Page 9 of Scoring with my Bestie's Ex

I groan. “Meaning we’ll be hard-pressed to find a place to sleep without a tent or a miracle.”

“Staying with Aaron and Mike isn’t going to be nearly as bad as staying with Steven.” Ellen squeezes my hand. “It’s going to be okay, Bella. I promise.”

Chapter four

Aaron

I wake early to sunlight streaming into my eyes. I stretch out my back, then start to roll.

I nearly fall out of the narrow bunk bed. With a grunt, I catch myself.

“Why’d Coach decide on this place?” I grumble.

Throwing back my blankets, I grab my shower bag and head downstairs. Mike likes to sleep in, and I’ve come to truly enjoy my morning routine here.

Only, this morning when I go downstairs, someone else is already up. The smell of coffee tickles my nostrils.

I pad into the kitchen. Bella sits at the table, a cup of coffee next to her as she sketches in a notebook. She’s so engrossed in what she’s doing that she doesn’t notice I’m here.

She’s a beautiful woman. Long, dark hair cascading in waves down her back. She wears a pale pink blouse that sets off her peaches and cream complexion.

The thing about Bella is that she’s always well-dressed. She’d be able to pull off a flour sack if she tried.

Her tongue pokes between her lips as she works. Craning my neck, I see she’s sketching a dress on a model. It’s a ballgown of some sort, one with a poofy skirt like what princesses wear in movies.

I creep back out of the kitchen, leaving her to it.

After showering, I dress and head back to the kitchen. This time, I make my entrance obvious.

“Morning,” I say. “Coffee smells good. Did you make enough for everyone?”

Bella glances at the full carafe. “Gosh, I hope so.”

Her sarcastic tone makes me chuckle. I pour myself a cup as I scramble to think of what to say.

When Ellen and I dated, Bella and Steven were in one of their prolonged ‘off’ times of the relationship. I never saw much of the two of them together, although Ellen ranted to me about it often enough.

Given what I observed yesterday with Steven trying to strongarm them into staying with him, I believe what she told me.

I wish I could make Steven leave Bella and Ellen alone entirely. It’s clear Steven followed them out here. It may even be that he deliberately checked into their cabin as soon as they checked out, knowing the landslide would make them turn around again.

I’m not sure how much of that is reasonable to assume about him. Maybe it’s best not to apply too much villainy to him.

I’ll leave that to the people he’s hurt.

After grabbing myself some cereal, I sit at the kitchen table. Bella puts her sketches away and closes the book.

“How’d you sleep?” I ask.

Bella shrugs. “Well enough, thanks. I called my boss as soon as I woke up to let her know that I’m trapped here. She said she was going to send me some work, but Ellen told me not to bring my laptop so…”

“So now you have nothing to do but wait,” I supply.

“Pretty much. I love Ellen, she was only trying to help. It’s hard not to be annoyed right now, though.” Bella runs her fingers through her hair.

I wrack my brain for anything I can say or do to help her out. “Maybe the local library has a laptop you can borrow? They might have computers to use, too.”

Bella considers it but shakes her head. “I work with some confidential stuff. I don’t want to take the risk. Especially…”

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