Page 115 of Love Bites Extra Hard

He snorted, and my lips curved upward.

“We need to swim before we eat,” Clementine declared, grabbing Kai by the arm. She towed him toward the pool, catching Blair on her way, and Blair dragged Hale with her.

“Wait a second,” Hale warned. “I don’t remember agreeing to be covered in glitter.”

“You’ll love it,” Clem gushed.

“I don’t think I will.”

“You’ll survive,” Blair teased, tugging him with her. “What am I supposed to do?”

“Oh, just shove your magic at him,” Clem said cheerfully.

“That, I’m not opposed to,” Hale said.

“It comes with glitter.” Kai’s voice was deadpanned, but we’d all seen him grin when she grabbed his arm.

He loved every bit of her enthusiasm.

“Geronimo!” Clem exclaimed, yanking all three of them with her as she jumped.

Blair’s laughter followed—before the massive splash.

“You don’t want me to be covered in glitter, do you?” Talon asked, eyeing my skin skeptically.

“You don’t have to,” I assured him.

“It’s a rite of passage,” Porter called from the chair nearby. “Didn’t you get Clementine’s text?”

Talon’s forehead creased. “I didn’t bring my phone.”

Bane handed his over, showing a multi-paragraph message that started with:

Clem

Hello, my fabulous brothers-in-law! Or kings-in-law. Either way, today is the annual celebration of my birth, and as such, we’re swimming in chlorine! This is a siren rite of passage, so if you would please attend, I would really, truly love it. My sisters would too, of course

I grinned.

Bane leaned over and opened a separate message from Kai, to all of the guys.

Kai

You’re swimming in the glitter today whether you like it or not.

My grin widened, and I patted Talon’s arm. “It’ll be fun.”

He grimaced. “How long does it take to get it off?”

“Weeks,” Zora said, in the midst of loading her plate with food. “As in, multiple. Probably three, with the amount of chlorine those bitches added.”

“I’m going to get so much shit for this,” Talon muttered, but he scooped me up off my feet and carried me toward the pool. “You’d better take a lot of pictures, because this is only happening once.”

“I’ll document it fully,” I promised, lifting my pinky. He caught it with his, sealing the pinky promise.

Then, he jumped.

I pushed my magic at him when we went underwater, and when we surfaced, I couldn’t help but laugh.

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