Page 16 of A Perfect Holiday
“Everyone, set their phasers on kill!” I yelled. “The driest one gets to be Santa.”
“Charge!” Brax yelled and nailed me but good. We started to hide behind anything we could, plugging each other and whooping like a bunch of idiot kids on a sugar high.
As I was getting ready to shoot Brax right between the eyes, cold water exploded against my back, and I yelped like someone had really nailed me with a phaser.
I whirled around to find all three women standing there, but the culprit was Verity wielding the hose.
“Honestly,” River Pearl said. “You three are completely out of control.”
“Wild men,” Aubree agreed.
“A bunch of freaking Outlaws,” Verity added.
“At least they’re not all bloody,” Aubree said, her eyebrow cocked, eyeing Booker. “And I’m not sure if they got into any moonshine.”
Brax moved in, and Verity followed him with the hose. “Not another step.” Brax hesitated and slowed his prowling stance. “You gotta ask yourself. Do you feel lucky?”
I laughed, and she narrowed her eyes, never taking them off Brax.
With a bad boy grin, the gun’s tip swung until it was pointed directly at River Pearl.
“Reach for the sky, sidewinder. I done got the drop on ya. Now, little lady, drop that hose, kick it over here, and step away real slow-like, or the blonde gets it.”
Not moving a muscle, River Pearl leveled a look at Brax. “You might want to rethink that, Outlaw,” she said her tone very dry.
Then I saw the remote in Aubree’s hand. “Get out of the blast zone!” I yelled jumping away but it was too late. Brax shot River Pearl square in the face, and Verity let fly with the hose while Aubree depressed the remote to the sprinklers.
Water was everywhere, and our competition was completely ruined.
It happened so fast that I had no idea how she did it, but River Pearl ninjaed or vampire-morphed over to Brax. Grabbing his arm, she swept his feet out from under him, somehow gettingher hands on the water pistol, and suddenly Brax was flat on his back on the ground, a stunned look on his face. River Pearl gave him a sugar-wouldn’t-melt-in-my-mouth look and knelt down, shoved that pistol down the front of his jeans and soaked him but good.
I doubled over and laughed so hard my stomach hurt, leaving me wide open to River Pearl and her superpowers of moving like lightning and knocking a man on his ass. She was just there, getting me in a headlock. She unloaded Brax’s pilfered pistol right in my face.
“I’m sure,” she said, her voice breaking with exertion and laughter, “You started this.”
Booker came to my rescue, shoved the pistol under her T-shirt and soaked her. She squealed and shoved away from me, dropping the pistol. I’d lost mine in my laughter and dived for hers. Grabbing it up, I nailed her in the face.
And then all hell broke loose again.
By the time a truce was declared, the deck was awash. We were all soaked.
I propped myself up on the deck railing with my arm around Verity, so out of breath from wrestling, laughing, and inhaling water, my nose burned and my lungs were waterlogged.
Brax was watching River Pearl, a look of amused tolerance in his eyes. “Nice shirt,” he said gruffly, referring to the drenched T-shirt plastered to her chest.
Booker, who was standing off to the side, his forehead resting against Aubree’s, his chest heaving, grinned like a fool and tried to get his hands under his wife’s tank top. “Yeah,” he responded, his tone provocative. “Nice shirt.”
“Looks like I’m going to have to pull out the moonshine and boxing gloves,” Brax said.
“Uh-uh,” Aubree shook her head emphatically. “I’ve got a better idea. Saturday night we’ll have a Santa Contest. Therewill be six categories: The Onomatopoeia. For you laymen, that means laughter.”
“The Ho Ho Ho category,” River Pearl supplied.
“The Belly Shake…and that will be open to interpretation, the Kris Kringle Q&A, then Christmas Trivia, and finishing with Reindeer Games.”
Brax rolled his eyes. “Who will be the judge?”
Aubree slapped Booker’s hands away with a smirky giggle. “We will.”
