Page 41 of More Than Friends

“In the bathroom,” I yell back, a sense of relief overtaking me that she’s back.

Char taking longer to pack up her things than I expected had me second-guessing if she wanted to still stay here for the summer. I don’t want to think too deeply about how disappointed I’d be if she did change her mind.

“Are you clothed?” Charlotte’s voice is closer this time. I stare at the open door, waiting to see her walk into the bathroom.

I can’t help but smirk at her question. “Why don’t you come in and find out?” I tease.

Even though I still can’t see her, I can perfectly picture her rolling her eyes at my comment.

She steps into view with her hands on her hips. “I haven’t even fully moved in, and you’re already flirting with me?”

I place a hand on my chest and give her a smirk. “Who said I’m flirting?”

“Come and find out.” She repeats what I said in a husky tone that’s supposed to make fun of me but instead only makes my smirk grow. “That was absolutely flirting.” She drops to her knees next to me and smiles when she looks at Ava in the tub.

“Maybeyouflirted first by asking me if I had clothes on or not. Would you have preferred I was naked?”

Charlotte’s lips part, and her cheeks turn crimson at my words. “I don’t want to picture you naked,” she hurriedly gets out.

I lift an eyebrow. “Everyone wants to picture me naked. It’s a sight to see.”

Charlotte snorts. It’s an adorable snort, even if it’s at the expense of my ego. Her blue eyes focus on me. “Not everyone. Not me.”

It’s at the tip of my tongue to remind her of the other night. She wasn’t looking at me like she didn’t want to see me naked then. She was looking at me like she wanted to rip my clothes off.I could remind her of that, but I know I shouldn’t. I can’t start anything with Charlotte because I need to focus on Ava. That doesn’t mean I can’t do a little bit of harmless flirting though. It’s too hard not to. I love watching her cheeks get red.

“How did packing go?” I change the subject as I focus on Ava once again. She’s still happily splashing in the water as the tub slowly fills around her. I continue to let the warm water run, keeping a close eye on it to make sure it doesn’t fill too much with the baby bath inside.

“I’m all packed up,” she answers from my side. “I was even able to pass the keys off to Devin, so you’re officially stuck with me for the summer, unfortunately.”

I pull my gaze from Ava to look at Charlotte for a moment. I bite my tongue, resisting the urge to tell her that it isn’t unfortunate at all that she’s here for the summer. She’s here with me and Ava, which is exactly where I want her. “Poor me,” I tease, ripping my gaze from hers before I get lost staring into her beautiful blue eyes.

I fill the bath cup with water and carefully pour it over Ava’s head. She smiles, not bothered by the water on her face at all.

“How did your day go?” Charlotte asks. She places her hands on the corner of the tub and rests her chin on top of her forearm. I glance over at her again; the new position she’s in puts her closer to me than I was expecting. She watches Ava with a smile, and I try to ignore how much more at peace I feel with her back here.

“Turns out maybe she doesn’t hate me,” I respond, turning my attention back to my daughter. I turn the water off for a moment and let her splash in it for a little bit. “We had a good day. We were having a lot of fun until she decided she was going to shit her pants, making noises I didn’t know could come from something so tiny.”

Charlotte giggles from my side.

Fuck, I love her laugh. It makes me smile and creates a tightness in my chest I can’t describe.

“Yeah, I’ve definitely heard some intense sounds come from my nieces and nephews. But congratulations on handling your first blowout. Up all nightanda massive blowout…you’ve been initiated on having an infant.”

“Turns out Ava loves the water though. We haven’t been in here long, but she seems to love the bath.”

As if she understands me, Ava kicks at the water and lets out a happy squeal when some of the water hits her in the face.

Charlotte reaches into the bath and runs her fingers over Ava’s cheek. “Are you a water baby?”

“I think she is.”

“We’ll have to get her in the pool one of these days. I bet she’d love that.”

I nod. “Yeah, I thought about doing that today with her, but I was nervous. What do I do about the sun? Can babies wear sunscreen? Is it even warm enough outside yet for her to be in the pool?”

It’s quiet for a moment. I expect Charlotte to answer my questions, or at least comment, but she doesn’t say anything. I try to wait patiently for her response, pouring water over Ava to keep her warm, but the silence eventually gets the best of me. I look over at Charlotte and find her staring at me with a soft smile gracing her perfect pink lips.

My eyes narrow. “What?”