Page 121 of Finding Our Reality

Holt walks up, scooping Anna into his arms. The two of them have quite the special bond. “What’s going on? What did I miss?”

Anna kisses his cheek. “We’re talking about Smelly Ellie’s poots.”

He scrunches his nose, sniffing. “Ella farted?”

Ry doubles over, clutching his stomach. My face turns beet red. Despite my best efforts not to laugh, I can’t help it. “No one farted! We are not talking about me and bodily functions.”

Holt holds up his hands in surrender. “Hey, we all do it.”

Anna shoves the card in front of his face. “Look at my beautiful card, Uncle Holt. Laura made it for me.”

Laura holds out her hand, introducing herself again. Holt sets Anna on the ground and kisses Laura’s outstretched hand. “The pleasure is all mine, milady. Holt Hill, at your service.”

Laura’s eyes grow wide. “Like a knight. And so handsome too.” She turns to Ry. “LikeKing Arthur and His Knights of the Roundtable.”

I rub Laura’s head. “You’ve already read that book?”

“Uncle Ry read it to me. Every time I stay with him, before bedtime we read from a really old, really important adult book.”

Anna looks at Ry. “Can I show Laura my cake before we go swimming?”

He nods and the girls race off.

Holt kisses me on the cheek and shakes Ry’s hand. “I’m running out to get another bag of ice for the cooler. Y’all need anything?”

Ry shakes his head. “No, man, we’re good.” He places a hand on my back and traces the curve of my spine, settling right above my ass. He holds me tight as we walk over to join everyone else.

“I didn’t know you still did that. Read classic literature before bed? Why haven’t you been doing it?”

He leans over, nuzzling his lips against the shell of my ear. His hot breath makes me shiver. “In case you haven’t noticed, we’ve been pretty busy each night before bed. There’s been a lot of time to make up for. The games have been keeping my mind more than occupied.”

I stop walking and pull him around so he’s facing me. His back is toward everyone, and his body eclipses mine, so they can’t see what we’re doing. Under the guise of a cuddle, I lean in and fondle his groin. It immediately jumps to life in my hand. Standing on my tiptoes, I bite his lip. “Game on.”

I immediately dart to the side and roll from his embrace. “Hi!” I wave at my family and friends and start dispensing hugs. I can’t help but laugh when it takes a good minute before Ry can turn around and join us.

***

We’re all lounging around the patio after gorging ourselves on amazing food and birthday cake. The girls have been playing with Anna’s new toys for the past hour. We convinced them to eat and do presents first because we knew that we’d never be able to get them out of the pool once they jumped in.

“Can we please go swimming now?”

Ry nods to Raylee, deferring to her for an answer.

“Yes, you can go swimming now.”

The words are barely out of her mouth when the girls strip off their cover-ups and race to the side of pool.

“Little Girl,” Ry hollers, “aren’t you forgetting something?” He points to his eyes.

“Oh! Right.” Laura skips back over and hands her glasses to Ry.

We watch, as both Laura and Anna jump into the pool, holding hands.

“They’re really getting along,” Aunt Teresa says. “That’s great.”

Ridge and Cullen’s mom, Dana, laughs. “They definitely play well together. Reminds me of all you kids when you were younger.”

Cullen snorts. “Are you serious? Ridge and Holt made my life miserable.”

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