One Night...

Chapter 10

Scarlett stood in a complete daze, Morgan's words running through her head over and over again. "No wonder Andrew was so in love with you after he met you..." What did that mean? Like infatuated with her? Had he wanted to see her again after their tryst? Her heart was racing as she thought of her red-headed friend and her ever-so-complicated feelings about him. She shook her head, trying desperately to snap out of it and not let all of her crazy thoughts take over her again, and she raced down the stairs to follow Morgan, running smack-dab into Andrew as he was walking out of the kitchen and past the staircase.

"Woah, woah, lady with a baby," he teased her, grasping her waist instinctively to keep her from falling over. "Where's the fire, Scar? Are you jetting because they're already too much and you're going to draft a restraining order or something?" The red-head looked at her with a gleam in his chocolatey eyes, and she shook her head absently. He casually glanced down at her, and his mouth went dry as he saw her in her swimsuit. She was insanely hot, and even though he'd essentially met her and then immediately seen her naked, he was suddenly very uncomfortable with seeing her in this state of undress. Ryland had to make it a pool day, he thought to himself with an internal groan. He cleared his throat a little, trying to think if he should say something about how beautiful she was, given that she'd expressed concern about her changing figure, or if that would make things even more uncomfortable. He decided to keep it light.

"OK, show off, they're not gonna really believe you're carrying my kid if you come out looking like that," he told her, playfully rolling his eyes, and hers went wide. "Uh...," she stuttered, and he immediately felt like he shouldn't have said anything. "I'm sorry, Scarlett, I... that was probably crossing some line. I just, you know, you were worried about wearing a swimsuit and I..." he started to stammer, and she immediately grinned, always feeling so strangely comforted when he rambled, a sure sign he was nervous. "Andrew, it's... it's OK," she said to him kindly, patting his shoulder. "Nothing with you is ever over the line," she told him with a smile, and his eyes immediately softened. "You're the coolest," he told her, heading out to the pool, and she followed him.

She sat on the lounge chair next to Shane as she watched Morgan, Ryland and Garrett horsing around in the pool. Shane was nursing a glass of tequila, and she immediately smiled at his attire, black robe still firmly in place, and he was wearing a giant face shield. "If you're thinking I'm the crazy eccentric matriarch of some weird dysfunctional group of siblings, well... you'd be right," he told her with a grin, and she giggled. "I'm the Queen, and I'm not apologizing," he declared with silly flair, and she nodded approvingly. "I completely respect that about you," Scarlett said, and he laughed. "The truth is, I hate going outside, but I'll do pretty much anything for that bougie little princess," he said, gesturing to Ryland, and Scarlett guffawed. "He said, we gotta meet Scarlett and show her a fun time, we gotta have a pool day, and I just, you know... acquiesced. I guess we know who the real Queen is," Shane said, and Scarlett smiled.

"You guys are a cute couple," Scarlett told Shane as she watched Ryland hassle Andrew into getting into the pool. "Ryland's the love of my life," Shane said with a sigh, and Scarlett looked at him, locking eyes with his beautiful clear ones. "Just don't tell him I told you, OK?" Shane said, and Scarlett nodded. She shielded her eyes from the sun and watched Andrew talking to the others. "They'll get him to jump in there soon enough," Shane said, sounding like a dad. "They always manage to get him to do exactly what they want," and Scarlett laughed as she watched Andrew peeling off his t-shirt to hop in the pool. Her eyes went wide as she watched him, silently stunned as she took in his muscular arms and toned chest and stomach. She had never seen him like that before, save for the time they'd had sex, but that night was admittedly pretty hazy. She didn't know why she was surprised, knowing full-well that he hiked a ton, but she was visibly shook at how hot he was. She tried her best to seem nonchalant, desperately hoping Shane hadn't noticed, but she sensed that nothing got by the hilarious YouTuber.