Page 61 of Playing Games

Frankly, I can’t decide if I’m excited or terrified to find out how their fall semester ends up turning out. It feels like it’s all going to come up roses or go down in a fiery inferno.

I watch Blake hop out of the water, onto the dock, and I bite my lip to hide my smile when he cannonballs back into the water, purposely splashing a wave of water toward Ace.

Blake resurfaces, laughter spilling from his lips, carefree and alive as he revels in the moment with his friends. Watching him like this, so unguarded and full of joy, I feel it again—that irresistible pull he has on me, one I can’t seem to fight, no matter how hard I try.

“You motherfucker!” Ace shouts as he shakes the water out of his hair and swipes a hand down his face. His mom, Cassie, sighs from her current spot on the deck, sitting at the table with my mom and Georgia.

“Is it too late to trade my kids in for new ones?” she asks, and my mom laughs.

“I think the statute of limitations is up on that, Cass.”

“The party can officially fucking start!” a booming voice yells from the deck door, startling everyone’s attention. Though, with who it is, I’d say that’s exactly as he intended it.

Thatch walks out holding a big box of fireworks and wearing nothing but aviator sunglasses and swim trunks that have a smiling bald eagle and the wordsFuck Yeahon the crotch. His youngest son Gunnar is right behind him, wearing a matching pair of swim trunks and sporting a new haircut—a mullet straight out ofJoe Dirt.

“Thatch, I swear, if this ends in us having to call the fire department because you and Jude set a canoe on fire, I will cut off your dick,” Cassie says.

“Have no fear, Sweet Tits.” Thatch winks and pulls a fire extinguisher out of the box. “I’ve come prepared.”

“Yeah, Mom,” Gunnar adds. “Chill. We got this.”

Both Thatch and Gunnar head down the deck stairs, and Cassie lets out another deep sigh.

“What about trading in my husband?” she asks, her attention back on my mom and Georgia. “Is it too late for that?”

“How’s your prenup?” Georgia questions, already smiling at what she knows is a total joke on Cassie’s behalf. She and Thatch, while entirely crazy, are meant to be together. Truly, no one else on the planet could put up with them.

“I don’t have one.”

My mom laughs. “Looks like you’re stuck with him.”

Cassie groans. But she also smiles as she looks back toward the lake where Thatch is twerking on the dock while Gunnar holds up the box of fireworks in the air. “He is such a fucking idiot. I love him so much.”

“Is it just me, or does Gunnar’s new haircut have a lot of…party…going on in the back?” Georgia asks, her voice careful as she watches Thatch and Gunnar continue to act like fools down by the lake.

“Georgia, it looks like a mullet because itisa mullet,” Cassie answers on a laugh. “A terrible fucking mullet that I’m tempted to cut off while he’s asleep.”

“It’s notthatbad, Cass,” Georgia says, always the eternal optimist.

My mom laughs, and she looks across the deck to meet my eyes. Her smile is loving and full of affection, and I can’t help but return it. “Lex, how do we feel about Gunnar’s new haircut?”

“It’s bad,” I answer, direct and to the point and with zero regrets about it. Gunnar Kelly’s mullet is nothing to admire. It’s, at most, rural kid cosplay on a billionaire budget.

Cassie cackles. “Thank you, Lex!”

“I’m sure it’s just a phase,” Georgia offers, and Cassie rolls her eyes.

“Georgia, sweetheart, I love you so much, but you don’t need to sugarcoat my idiot teenage son’s life choices,” she says with a knowing smirk. “What you should do is offer up some prayers that he gets through high school in one piece and a diploma in his hands.”

Georgia laughs. “Fine. Your son’s mullet is the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen. And I’m offering my deepest condolences and prayers.”

“Finally.” Cassie nods and grins. “That’s more like it.”

I look out toward the lake again and note that Blake is now sitting on the dock beside Julia and Ace, watching toward the water as Thatch and Uncle Jude and Gunnar row around in a canoe. Their current destination is the other side of the lake, and I silently pray that whatever they have planned involves no actual fires this time.

Though, it is a little concerning that they now have Gunnar as an accomplice. The Fourth they planned a big fireworks show thatended in the fire department having to put out a flaming canoe, Gunnar was too young to join in on the fun.

But now, he’s a full-fledged teenager who seems to be a combination of both of his parents’ wildest, craziest genetics. No doubt, he’s a certified risk for the whole damn planet.

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