“I can build that.”
“You can?” Aria’s eyes meet mine.
“Shelves are easy. Is that what you want?”
She looks at the books surrounding her then licks her lips before meeting my gaze. “Will it be expensive?”
I want to tell her that she can pay me in another way but bite the comment back, sure that she won’t think it’s funny—at least not right now.
“Just a couple hundred dollars for the material.”
“But what about your time? I know that custom shelves are expensive.”
“We’ll work that out later.”
Shaking her head, she stands. “I’ll just put them in the garage for now.” She starts loading the books into one of the empty totes stacked near her desk, and Gia gets up to help her but not before shooting me an apologetic look.
“We finished setting up the beds upstairs. Do you know where you want the TVs hung?” I ask, wanting to change the subject and put her at ease.
Pausing, her eyes meet mine before she rattles off where she wants the TVs, and once she’s done, Colton and I put them in place and make sure they’re working. When we are finished, we find the girls upstairs hanging clothes in the master closet and tell both of them it’s time for a break. We order sandwiches from one of the local shops in town and pick them up before bringing them back to her place to eat.
Sitting at Aria’s dining table, I feel my cell phone buzz in my pocket, and I pull it out. Biting back a curse when I see Anna is calling, I stand without a word and move away from the table, then outside onto the front porch.
“What’s up?” I answer after putting my phone to my ear.
“You need to talk to your daughter,” Anna says, and before I can ask if she’s okay or what’s going on, I listen to her shout, “Daddy is on the phone! Come talk to him.”
“Daddy?” Olivia’s sweet, quiet voice rings over the line, and I take a seat on the top step, watching two squirrels chase each other around the base of a tree by Aria’s driveway.
“Hey, angel, I miss you.”
“I miss you too.”
“Is everything okay?”
“Mommy is making me eat brussels sprouts,” she informs me, and I grimace, because even as a grown-ass man, I don’t like eating them. “I don’t want to eat them.”
“I know you don’t, but they’re good for you.”
“I don’t like them,” she says, and I picture her pout, which I know is pure torture to witness in person. “They taste like dirt.”
“Have you eaten dirt before?” I ask her while I fight back laughter.
“No, dirt is gross, and brussels sprouts are even grosser.”
Knowing she is not wrong, I press my lips together, hoping some fatherly words of advice or encouragement will come to me, but fuck me, because nothing does besides, “You have to listen to your mom.”
“Fine!” she shouts, then the phone is jostled and a moment later, Anna comes back on the line.
“Thanks for nothing. Now she’s lying on the floor pouting.”
“Don’t make her eat them if she doesn’t want to eat them.”
“She needs to, and maybe pretend to be on my side instead of being a complete fucking pushover all the time,” she hisses right before she hangs up.
Tapping my cell on my knee, I shake my head, pissed and annoyed, two emotions I seem to always feel after speaking to my ex. Nowadays, the only time Anna and I seem to get along is when she wants something from me or is getting her way. The rest of the time, she’s yelling and screaming or shutting me out completely, which sucks, because we have a daughter together, so we should be able to talk about shit like adults. I wish we could get along enough to raise Olivia, but as time goes on, I’m starting to realize that might not ever happen, not when Anna has labeled me the bad guy.
I stand and tuck my phone into my pocket, then pull open the door to Aria’s house, hearing laughter coming from the dining room. I head that way, and the moment I step through the archway, Aria’s gaze meets mine, making me forget my annoyance with Anna.
“Is everything okay?” she asks quietly as I take a seat next to her.
“All good.” I rest my hand on her thigh under the table, giving it a squeeze and watch her cheeks darken before I let it go. Having Gia and Colton here today has been a distraction, which is both good and bad, because the undercurrent of tension running between us is like a livewire, that only needs the smallest spark to ignite.
“What are you doing tomorrow?” Gia asks Aria while leaning into Colton’s side as he places his arm around her shoulders.
“Nothing. I was going to unpack, but since there isn’t really anything left to unpack after all your help today, I don’t have any plans.”
“Then you should come over tomorrow in the afternoon and hang with me and Gino while Colton is at the bar.”
“I would love that.”
“It’s a date,” Gia says, and Colton looks at me, smiling. I know he’s relieved that he and Gia both like Aria, especially since he never liked Anna. No one who means anything to me ever did; my relationship with her was separate from everyone else, something that caused stress in our relationship. I didn’t want it like that, but I couldn’t blame my family and friends for not wanting to be around her, not when she would be rude, demanding, and act entitled. The good thing is, going through what I did taught me a lot about what I want and don’t want in a relationship. It also showed me what I’m looking for in the person I end up with.
Chapter 8
Aria
STANDING ON THE front porch next to Tide, anxiousness flutters in my stomach as we watch Gia and Colton drive off. Having them around all day distracted me from what happened between me and him this morning, but with them leaving, I feel nervous about what might happen, and I’m not even a little excited about the conversation he said we were going to have.
“I told you you’d like them.” Tide’s words bring me out of my thoughts as his pinky finger wraps around mine.
“You were right, but then again, they are easy to get along with.”
“They are,” he agrees, giving my pinky a squeeze. “Are you ready to talk?”
I tip my head back to look at him. Feeling off-kilter when our gaze meets, I nod when all I really want to do is run.
Since I have no choice but to get this over with, I turn, head back inside, and go right to the living room with him at my back. Taking a seat on the edge of the couch, I watch his eyes drop to my lap where my hands are twisting, and his lips press together like he’s trying not to smile. When he takes a seat next to me, I turn toward him and shake my head.
“I know what happened shouldn’t have happened. I like you, and—” My words end on a startled gasp as he grabs my waist and hauls me onto his lap.
“Continue,” he orders once he has me situated, and I blink at him, shocked he was able to move me like I weigh nothing and that he thinks I’ll be able to focus sitting like this.
“Umm.” I lick my lips and attempt to move away, only to have him hold me a little tighter.
“Aria.” He squeezes my waist.