“Guys have it so much easier than girls.” I stabbed a finger through the muggy air and started ticking off my grievances. “You can take your shirt off in public. You don’t have to shave your legs or armpits. Just your face —and that’s only if you feel like it. And the whole peeing-while-standing bit. Err. So not fair. All you gotta do is pull out your hose and take a leak whenever nature calls.”

Vance’s chuckle cut me off. “My hose?”

“Yeah.” I shrugged. “When I have to talk to Nash and Knox about . . . stuff, I refer to . . . well, I call it a hose.”

“Why not use the technical term?”

“Change the subject,” I demanded, face scalding.

Vance bit his lip, but it did nothing to hide that smug grin or those darn appealing dimples. “I think the current subject is fairly interesting. I see your point about the unfairness, and I’m perfectly okay with you taking your shirt off too.” He reached for the hem of my shirt.

I popped his hand, but that only egged him on. Chuckling, he leaned in for a kiss, but I palmed his face and shoved him away. Vance retaliated by tickling my sides, only making the heat escalate past tolerable.

“It’s too hot for this mess,” I growled and then squealed. We probably sounded like a herd of elephants. Good thing we were alone. And good thing I knew how to deliver the most effective horse bite, considering I’d had plenty of practice with my rascally brothers. I clamped just above his knee, digging my fingers in, sufficiently putting a stop to his tickling attack.

Vance yelped, rivaling any farm dog by far, and rolled away from me. “That’s gonna leave a bruise!”

“That’s what you get!” Out of breath and patience, I hurried to my feet and headed for the ladder before he recovered. “We need to cool off.”

“Where are you going?” Vance grumbled.

“To the pond.”

“Night swim?” His voice lifted with anticipation.

I rolled my eyes. “No. We’re just going to go stand by it and think ourselves cooler.”

“All right, smart aleck.” Vance followed me outside.

“Take Boss’s bike.” I pointed at the tallest bicycle and then climbed on mine.

We raced the mile-long stretch to the back of the property, jumping off the bikes before they even came to a stop, and continued the race on foot down the dock, cannonballing off the end and into the icy-cold water. I think I heard our skin sizzle at contact, and we both released a moaning sigh when we reemerged. Under a clear sky hanging heavily with stars and a crescent moon, we swam the heat away until growing tired before moving to the shallow spot under the dock, out of sight. It was almost completely dark, so only the outline of Vance’s face could be made out as he wrapped me in his arms.