“He seems like a lot of fun.”
“He’s nuts. But he’s a good nuts,” Hail said. “You ready to go out there?”
“Yep. Let’s do it.”
They walked out of the pool house, looking around to see who all was enjoying the sun and the water.
“Hey, Alison?” Hail said.
Alison turned around to look at Hail. “Yeah?”
“Did you happen to see that Feral noticed you?”
“He was just going past me to the garbage can.”
Hail shook her head. “Didn’t Valid ride with you to get the soldering irons?”
“Yeah.”
“Feral sent him to keep you safe.”
“Wasn’t necessary. We’re all safe here.”
“You’re missing my point, Alison. Feral noticed you. He didn’t want you unprotected so he sent Valid to watch over you because he was working on the other female.”
Alison opened her mouth to answer, but then closed it and looked at Hail with a hesitant grin on her face. “He did?”
Hail nodded. “He did.”
“Okay, then,” Alison said.
“I saw you notice him, too.”
“I didn’t exactly notice him. He just smells so good,” Alison said. “And he was so close when he went by me that I couldn’t help but notice his scent, and…” Alison stopped talking and looked directly at Hail who was smirking as she watched Alison try to explain away the fact that she liked Feral. “Yeah, okay, I noticed him.”
Hail laughed, as did Alison.
“Let’s go find a place to put our towels,” Alison said, shaking her head as she led the way toward the opposite end of the pool.
“I definitely need a splash through the water. It’s hot as hell out here. But not as hot as Alliance,” Hail said.
“It’s hotter there?” Alison asked as she found two lounge chairs near the back fence that was around the yard.
“Texas. Miserable hot,” Hail said.
“Oh, yeah. We get hot here, but not as much humidity here as in Texas. Plus we’re elevated a little higher.”
They spread their towels out, then wasted no time getting in the pool. They swam around a bit, waved at Bonnie when she noticed them in the pool, then went back to their chairs and laid out on top of their towels.
After a few minutes Alison laughed.
“What? What’d I miss?” Hail asked, her gaze on swivel trying to determine what Alison was seeing that she hadn’t.
“You’re as bad as the males around here, keeping up with who is where and the exits, and a quick way to escape if necessary.”
Hail grinned at her. “Guilty. But it’s how we think. It’s kept me alive all this time and I’m not sure it’s a habit I want to break.”
“I can understand that,” Alison said.
