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I loved my best friend; I really did, but sometimes her concern for me was overwhelming.
Leaving the bathroom and shaking the conversation with Shay, I padded down toward the sound of laughter at the end of the hall. Wedging my shoulder against the door, I watched as my children laughed and giggled at Ryan, who had put on a pair of swimming goggles and wore a massive foam pool noodle around his waist, pretending to be a monster.
He growled, diving down to attack Bella’s belly, and then he roared while diving for Cole. They were laughing so hard…a little too hard, which meant we needed to calm things down before…
“Cole, buddy, calm—”
“Ewwww, Cole farted!” Bella yelled, plugging her nose.
“Dude, buddy…that was…” Ryan started, but he ended up coughing and choking instead.
“What? Everyone farts!” Cole argued, still giggling, his eyes watering with the effort of holding in his laughter.
“How does this thing open?” Ryan rattled the window, trying to push it up, which made me start to laugh.
“You have to release that locking mechanism first.” I pointed toward the latch covering the top of the window.
“Come help me—we’re going to die.” He gasped for air, making a point of being dramatic, which made Cole and Bella giggle even more. Unfortunately, that meant Cole let another one loose.
“Cole!!!” we all yelled.
He toppled over, laughing.
I fumbled toward Ryan. Initially, I was playing along with the joke, but now I was honestly gasping for air. I was stopped by Cole grabbing a hold of my legs, which forced him to slowly fall off the twin bed.
“No, don’t take her,” Ryan fake-yelled, trying to reach for me. He fell short, his gasps for air making my stomach hurt from laughing so hard. Before we knew it, all four of us were in a pile of blankets and shaking with fits of laughter.
“Cole, you’re being careful with that leg, right?” I finally let out a sigh, not ready to get up. Bella was snuggled into my side, Ryan’s muscular thigh pressed into my hip, and Cole was twisted on top of the blankets, covering us.
“Yeah, I’m keeping it up and being careful. I didn’t even swim with it today.”
“Good, but you need to get up, because it’s getting late and we need to get going,” I said, pushing against the bulk of the weight pinning me down.
Ryan made a sound off to my right, but I couldn’t see his face, which was better. He made it sound like he wanted us to stay, but I knew he didn’t. Not really. Whatever his fascination was with us, it would fade. He had movies to make and models to date, and we were just some experiment he was trying on for size during his vacation.
“Come on. Up, up.” I started to wiggle, pushing against Cole’s back. Right as he started to move, he let out another loud fart. “Cole Ryder Woods.” I laughed, shaking my head amidst the pile of limbs and feet jutting into my side.
Suddenly a firm hand gripped my waist and a pair of warm lips touched my ear. “Stay tonight, Bex. Don’t make it complicated, just let them stay.”
I froze at his possessive gesture on my hip, his hot breath fanning my neck as his words landed in my heart like a boulder in a small pond. It was on the tip of my tongue to argue with him, to push his request away, but itwaslate. It was nearly ten at night, and it was another thirty-minute drive home, putting my kids in bed at almost eleven.
“Fine, help me put them to bed then,” I replied, just as softly, speaking carefully to avoid intensifying the waves of uncertainty shifting between us.
A second later, the whole pile shifted, forcing me to the side, along with Bella.
“Okay, let’s get into bed.” Ryan clapped his hands together.
* * *
“I’ll take the couch.”I followed Ryan out of the kids’ room. He kept his head down as he led the way to the same area where I’d taken my bath. I hadn’t dared to look at the bedroom it was attached to.
“I owe you a foot rub, Bex…come on.” He tilted his head in the direction of the room.
My heart pounded at a rapid pace as I followed him, realizing that, after the exhausting day I’d had, I didn’t have enough energy to fight him on this.
Entering his room, I inhaled a steadying breath. Thick beige carpet ran under my feet, until it stopped at the eggshell white walls and large box windows, bordered by a glossy cedar framing. The furniture and bed frame matched the cedar, creating a log cabin vibe. I knew it was just a vacation rental, but it was still nicer than any vacation I’d ever gone on.
“Nice place.” I pushed my hair back, toying with the ends, nervous as hell about where I was supposed to sit. Did he want me on the bed?
