“Did you need something, dear?” Yeah, William definitely told Grace. She looked at me intently, but seemed happy at the idea of me and Tristan.
“Nope. I was just curious.”
I turned away and got to work as I felt my face heat with a blush. After the trio finished breakfast, they headed outside to play before the heat of the day set in.
Where was Tristan? Was he avoiding me? The problem was that I couldn't stop thinking about him. This was something I always did. I always thought too much about things, becoming obsessed and rolling everything around and around in my mind. I wanted to clarify what was going on between us. But as I thought about it, I realized that not enough had happened between us for me to expect him to declare his undying devotion to him. We had sex one and a half times. That was far from relationship status.
But my shaky past with relationships made me crave feeling safe and loved. More often than not, it ruined things for me. I moved too fast and focused too much on what could be and didn’t look enough at what the situation actually was. I needed to just let go and focus on having a good time at the present moment.
I had more time on my hands now. If I couldn't work things out with Tristan, it was still time to have some fun and dip my toe back in to the dating pool. I had the chance to rediscover myself and my true passions. This was exciting, and my newfound life philosophy was exactly what I had been missing.
The rest of the morning passed pretty quickly. I did a few things around the house, and helped WIlliam and Grace get Shiloh ready for an afternoon at the pool at Rebecca and Stephen's house. I had enough to keep me busy and keep my mind off Tristan.
As I was helping Shiloh with her hair, I noticed she was more excited than usual.
“You’re awfully bouncy, this morning. What’s up?” I had carefully parted her light brown hair down the middle and started braiding one pigtail.
“My mommy told me last night that she’s coming to visit soon. I’m so excited!”
Ugh. I knew this was going to be happening, but I still dreaded it. Did that explain Tristan’s absence this morning?
“That’s great, Shiloh! What are you most excited about doing with your mom?”
“There's a lot that we can do together, and you can join us, too.” It was getting hard to braid her hair since she refused to stay still.
It was sweet of her to want to include me, but I wasn’t sure if Regina and I were destined to be best friends. I had no idea what the dynamic was going to be like, but I obviously couldn’t say any of that to Shiloh.
“I’m sure it'll be fun having her around.” I stayed neutral and finally tied off the second pigtail.
We went downstairs, where Rebecca was already waiting to take everyone to her house for the afternoon. After a slightly tense greeting, I helped them pack a bag with sunscreen, towels, snacks, and toys to take in the car. Just as they were ready to leave, Tristan drove up.
My heart skipped a beat as he unfolded his long, lean frame from the driver’s seat of the small SUV he drove. Why did he have to look so good? He wore a relaxed–but I knew deceptively expensive–pair of navy blue shorts and a light blue, short sleeve, button-up shirt. I couldn’t tell what the pattern on the shirt was from here, but I was already unbuttoning it in my mind.
“Daddy!” I heard Shiloh exclaim. Oh right, we weren’t alone. “Look, Arya did my hair!”
I watched Tristan swing Shiloh up in a hug and he looked at me over her head, tossing me a beaming smile and a wink. It was already sweltering outside, but my internal temperature went up another thousand degrees, leaving me sweating.
“You look beautiful, my sweet angel,” he said. He set her down on her feet and helped her get in the car.
“Have fun at the pool! Thanks for taking her, Mom. Have a great afternoon!” He waved as the car pulled away.
At the same time as the car left, I quickly returned to the house. A few moments later, I heard the door open and close, and suddenly Tristan was in the kitchen with me.
“Well, looks like it’s their turn for the Rebecca Adler torture hour. I had to take my shift through breakfast this morning,” he said jokingly. We both laughed.
So that’s where he had been this morning. For some reason, that made me feel a lot better.
“They’re just going to be in the backyard pool. It can’t possibly be that bad.” I wasn’t even convinced by my own words. Rebecca Adler was a pain in the ass.
“Oh trust me, it can be.”
He stared at me, appreciating and appraising. I wanted to apologize to him for how things had ended the other day, but I didn’t have the nerve to bring it up.
“I should get back to work,” I said, vaguely gesturing around me.
“Arya,” he said, barely above a whisper. But the urgency in his voice stopped me in my tracks. I turned to face him and saw him looking serious now. I knew we were about to have The Talk.
“Tristan,” I whispered.