Ryan’s lips twitched. “You remember that?” She nodded. He exhaled and pointed to a pile of clothes next to him. “I was going to change, but I couldn’t get this thing off in the car, and I didn’t want to flash your neighbours.”
Aelin couldn’t help but smirk. “Please tell me someone saw you walking up to the house like that.”
He chuckled. “Thankfully, no, but one guy did walk past with a dog that seemed very intrigued.”
Aelin shifted the groceries in her arms. “How long have you been here?”
Ryan shrugged. “About forty-five minutes. You said you were coming home.”
She gave an apologetic smile. “I stopped for supplies.”
He wet his lips. “What kind of supplies?”
Aelin’s cheeks heated. “Ice cream. And cucumbers.”
Ryan’s lips turned up. “Delicious.”
Aelin rolled her eyes. “What are you doing here? I thought you were setting up for the wedding.”
Ryan nodded. “I was, but then I got your text.”
“I didn’t mean to interrupt you.”
“You weren’t interrupting.” He stood, then looked down at the spandex shorts riding up his thighs and thought better of it. “I like your new Wi-Fi network.” Aelin huffed a laugh as Ryan sat and leaned over his knees. “You never told me the story of the last one.”
She shifted her weight. “There was a guy who was always connecting to our network. Clark wanted to put a password on it, and we eventually did, but it was always so annoying when friends came over and we had to sign them in. So, for a while, itwas open. The guy’s laptop had his name in it, so I decided to send him a message.”
Ryan smirked. “You’re the one who named it that?”
Aelin shrugged. “I thought it was funny.”
“And what about this one?” Ryan glanced down at his phone screen.
Aelin had thought long and hard about what to name the network when they moved in. The only thing she could think about was that damn Post-it note Ryan had left on the counter. RyansNotaDouchebag seemed like the perfect statement to make.
Her cheeks flamed hotter. “I guess I hoped that at some point you’d connect to my Wi-Fi.”
Ryan’s eyes darkened. “Easy to do when it has the same password.”
Aelin’s mouth went dry as she glanced at the front door. She cleared her throat. “Do you want to come in? I need to get this ice cream in the freezer.”
Ryan nodded and picked up his clothes from the bench. She handed him one of the bags after walking up the steps, then pulled out her keys, making a point to show him she had them this time.
They walked into the townhouse. It was still covered in boxes, but at least there was a path down the hall. With her pulse thrumming, Aelin strode into the kitchen, put away the groceries, then folded up the bags and set them on the counter.
Ryan was there. In her house. Alone.
Aelin glanced up at Ryan standing on the other side of the island. “Are you going to change?”
Ryan paused a moment. “Do you want me to change?”
Aelin chewed her lower lip. “I’m not sure. I can’t decide how I feel about . . . all of that.”
“I can wait a bit.” Ryan pressed his palms into the counter, nonchalantly flexing his triceps.
Aelin laughed, then sobered as he continued to watch her. “Thank you for those text messages,” she said, her voice just above a whisper.
“They weren’t too much?” he asked.
