Aelin bit her lip, then crept across the room to the dresser. She pulled out the olive green version of her bikini along with a pair of running shorts and a tank top, then tried to sneak to the washroom. Ryan was already turning his head.
"Morning," she whispered, her cheeks flushed as she held her clothes to her chest. Hopefully hiding that she was definitely not wearing a bra.
"Morning.” Ryan’s voice was thick with sleep. He pushed himself up from the floor.
Aelin slipped into the washroom and exhaled. It was fine. They were sharing space, it wasn’t a big deal. She cringed as she stripped off her cotton shorts and shirt imagining what Ryan’s night must’ve been like. The reason she didn’t take Bailey tent camping anymore was that she felt geriatric after one night on the ground. And that was on a camping pad. She had been a gymnast. Her joints were decidedly worse than most adults she knew.
Aelin pulled on her bikini, her shorts, and tank top, then quickly washed her face and brushed her teeth. She pulled her hair into a ponytail and opened the door to the bedroom just in time to catch Ryan standing with his back to her, his arms over his head as he pulled on a heather grey T-shirt.
Mmm. Okay. His muscles shifting over his shoulder blades. The tight taper of his waist.Was it possible for women to get morning wood?
She exited the washroom, humming to herself. Because humming the theme from a children’s TV show would prove how far she was from having visceral sexual fantasies about her daughter’s friend’s dad.
“I’ll go wake the girls!” she said in a tone worthy of a newly hired ride operator at Disneyland and escaped into the hall.
_____
The boat bobbed gently as Aelin's dad pulled on his wetsuit, his slalom ski resting against the side. Her mom adjusted her sunglasses, one hand on the throttle, the other on the steering wheel of the sleek Mastercraft. "Ready when you are," she called back, grinning in the rearview mirror.
Bailey and Amaya were already in their spots, their life jackets secure. They chatted hesitantly with Mariah’s girls, Alicia and Mary. When the kids had dipped their feet in the water, they'd opted to let the adults go first. So kind of them.
Mariah nudged Aelin, hugging her knees closer to her chest. "Mom still does that thing. Where she puts her foot up like she's pressing the gas pedal."
Aelin snorted, then pointed it out to Ryan. Mariah's husband Leo was at the back of the boat keeping the rope clear. He always let their parents drive for each other. Mostly out of self-preservation.
"Hit it!" their dad called out, and the engine went from a soothing thrum to a full roar. Dave pulled against the rope, keeping his knees curled to his chest until he popped up and straightened. The girls cheered, and Aelin grinned, smoothing the hair that escaped her elastic and whipped against her face.
The sun shimmered across the water, making a path of melted gold. Aelin shifted in her seat, and her calf brushed up against Ryan's. She pulled away, then knocked into him again as the boat jostled.
He leaned in. "It's fine."
Her cheeks flushed, and she forced herself not to make it more weird by shoving herself further into Mariah's lap. People touched. They were in close quarters.It's fine.
No amount of self-talk convinced her skin to stop tingling where it touched his. She fiddled with the zipper on the lifejacket in her lap, remembering what she'd agreed to the night before.
If they were both boring and sad and decidedly not living up to even a fraction of their fun potential, what if they did the opposite? For the whole week, what if they decided to do what they didn't think was the practical choice.
They'd both agreed it should start in the morning since they were exhausted from driving all day and extroverting at the campfire, buttomorrowthey would be the fun versions of themselves.
Well, now it was tomorrow. And she could barely force herself to make skin-to-skin contact with someone on a boat. Not off to a promising start.
“I texted you about lunch!” Mariah called, holding her hair out of her eyes.
Aelin held up her phone. “It’s on airplane mode. Pictures only for the week.” It felt strange not to be connected to home, but she’d sent texts to Megan and her lawyer Jules letting her know what the number was for their cabin. Ryan had done the same with his in-laws. If there was an emergency, they’d hear about it.
Mariah’s eyes widened. “The whole week?”
Aelin shrugged. “I needed a break.” A spray of mist hit her face as her mom curved the boat toward the centre of the lake, cutting through the glassy surface like a knife. Her dad looped his arm through the triangle at the end of the rope and adjusted the shorts of his wet suit.
"Your grandpa is so good!" Amaya yelled over the engine.
The boat hit another wave, and when her arm shifted to the side, she left it there, pressed against Ryan's side. She could feel the steady rise and fall of his breathing as his warmth seeped into her.
Her dad cut back and forth across the wake, his movements fluid and controlled. Her mom kept the boat steady, giving him athumbs-up every thirty seconds. It was adorable. Finally, her dad slid his hand over his throat and let go of the rope, striking an Archer pose as he sank into the water.
Amaya and Bailey did rock, paper, scissors to see who was up next. They were both obviously hoping to lose, and Ryan laughed when Amaya chose paper, covering Bailey's rock for the tie breaker.
Amaya pursed her lips as Mariah did a test run with the skis, making sure they fit her feet properly. She walked her through the process, then sat on the back of the boat and showed her how to hold herself in the water. Amaya nodded, then dipped her foot over the edge.
