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Kendall charged down the stairs in front of Ada and stopped in front of her dad. “Hey. Can my friend Beck come over to swim with us?”
Ada waved her arms dramatically from the stairs. She nodded in big, drawn out movements and then pretended she was adjusting her suit when Kendall looked back at her.
“Sure. You don’t mind that I’m coming swimming, too?” Joe cleared his throat and smiled down at her. “This is…Beck… Beck, who is your…girlfriend?”
I did a double take. “Girlfriend?”
Ada opened her mouth but Joe spoke up before she could. “Kendall has a girlfriend she kisses and it’s fine.”
“Are you old enough for that?” I shuddered. “No. You’re too young to kiss anyone, Kenny.”
Ada had come down the stairs and she gently rested her hand on my chest. “Kendall is fifteen and she’s decided that she’s ready to kiss her girlfriend. We’re not going to make a big deal out of it, right?”
Kendall smiled at Ada. “Thanks.”
I swallowed down the urge to argue about my baby niece being a baby and not old enough to kiss anyone. “Fine. I’m coming swimming, too, though. I want to check this Beck person out.”
“But you’re not going to embarrass me, right?” Kendall frowned. “None of you are going to embarrass me. Right? Please.”
“Of course, they aren’t going to embarrass you, Kenny.” Ada shot us all a stern look and wrapped her arm around Kendall’s shoulders. “Fortunately for you, my parents are taking time to themselves before the movies tonight.”
“Oh, I know. If they were coming I wouldn’t have invited Beck.” She winced. “Sorry.”
“Ada! Milo is trying to eat the sunscreen!” Alex poked his head out of the kitchen and faked a gag. “He’s disgusting!”
I reached out and caught Ada’s arm as she started to rush to the rescue. “Let me.”
Her face brightened and her smile stretched from side to side. She even threw her arms around me and hugged me quickly. “What a daddy.”
I raised my eyebrows as Collin and Joe both coughed to cover their shocked laughs. I watched Ada turn deep red and flounder for what to do or say to clarify. “That’s probably more Joe’s role.”
Ada squeaked out a mumbled response that I was sure no one could understand and hooked her arm through Kendall’s. “Let’s go see if Beck is here yet.”
“He’s eating it!”
“Shit.”
47
***Ada***
“Aretheyswimmingalittle too close? Should I tell them to keep some distance?” Joe sat up on his towel and rubbed his jaw. “What are the rules here? If Beck were a boy I’d have a better idea of what to do. Probably.”
I sat up and looked out at how close the two girls were. My eyes went wide and I smacked Joe’s arm. “The rules are the same. Tell them to leave space for Jesus!”
“Kendall! Ada said you need to leave space for Jesus!” Joe looked over at me and smirked. “That wasn’t so bad.”
Collin let out a whooping shout as he jumped to his feet and ran around Alex and Avery. “I win!”
Avery rolled his eyes. “Whatever. I want a rematch.”
I watched Kendall come stomping out of the water and cringed. With her red face and hard expression she looked like a warrior. “Incoming.”
“Dad! Ada! We’re not doing anything! We’re just swimming. Stop embarrassing me!” She grabbed a bottle of water and frowned at me. “If kissing my dad is making you more like him, you have to stop.”
“You kissed Uncle Joe?!” Alex fell back in the sand and sat right back up, hands clutching his hair. “Why did you do that? He’s old!”
“What the hell, Alex? I’m not old.” Joe grunted and turned a serious frown my way. “I’m not old. And you’re not stopping with the kissing.”
