Chapter 12 — The Dress Comes Off #5
"Water for Reese," she said, setting glasses down. "Iced tea for Eden. Something suspicious and green for Tatum, who will complain and drink it anyway. Lemonade for Penny. Beer for Luke, who is holding that towel like he has a job."
"I do have a job."
"You have six jobs," Shay called from the pool.
"Seven if you count pool safety," Tatum added.
Penny lifted her head. "Eight if you count emotional support boyfriend."
Kiki handed me the beer. "See? Fully employed."
Her fingers brushed mine. The touch was casual, warm, and private in the middle of everyone. Kiki had mastered that. Making domestic things feel like intimacy. Drinks. Towels. Dinner planning. The small daily proofs that she wasn't visiting.
"Dinner's marinating," she told me.
"Already?"
"Steaks. Corn. Potatoes. Salad you claim not to like and always finish."
"I like salad."
"You like dressing and social approval."
Penny laughed into her towel. Eden's mouth curved. Tatum shouted something about needing steak for survival, then got dunked by Reese for being loud in her ear.
I sat on the edge of Penny's lounge chair. My hand found the small of her back, warm from the sun. She turned her head toward me, sunglasses sliding down her nose.
"You okay?" I asked.
"I'm spectacular."
"Modest."
"Also that."
My hand moved a little, thumb tracing along the tie of her bikini bottoms. Her skin pebbled under my touch despite the heat.
"Careful," she said softly.
"With you?"
"With me near a pool full of women who know exactly why I'm walking funny."
I smiled. "You're walking fine."
"I'm walking with dignity and internal evidence."
That line nearly killed me.
Eden made a small sound beside her. Not quite a laugh. Not quite a cough. Penny reached over without looking and linked their fingers for a second.
Eden looked down at their hands. Something crossed her face, fast and unguarded.
Then Shay screamed because Reese had betrayed her again, and the moment broke open into laughter.
"Luke!" Tatum called. "Get in! I require adult supervision."
"You require a warning label," I said.
"That too. But mostly your hands."
"Bell," Kiki said, not looking up from pouring lemonade.
"What? Safety hands."
Shay popped up beside Tatum, grinning. "To be fair, his hands are excellent for morale."
Reese splashed both of them. "Some of us are trying to swim without a live demonstration of every thought you've ever had."
"Coward," Tatum said.
"Accurate," Reese said, and splashed her again.
Eden closed her book. Slowly. Deliberately.
Penny saw it and smiled.
"Going in?" Penny asked.
Eden looked at the pool like it was a negotiation she had not intended to enter. "Maybe."
"You should."
"That sounds like a trap."
"Most good things are."
Eden's eyes flicked to me. Held. Then moved back to Penny.
"Is that your expert opinion?"
Penny's smile warmed, not jealous, not guarded, not anything but happy. "Recently confirmed."
Eden stood.
That got the pool's attention. Shay froze mid-splash. Tatum's eyes went wide. Reese looked at Eden like the sun had changed direction.
Eden took off her sunglasses, set the book facedown on the lounge chair, and walked to the steps with every ounce of Archer composure intact.
Then Tatum splashed her before she reached the second step.
For half a second, nobody moved.
Then Eden wiped water from her face, looked at Tatum, and smiled.
"Run."
Tatum shrieked and tried to swim backward. Shay abandoned her instantly. Reese laughed so hard she had to grab the side of the pool.
Eden went in.
Not all at once. She was still Eden. Controlled entry, chin high, murder in her eyes. But she went in, and when Reese paddled over to her, grinning like she had been waiting for this all summer, Eden splashed her too.
Penny sat up beside me, sunglasses in her hair now, face open and soft.
"Look at them," she said.
"I am."
"No." She leaned into my shoulder. "Really look."
So I did.
Shay and Tatum in the deep end, chaos as a competitive sport.
Reese laughing with her whole body. Eden in the water, still trying to act like she had planned all of this, failing in tiny beautiful increments.
Kiki arranging lunch on the patio table like feeding us was another way of saying she loved us.
Penny beside me, glowing, loved, sore, satisfied, and already part of the bones of the house.
The pool was loud. The sun was high. The house behind us was full of towels and wine glasses and a scarlet dress on my bedroom floor.
"This is getting dangerous," I said.
Penny looked up at me. "Because it's complicated?"
"Because I like it too much."
Her smile went slow.
"Good."
Then she stood, took my hand, and pulled me toward the pool.
"Come on, boyfriend."
The word still hit. Maybe it always would.
I followed her to the water because I wasn't an idiot.
Penny stepped in first, then tugged me after her.
Cool water closed around my legs, then my waist. Tatum cheered.
Shay threatened another cannonball. Kiki told her not near the drinks.
Reese splashed Eden, and Eden splashed her back with more force than dignity allowed.
Penny came into my arms in the water, slick and warm and smiling.
"Happy?" she asked.
I looked at the women in my pool, the house full behind us, the future waiting with all its secrets and trouble and heat.
"Yeah," I said. "I'm crazy happy."
Penny kissed me, soft enough for the pool to pretend it was harmless and deep enough for me to know better.
Around us, the girls laughed and splashed and claimed my backyard like they owned the air.
And for the first time in my life, I was starting to think maybe they did.