Page 88 of Skylar

All of a sudden, Cole shot up through the hole in the tube, startling them. Skylar let out a shriek, then reached out to shove Cole’s shoulder.

“You’re going to give us a heart attack.”

Cole grinned as he leaned back against the tube, hooking his arms around it. “What’s happening?”

“You mean aside from you so rudely interrupting us?” Skylar asked.

“Well, yes. Aside from that. What are we chatting about?”

“Our jobs,” Aiden said as he treaded water.

“Oh really? That sounds rather boring.”

“It’s not our fault that we don’t have an exciting career like you do,” Skylar told him. “Us lowly peasants sometimes have to work in dull jobs in order to pay the bills.”

“You know I’d hire all of you,” Cole said. “I’ve already made an offer to Aiden.”

“I don’t want to work for you,” Skylar said. “You bossed me around for too many years when I didn’t have a choice. No way am I going to willingly give you that position in my life.”

Cole grinned at her. “I’d be a fantastic boss.”

“Well, I’m not about to find out,” Skylar said. “Given the way you’re tossing around job offers, I hope you have a good financial advisor.”

“I do. And I give everything to Jay so that he can look over all of it. He’s better at numbers than I ever was.”

“How much longer are you going to play?” Skylar asked.

A shadow crossed Cole’s face. “I’m not sure. Maybe until my body has reached its limit. I have a year left on my current contract, so we’ll see what happens after that.”

“The team would be foolish to not re-sign you,” Aiden said. “You’re their top performing player.”

Cole shrugged, making the tube shift with the movement. “You just never know where life will lead. Things happen that can change the trajectory of our lives.”

Aiden gave a huff of laughter. “You’re kind of preaching to the choir here, bro.”

Cole grinned and nodded. “I suppose that’s true.”

“What’s your interest in Annie?” Skylar asked, voicing the question that had been in Aiden’s mind.

“I don’t know.” Water splashed beyond the circle of the tube as Cole kicked his feet. “There was just something about her.”

“But you don’t know anything about her.”

“I know.”

“Also, she’s very, very different from the women you usually date.” Skylar shifted on her side of the tube so she was higher up on it and stared right at her brother. “Are you trying to tell me this is a love at first sight situation?”

“I’m not sure about love,” Cole said. “But there’s… interest.”

Aiden had to admit that he was slightly confused by his friend. Everything he’d seen from Cole since he’d shown up in Serenity had been slightly… off. He had no idea what it meant, but maybe it was time to have a serious conversation with the man.

“Well, it looks like you’ve chosen to get interested in someone who might give you a run for your money.”

“We’ll see.”

“Cole!” Layla’s voice carried across the water to them. “Can you pull us on the tubes?”

Cole slid under the water and popped up a few feet away. “I suppose I could. Let’s get it rigged up. It’s not going to be like getting pulled by a speedboat, though.”

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