Dunked

Scott braces himself as he sees the bucket hovering over him, but nothing can stop him from getting drenched.

Spitting and sputtering, he sits up, cocking his head to look up at Katie. “You realize this means war.”

His eyes catch sight of Kyle running for the pool and he stands, grabbing Katie’s hand. “I hope you brought you swimsuit, because you’re getting in that pool whether you like it or not.”

With the chatter and laughter still going on around them, Scott sprints for the pool, not letting go of Katie’s hand.


“A dip sounds fabulous.” Con moves to sling his arm around Jamie’s shoulder, and follow the others who are headed to the pool. On the way though, he’s sidetracked by Bret and Charlotte.


“You HAD to get me, huh?” Bret sets his hands on his hips and lifts one eyebrow at Charlotte. Within second though, a grin seeps out. Reaching out, he pulls her close, looking her in the eye. “Well I just HAD to do this.” Tilting his head, he plants a kiss on her lips.

“Hey! None of that smoochy smoochy out here in public.” Con breaks up the kiss, putting Bret in a side headlock and starting to drag him away.

“Aw, Tank!” Bret struggles, but can’t help a laugh. “Let go before I belt ya.”

Con stops and cocks his head to see Bret’s face, not letting go. “You want to go up against me?”

Bret stops struggling for a moment. “On second thought…lead the way.”

Con grins and turns to holler at Charlotte. “Better hurry up. You’ll have to come to the pool if you want to see this man of yours again.” He continues to drag Bret, his other arm still slung around Jamie’s shoulder.

Bret staggers beside him. “Alright, you can stop now…Con…you can let go of me now…Conrad!”


Laura’s eyes widen and she resist Nate’s kiss as she feels the water soaking through her shirt. Pulling away, she gives him a smirk. “You big meanie.” She slaps his arm. “I was just ready to go get my swimsuit on. Couldn’t you have waited a couple more minutes?”


Jen smiles at Misty. It was almost like a treat to her, to have someone else who was willing to help her out and who didn’t mind. “I should be okay. I’ll just head over to the car and get my swimsuit, then I’ll meet back with everyone at the pool. Thanks, Misty.”


Not fifteen minutes later, it’s the adult’s turn in the pool. While the shallow end is still occupied by several children, most have gotten out already, and the deep end of the pool is now occupied by the loud group of adults…or at least they appeared to be adults.

“Whoa!” Kyle is already in the water and sees Con coming slowly toward the diving board. He waves his hands in the air. “No whales allowed!”

Con ignores him and steps to the end of the board. “Oh, come now…I’m just a little whale.”

Kyle laughs. “Alright…I suppose you’re okay. But if you overflow the pool, it’s your fault.”

Con gives a sly grin and positions himself as if he’s going to dive, and several move out of the way to give him room. But as soon as he’s airborne, he curls up into a ball. The splash is enormous, catching everyone who is near the diving board.

“Aw, Con!” Laura gives a cry as she’s caught by a wave.

He comes up, unable to help his smile and look of innocence. “What? What did I do?”


Jason leans back against the fence that surrounds the pool, having been convinced by Mike to at least come to join the chatter even if he wasn’t going to swim. He grins a little at Con’s antics, far enough away to feel only a bit of spray from the splash.

Camryn walks alongside the pool, stopping near Jason to throw her towel down, claiming a spot. “Hey handsome, you decided to be sociable afterall.”

Jason looks up from his seat and squints in the sunlight. “You talking to me?”

“Well I certainly wasn’t talking to Kyle – he’s got a big enough head the way it is.”

“I heard that!” Kyle calls from the pool.

Camryn laughs and shakes her head. Her brightly colored two-piece swimsuit made it obvious that she wasn’t here just to sit. Crossing her arms, she looks down at Jason, who was fully clothed in jeans and t-shirt, having only relented to taking off his shoes and socks. “You don’t look at all like you’re having enough fun.”

“Oh, I’m having plenty of fun,” he retorts.

Camryn shakes her head and moves to stride to the diving board. “Sure you are.” Making sure no one is in the way, she springs off the board for a smooth dive into the water, swimming a ways before coming up near the edge. “Oooh does that feel good.”

“On a day like today?” Phil laughs. “Yes, it does.”

Camryn holds onto the side of the pool, looking at Jason. “Come on…the water’s great.”

“I did not intend on swimming today.”

“What? Don’t know how?”

Jason rolls his eyes. “Of course I know how.”

“Well why don’t you show me?”

“I don’t want to strain my knee.”

“It’ll be good exercise. Why don’t you just come in?”

“Because I don’t want to.”

“Chicken.”

“I am not!”

Camryn throws him a smirk. “I think you are.”

“Do I look like I’m prepared to swim?” Jason holds out his arms. “I didn’t even bring trunks with me, so the answer is no. I got my feet wet, that’s as far as I go.”

Camryn pulls herself up out of the water with a splash, flicking some water in Jason’s direction. “You’re a real pain, you know that?”

“Takes one to know one.”

Camryn’s jaw drops as her hands go to her hips. “You’re cruising for a bruising, you know that?”

Jason finally gets to his feet, hobbling a little. He was tired, this whole day had been a disaster, and he just wasn’t in the mood for this. “I think it would be safer for me to go find a nice shady tree where there are no annoying girls around to pick on me.”

“Ooh, no you don’t.” Camryn grabs his arm. “Stay. I promise to behave myself.”

“That I’d like to see.”

Camryn huffs. “Someone wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, or what? I’ve been trying all evening to get you to enjoy yourself, but you’re downright cranky.”

Jason takes her by the shoulders and turns her back towards the pool. “How about you just enjoying your swim, hmm?” He gives her a light shove, intending to get her back in the water.

Camryn, however, turns at the last moment and grabs hold of Jason’s shirt. Falling backward, gravity takes over, and Jason is pulled right along with her.

The splash is huge as both plunge into the pool. Camryn comes up first, unable to hold in her laughter. After several moments, Jason finally emerges, able to stand up in the water where Camryn has to tread. His eyes narrow. “Do you realize that because of you, I’ll now be walking around in wet clothes the rest of the evening?”

Camryn stifles another giggle. “Sorry?”

Before she can react, Jason has grabbed her and dunked her under the water. She comes up shrieking and he just dunks her again, her efforts to take him down with her doing no good. Letting her up again, he finally releases her. “That’s not good enough punishment, but it’ll have to do.”

Camryn slaps the water with teasing frustration. “Will no one help me?!”

That’s all Kyle needs and before anyone can react, he’s underwater, grabbing Jason’s ankles out from under him. Jason goes under once more, coming up sputtering as he’d swallowed water that time. Though his knee hurt, it wasn’t as bad in the water with no weight to hold it back. Spinning around he sees Kyle as his new target.

Kyle’s eyes widen, realizing his mistake. “Whoopsies.” He gives Jason a cheesy grin. “Accident?”

“Accident my foot.” Jason lunges after him, though has to swim to keep up. Within minutes, others are involved in a dunking war, Phil seeming to be the only one on Jason’s side. Having trouble with being weighed down, Jason pulls off his tee and flings it onto the ledge before taking another aim at Kyle, this time succeeding and getting him under the water.

Camryn moves back away from the waves, a grin on her face as she watches Jason with the others. Her mission had been accomplished. He may not be wearing a smile yet, but at least he was having some fun.