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Ariella appeared at my elbow, a Topo Chico in her hand. “You sure you ready for this?”

I looked at her, brow ticking up. “For a piñata?”

She smirked and held her hands up to her mouth, yelling, “Let’s go, Goldie, ¡Pégale duro!”

Goldie swung, catching the edge of the castle’s tower, a glancing blow, and the whole yard erupted.

She pulled off the bandana, beaming, completely unbothered that she hadn’t broken it open.

“Good job, mija,” Graciella’s mom called from the patio.

Goldie ran to her and hugged her knees, then did the same to my mom.

Graciella’s nine-year-old cousin stepped up.

“What are they feeding him?” I asked. He looked like a tank.

A whistle sounded through the air when he swung. All the kids yelled at Thatcher to raise it, but he was too slow, and the castle exploded.

Ariella shook her head. “Amateur. We’re going to have to work on his piñata handling skills because that was garbage.”

I was too shocked to comment.

For a half second, the candy seemed to hang suspended before it rained down, and the yard turned into a war zone.

Thatcher had gone completely still. “What is⁠—”

“Move!” Ariella yelled, laughing, and Thatcher dove to safety.

Elbows flew, shouts of victory and defeat coming from the melee. No one seemed to be safe. Jimenez entered the fray even though he had fifteen years on some of them, taking a foot to the shin while diving for a piece of candy.

I scanned for Goldie. She was not built for this. She was next to Graciella, who pointed her toward Ariella, then turned and went in.

Graciella cut through the chaos, stepping over one kid, shoving one of the older ones, and then she spotted Jimenez reaching for a piece near her foot and jammed an elbow into his ribs without even looking at him.

“Nope,” she said. “Don’t touch my shit, Jimenez.”

She used both arms to shovel candy between her legs, backing up, protecting the pile with her whole body.

I didn’t think I’d ever been more turned on than in that moment.

Within seconds, she was back at Goldie’s side, both hands full, and she deposited the entire haul into Goldie’s open bag.

Goldie stared into the bag, smiling widely. “Dat was cool, Gracie. You beat up Jimenez.”

“Yup. Remember to beat up boys who try to take things from you.”

“What?” Jimenez called out. “I wasn’t even tryin⁠—”

Both girls cut him with a glare, and he held up his hands, a smirk on his face.

Graciella stood up from her crouch.

Her eyes found mine across the grass, sending me a wink before Goldie tugged her toward the playhouse. She let herself be pulled, glancing back over her shoulder at me once and blowing a kiss.

“Oh my god, you’re so pathetically in love,” Ariella said, reappearing at my elbow. “Did you really just catch the kiss she blew you?”

I smirked, knowing damn well that Thatcher was just as bad as I was. “Last time I didn’t catch the kiss she blew me, she told me she wasn’t blowing anything anymore. So I’ll catch every fuckin’ one of ’em. I’d jump to catch it if I needed to.”