Page 20 of Seven Year Itch
“What’s wrong, Uncle Calder?” Ethan says, splashing water at me.
I wipe the water off my face and tear my eyes away from the bane of my existence as she steps into the pool. “Nothing’s wrong, buttface. Why do you ask?”
“You look grumpy.”
“I don’t look grumpy.”
Ethan jumps up and pokes me on the forehead, nearly gouging my eye out. “Right there. You look mad. Like Angry Bird.”
“All right... stuff it, or I won’t give you those Pokémon cards that are in my suitcase after this match.”
He thrusts his little fists up in the air and cheers as I swim over to Everly, who seems to be dividing up the teams. “Calder, you’re on my team.”
“Who’s on your team?”
“Me, Wyatt, Cozy, and Dakota,” she answers, pointing for me to move to the other side of the net. “Luke, Addison, Trista, Max, and Ethan will take that side.”
I frown and turn on my heel to swim over to Max. “Switch teams with me.”
“No way,” Max says as he stretches his arms out, preparing for the match. “My wife sucks at sports.”
“Switch with me!” I growl and shove him lightly.
“Forget it,” he splashes me like I’m a pest and starts doing jumps in the pool to warm up. Psycho.
Feeling desperate, I move over to Luke. “Let’s trade teams.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t want to be on this side.”
Luke smiles knowingly. “You’re already sharing a room with her. You can’t share a team too?”
“Just quit being a douchebag, and switch with me.”
He sighs heavily and turns to talk to Addison for a moment before finally trading with me.
“No switching,” Everly yells as Luke ducks under the net.
I rush up behind him and thrust my finger through the net at my niece. “Everly, knock it off or I’ll tell your parents about the time I picked you up drunk at that party and snuck you back home so your dad wouldn’t find out.”
Everly’s eyes go wide. “It was homecoming!”
“Do you think your dad will care?”
She frowns and glances over at her dad who just literally put on a sweatband. Where the fuck did he even get that?
“Fine, you and Luke can switch.”
Damn these kids. No respect.
The volleyball game begins, and it quickly becomes way more intense than I anticipated. Teaming up with Max was a bad idea. I forgot how crazy competitive that fucker is. Not to mention a ball hog. I’ve taken elbows and fists to the gut, back, and arms because he’s diving for every ball that comes to our side. Poor Addison and Trista are hanging onto the wall for dear life trying to keep themselves safe. Ethan’s nearly drowned twice! One timeI swear to God Max stepped on his own son’s head to spike the volleyball.
And we’re on the same team!
But he’s not wrong. Cozy is pathetic on the other side of the net. I glanced underwater at one point to make sure she wasn’t wearing flippers because the girl can barely move in the water. At one point, she was just singing along to the music on the patio speakers when a ball smacked her right in the chest. How did she miss that? Everly isn’t much better. You’d think at six feet tall, she’d have some athletic intuition, but she’s more interested in drink refills than playing a lick of defense. Luke, Wyatt, and Dakota have the front net completely covered and are setting each other up like they’re trying out for the fucking Olympics. I want them drug-tested after this match!
“Get your shit together, Calder!” Max screams at me with veins popping out of his neck. “This is game point, and you’re blowing it!”
