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And Ty shouted, “Ohhhhhh!Looks like someone is going to walk the plank! And I’d say that someone is Jude!”
Jude started to shout his disagreement, but Uncle Brad was quick to redirect.
“Save the argument for the boat. That’s where we’ll find out who the asshole really is,” he stated and grabbed his boat keys from the key hook near the light switch. “Although, I can’t deny, from where I’m standing, it’s looking like all five of you are the assholes.”
I tilted my head to the side and met Winnie’s eyes.“Walk the plank?”I mouthed toward her, and she strolled over to me with a secret grin on her lips.
Everyone else, though, started grabbing their shit and heading to the dock like this was a normal routine.
“What does that mean?” I asked her.
“It means my uncle Brad is going to drive us out to an old rickety dock and make someone admit that they were the asshole who started the trouble. And the asshole has towalk the plankstraight into the water,” she stated with a little smile. “He’s been doing this with my brothers since they were young, and somehow, even though we’re all grown up, it’s still a thing.”
“All grown up?” I teased. “I must have missed the part where food fights are part of adulthood.”
“Shut up.” She snickered and shoved a playful hand in my chest. “And come on,” she added and grabbed my hand. “We better get on the boat, or else Uncle Brad will start bitching.”
“So, Jude was the instigator of this mess?” I questioned quietly as we stepped out onto the deck, but Winnie bit down on her bottom lip in a way that made me laugh. “Wait…was ityouthat started all this?”
She nodded but then immediately tapped me in the chest with her finger. “But that stays between you and me.”
“And what do I get for keeping your dirty food-fight secrets?”
She stopped, stood on her tippy-toes, and whispered directly into my ear, “My mouth around your cock.”
Well, okay then. Looks like Winnie’s secret is safe with me.
I smirked and kissed her hard on the lips. “I’m holding you to that.”
“Good.” She winked at me. “Now, let’s go grab Lexi so we can get on the boat and watch Jude get in trouble for something that I did.”
I chortled at that.
But also, at the mere vision of my wife looking so fucking delighted, my heart felt like it tripled in size inside my chest.
Yeah, this vacation was exactly what we all needed.
This afternoon, I’d managed to successfully fly under the radar and watch Jude get declared “the asshole of the day” and walk the plank—aka jump into the water off an old, abandoned dock on the lake.
Technically,Iwas the one who started the food fight in my aunt and uncle’s kitchen, but everyone knew that Jude was the biggest troublemaker out of my siblings and me. Though, when we were kids, he was also the one brother who had taken the fall for me more times than I could count.
That was probably one of the things that made him so lovable.
Jude may have talked a lot of shit and stirred up lots of trouble, but he never hesitated to sacrifice himself in the name of protecting his baby sister.
As an adult, I probably shouldn’t have been so willing to let him do that, but old habits died hard, I guessed. Plus, I couldn’t ruin the “good Winslow sibling” reputation I had with my aunt and uncle. I mean, I was their favorite. Always had been. Always would be.
It might not have seemed fair on the surface, but I wasalsothe one Winslow sibling who made sure Aunt Paula’s kitchen got cleaned up and scrubbed down after the food-fight disaster. Trust me, I’d paid my dues.
I smiled to myself as I watched the guys prepare for the big Fourth of July show that Thatch hadn’t stopped talking about since they’d come home this afternoon with enough fireworks to raise some concerns.
All of us ladies—Georgia, Cassie, Aunt Paula, and I—were on the deck with the kids, and Uncle Brad, Wes, and Kline were down on the dock setting something up.
Remy, Flynn, and Ty appeared to be busy with the music setup. Which was basically just the speakers of Rem’s Jeep hooked up to Bluetooth.
And Thatch and Jude were also on the deck, carefully putting noise-canceling headphones on Ace, Julia, and Lexi.
“What do I need this for?” Lexi asked, and Jude patted the top of her head.
