Alex sighed. ‘Honestly?’
‘No,’ Beth replied. ‘Lie to me.’
She smiled. ‘Well, I woke up one morning, looked over at him and realised that I wasn’t in love with him anymore. That I could absolutely picture my life without him in it, romantically.’
‘Oh dear. Was he devastated?’
‘Not at all,’ Alex replied. ‘In fact, I think he was grateful I said something first. I’m not sure we ever fell in love to be honest. We were young. I think we just fell into a relationship. One minute he was good company, the next he was moving into my new house with me.’
‘And no one since him?’
Alex felt her eyes drift towards Aiden.
Oh God, he has his top off! The boxers were bad enough, now I’m forced to see his torso? Is this a Texan thing?
‘Alex?’
‘Sorry. No, not really. All the good ones are taken … God, this is depressing. You want to paddle?’
‘Definitely,’ Beth replied. ‘I’m roasting.’
Alex helped her up and they walked over to the shoreline and stepped in.
‘Christ, that’s colder than I expected!’ Beth squealed. ‘I remember now why we didn’t go swimming and, oh my word, Aiden appears to be shirtless.’
‘Really?’ Alex replied. ‘I hadn’t noticed.’
‘How is it?’ Paul yelled, pulling their focus away from Aiden’s flesh.
‘Baltic,’ Alex responded. ‘Enter with caution!’
Alex barely got the words out before Beth’s leg went out from under her. She shrieked as her knees hit the water. Paul immediately sprinted over.
‘Fuck, are you OK?’
‘I’m fine, I’m fine’ Beth reassured everyone. ‘Just lost my footing. God, my arse is soaking.’
As Paul leaned in and helped her up, he noticed blood running down her knee. ‘You’re bleeding! You should have had your stick.’
‘Don’t fuss,’ she said. ‘I’m fine, just a scratch. Help me back to the house, will you?’
Alex and Aiden stood back, watching Paul help his wife hobble home. ‘Well, the beach trip was fun while it lasted,’ Alex remarked.
Aiden shrugged. ‘Doesn’t have to be over just yet. We could do a little wading.’
‘Paddling,’ she corrected with a grin. ‘You’re not in Texas anymore.’
‘Fine… paddling. We should paddle.’
Alex instinctively looked towards Tara’s direction. ‘I’m not sure.’
‘We’re just talking,’ Aiden said. ‘People do that, you know. I’ve heard it’s quite popular. We did enough of it on the plane.’
‘I know! But see, the problem is that now I know who you are, I’m finding it hard to know what to say! Or what to do… or even where to look, for feck’s sake, can you just put your shirt back on.’
He glanced down at his bare chest. ‘It’s summer, Alex.’
‘It’s obscene is what it is.’
