Aelin bit her lip and wrung her hands. "I'm so sorry.” She kept her voice low so the girls didn’t hear over their excited chatter.
Ryan shrugged. "It's fine. I don't mind sleeping on the couch."
Aelin glanced at the leather sofa. “Ryan?—”
“It’s fine. I’ll go grab the last of our stuff.”
“No, stop. I don’t mean—it’s not about the couch. The girls are going to be sleeping right up there.”
Ryan frowned, then sucked in a breath when he realized what she was getting at. Aelin waited for him to snap at her. To tell her she was being overprotective or anxious. But instead Ryan nodded and said, “Yeah, of course. I could sleep in the car?”
Aelin blinked at him. “You’d do that?”
He nodded. “Definitely. I wouldn’t want my daughter sleeping in the same place as a random guy.” He ran a hand over his jaw. “We’ll figure something out.”
When he finished unloading the car, Aelin was writing down the last few items on her grocery list. “Anything you want to add?”
Ryan walked into the kitchen and stopped next to her, glancing over the notepad. He reached out and took the penfrom her. She pulled her hand back a little too quickly when his thumb brushed hers.
His brow furrowed as he leaned over and added popcorn and English muffins to the list. As he straightened, the girls ran down the stairs, already dressed in their bathing suits.
Ryan’s mouth quirked, and he looked at Aelin. “Do you want store or lifeguard duty?”
“You go to the store, Dad.” Amaya grabbed his hand, leading him to the door. “Make sure to get distracted like you always do in the snacks aisle.”
He scoffed. “I don’t get distracted.”
Amaya giggled as he put on his shoes. He gave Aelin an amused look, then stalked out to the car.
“Okay, girls, just give me a few seconds here.” Aelin dragged her suitcase to the small master bedroom. The door opened with a creak, and she stepped inside, moving her suitcase into the corner. The room was just as she remembered, with its rustic wooden furniture and floral curtains.
Ryan’s stuff would need to go in here, too, so it wasn’t cluttering up the tiny living space. She took out her clothes and toiletries and claimed one side of the dresser and a section of the washroom counter, then shoved her suitcase under the bed.
She wasn’t going to make him sleep in the car. It got cold there at night. But then . . . what? Aelin scanned the room. She would give him the bed, but she knew he wasn’t going to take it.
The floor?
She stood and her brain flashed with one ticker tape after another.Ryan was going to be sleeping in the same cabin as her. Ryan was going to be brushing his teeth next to her. Ryan’s clothes were going to be in the same dresser.
It was fine. They were adults, and they could figure out how to be roommates for the week. Extremely platonic, professional roommates. They’d already survived a few weeks of seeing each other every day. How much harder could this be?
She mentally plugged her ears and hummed as her heart tattooedlieson the back of her ribs.
Aelin threw on her swimsuit, a sporty bikini that was so comfortable, she had it in two colours, and paused a second to assess herself in the mirror.
It wasn't that she didn't like her body. After being pregnant and nursing, she felt pretty damn good about how she looked. But she’d always been curvier. Even in high school when she was swimming every day, she was the one with hips and a chest. Most boys had liked it.
Until Clark.
He'd made it clear that he preferred her with less. Less weight, less personality, less opinions. Less of everything that didn’t give him exactly what he wanted when he wanted it.
The barbs he’d thrown at her began cycling through her head.You’re a prude. Did you see how much your thighs jiggled when you did that? That should be an advert for why women need boob jobs.
She shook her head and turned from the mirror. Rule #1 of being at the lake: Clark didn’t get to come that year, in her head or otherwise.
Aelin threw on an old T-shirt and walked down the hall to check on the girls. "You two ready to get in the water?"
Amaya and Bailey squealed.
