When our heart rates finally regulated, he reached to the shelf above my head and grabbed a pack of wet wipes. We had those damn things stashed all over the house. With three toddler boys running around, wet wipes were imperative to our daily lives, and they were also apparently handy for quickies in the laundry room. He quickly cleaned us up and lifted me off the washer. “Thanks, baby. I needed that,” I said, pressing a swift kiss to his lips and putting some pool towels under my arm.

“Me too,” he said, grinning down at me. “More later, I promise.” He held my hand and walked me back out to the pool, where I set the towels down on the blue-tiled patio table.

Beau took one look at us and groaned, “Really, Broxton?”

“What?” my husband asked innocently.

Beau looked at him pointedly. “The smiles. The red faces. The messy hair…”

Axel spoke quietly to him, a somewhat smug smile on his lips. “Hey, we have five kids. You know how we roll around here.”

“Yeah, but that’s my sister, dude.” Jeez, my brother is ridiculous.

“And she’s my extremely hot wife,” Ax said, squeezing my butt.

It wasn’t long before Dex and Max were ready for their naps, and Beau and Carrie took them inside to Ms. Casper.

Beau came back alone a few minutes later and grabbed a beer, flopping down in the cushioned lounge chair beside me. “Dex was a little restless, so Carrie’s reading to him.”

We turned our attention to the pool, where Charli and the guys were organizing a chicken fight.

“I challenge Woody,” Charli said with a mocking grin.

“Oh yeah? You’re going down, shorty,” Woody retorted. “Pick your partner, Charles.”

She swam over to our side of the pool, propping her forearms on the edge, and asked sweetly, “You playing, Beau?”

“No,” my brother grunted and pulled his sunglasses down to cover his eyes. What the hell was his problem, the grouchy fucker?

“Okay, then,” Charli muttered, her smile fading a little as she turned back to the other guys and surveyed them. “I choose Cam.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Beau stiffen, and his face looked like he had sucked on a particularly sour pickle as Charli climbed up on Cam’s shoulders. Woody climbed up on Hawk’s shoulders, and he and Charli began to grapple.

Woody tugged her by one arm, and she shrieked, “Don’t let me fall, Cam!”

Cam tightened his hold on Charli, her calves held firmly between his sides and his biceps, while his large hands gripped her thighs. “I won’t, sugar.”