Page 89 of Falling Into Forever
Opening my bedroom window, I poke my head out. How many are down there? Five? Six? The assholes are on my grass now. Fuckers. I just seeded that shit.
Well, seeds need water, right?
I hit a button on my iPad, and the sprinklers shoot to life at full blast. Grown men shriek and trip over each other, trying to gather their equipment. Laughing, I grab the bucket full of balloons near my feet and climb through the window onto the roof of the front porch.
Finally, the Lemon Festival and all its “fun” is coming in handy. Thank you, Matty Miller, for the water balloons.
I put a penny in each to weigh them down and filled them with whatever else I could get my hands on. Whipped cream, shaving cream, ketchup. I sit against the house so I’m hidden by the overhang and turn off the sprinklers. Then I even give them three whole minutes to walk away on their own.
When they don’t, I launch my second attack. Tossing a balloon into the air with my left hand, I aim and shoot it with the BB gun in my right. Mustard explodes everywhere, then shaving cream and ketchup.
One after another, the men curse and slip on the grass in their hurry to leave my property.
I keep tossing balloons into the air even after they cross the street and yell at me. Unfortunately, I can’t reach them over there, but watching the colors explode in midair is oddly satisfying.
Tires screech to a halt in front of my house, and I hang my head. Freaking Grady didn’t even give me ten minutes. He and Dante jump out of my car with twin expressions plastered on their faces.
“Jesus, Sass. I told you not to…”
I toss another one into the air and shoot it. Shaving cream explodes over Grady’s head.
“When the hell did she learn to shoot like that?” Dante asks.
Grady wipes angrily at his face. “I taught her,” he says through a clenched jaw.
Dante doubles over laughing, and I send another one flying. A mix of ketchup and relish explodes in the air, and Dante narrowly avoids it falling on him.
“I’m going to sue you,” someone shouts from across the street.
I stand up on my roof and shout back. “I told you to get off my property. I warned you that it’s game time. It’s not my fault you didn’t listen.”
“What are you, ten?” another guy yells.
“I’m not the one chasing around women and children with cameras to make a buck,” I shout back. Below me, Dante is ushering Poppy and Lena inside.
“Get. Inside,” Grady grumbles behind me.
Startled, I jump, but he wraps a fist into my T-shirt and pulls me back. “Now, Sassy.”
“Fine,” I say with a smirk, then climb through my bedroom window. “Pretty good aim, huh?”
He glares at me for a long time, like he can’t decide if he wants to toss me out the window or pummel me. “Enjoying yourself?” His head is tilted to the side, and his features soften with something I don’t understand.
“Yeah, I guess. But they deserved it.” I hand him the BB gun before he can take it from me.
He places it on the nightstand, then laughs. Grady freaking laughs. It’s not inhibited, and he doesn’t cut it short, he simply lets it run its course. “It’s good to see you smile, Sass.”
I freeze, while mentally tallying my body’s reactions. My shoulders aren’t touching my ears. My fists aren’t clenched. I don’t have a blinding headache.
What is this? I lift my fingertips to my lips and sure enough, my mouth is smiling.
“Feels good, doesn’t it?” he asks.
My throat is grossly dry. “Yeah,” I admit. “It does.”
“Saylor, what the hell?” Dante asks, storming the bedroom.
Grady reaches back out on the porch roof and grabs my bucket. “How did you even do this that quickly? Dante couldn’t have been gone more than twenty minutes.”
