommodate that?”
“Sweetheart, I’m going to accommodate you so much you’re going to beg me to stop.” Her chest rises and falls as she guzzles the water and wipes her lips with the back of her hand. “Do you care about beating Connor?”
“Always, but not as much as I’d like a repeat of Friday morning. I don’t want anything that badly.”
“Yeah, me either.” I glance at my wrist and snatch my phone out of my pocket. “Shit.” I frown in an exaggerated manner. “I’ve got a call to the station.”
“What’s wrong?” The way she instantly catches my intent without me having to explain feels like yet another sign we’re good together.
“I need to go to the station, but Emilia dropped me off.” I rake a hand through my hair as I tap nonsense into the search engine.
“I can take you. I need my purse, which will only take a second for me to grab.”
“I hate to take you away from the party, but I appreciate it.”
“It’s no problem.” We stride toward the deck, where she grabs another bottle of water. “I’m so parched today.”
“You poor thing.” I grab another bottle of water. “It’s my fireman’s duty to ensure you don’t dehydrate. That would be so bad.”
“Where are you going?” Connor snatches Harbor’s arm and spins her around.
“I got a call.” I step away from them as dread fills my gut. The lies I’m telling Connor are digging a larger grave for me to bury myself in. “I need to go to the station. Harbor is going to drop me off.”
The only thing I’ve ever lied to him before now is how I feel about Harbor. His eyes flash with anger as he drops his hand to his side. “You two seem a tad too chummy today.”
“No.” Harbor shakes her head and gives me a look of disdain. “I was only putting up with him to beat you, and I offered him a ride because Emilia left him here without one.”
My sister takes that exact moment to walk around the corner of the house with a kid on either side of her, and I groan. Seriously? She’s going to show up now and cockblock me?
“Oh, look. There’s my sister. Harbor, I think you’re off the hook from having to take me anywhere. I’m going to see if one of the other guys wants to fill in. I’d hate to leave the party. Especially since we’re so close to winning.”
Harbor flips her hair behind her shoulder. “Maybe if you must go Emilia can be on my team. I can take her and the kids home after the party.”
