It's Complicated (Awkward Love 1)

“Shit,” she whispers, her eyes wide with panic. “Did you hear that?”

I stop what I’m doing and just listen. Sure enough, there's a rustling sound in the kitchen and footsteps. I quickly pull out of her and tidy myself up while she hurries to get dressed.

“Grab something,” I urge her. I throw my hands around a handful of vegetables while Anna randomly starts grabbing milk, cream, butter and whatever all she can reach.

We walk out of the freezer, talking bullshit about what we’re going to cook. I'm doing my best to act natural, but when I see Dan standing there with a bucket full of fish, I'm ready to pass out.

“I was wondering where you two were.” He grins. He glances from Anna to me and then down at the fish. “Do with these what you will, but I'm expecting a Michelin Star-quality meal,” he warns. He turns around and walks out of the kitchen, whistling a tune along the way. I glance at Anna, who lets out a laugh. Before we know it, we’re both in hysterics.

Holy shit, that was close.After dinner, Anna offers to put the kids to bed, to which Max responds he can manage to do that himself. But when Kayla offers to help Anna, suddenly Max needs all the help he can get. I chuckle and shake my head because that kid is becoming one hell of a handful and reminding me a lot of myself at his age.

The two girls disappear with the kids, leaving me alone with Dan and Mandy.

“I’ll clear up since you two did the hard part,” Mandy says. She piles the plates on top of each other and disappears up the stairs. I frown because I get the feeling she was asked to leave us alone, by Dan. That makes me extremely nervous.

“So, are you having fun?” Dan asks, tossing me another beer. I catch it and twist the cap off, drinking half the bottle in one mouthful. Something in his expression is making me uncomfortable like I’m about to be lectured.

“Yeah. The kids seem to be loving it,” I mumble.

“They do,” he says slowly. “Listen, Nick. This is hard for me to say, but I wanted to talk to you about Anna.” He glances around while I silently shit myself. I’m contemplating jumping overboard when he continues. “Have you noticed that she seems to be getting quite attached to you?”

Holy shit. I cough, nearly snorting beer through my nose.

“Attached to me?” I repeat as if the idea has never occurred to me. Dan looks embarrassed that he’s even suggested it.

“Yeah, for lack of a better word. It’s just something I've noticed. I don’t know. It’s not obvious, so I'm not surprised you haven't picked up on it. I just thought that maybe you could make yourself less available to her?” he flushes and glances down at his bottle. “I trust you completely, man. I know you’d never do anything even remotely shady; I'm just worried she might be developing a bit of a crush on you.”

I’m not positive, but I’m pretty sure that the definition of shady is fucking your best friend’s daughter in a walk-in freezer.

This is not the conversation I want to have in the middle of nowhere, on a houseboat. “Yeah, sure,” I say, trying to sound natural. “I haven’t noticed anything, but if it’s something that worries you…”

“Great, thanks, Nick. I really appreciate that I can bring this up without it being weird.”

I stifle a laugh because this is beyond weird. Where the hell did that come from?

Anna and Kayla walk back over to us, deep in conversation.

“Hey, did you know that we’re docking in a town for the night?” Kayla asks.

“Really?” Dan muses. He walks over to the window and looks out. “Huh. I know this place. I came here for a work thing last year. They have a few really cool bars,” he murmurs. He turns back and slowly smiles at me. “Maybe we can go out have a drink? Like old times.”

“Yeah, that sounds great. If the girls don't mind watching the kids,” I say, turning to look at Anna and Kayla. I see a flash of hurt in Anna's eyes, and I cringe. The last thing I want to do is upset her, but if I don't at least pretend to be taking on Dan’s advice, he’s going to get suspicious.

“Let me just see if Mandy wants to come or stay here,” he mumbles. “I’ll be two seconds. Hey, maybe we can even find you a chick for the night.” He chuckles as he disappears upstairs.

Anna glares at me, then narrows her eyes. I shrug helplessly, wanting nothing more than to explain, but not wanting to risk Dan walking back out and see me talking to her. She mutters something too low for me to hear, and then stalks upstairs, with Kayla right behind her.