Chapter 27: Exchange (Aria's POV)

I turned the TV off as The Shining just finished. It was the one decent movie I could find. I heard the door beep with a key card before it opened. I straightened up in bed while he walked in with two shopping bags. One, of his ties and the other, with my bathing suit. 

"I come bearing gifts!" he exclaimed, setting both bags on the bed. "Here." He held out one bag for me to take. "It's not too revealing, just like you asked. I bought you a nice and simple one-piece. I thought you'd like it. The smalls seemed a little big so the woman gave me these." He fished out something from his back pocket, handing it to me. Two of them. 

"Oh." I took them. "We can just hook these on the straps at the back if they're too loose and pull them together like a halter to tighten them," I explained. 

He stared at me blankly. "Nope, I didn't understand." 

"Nevermind," I laughed. "I'll change and then we can go?" 

He nodded as I stood up and went into the bathroom with the shopping bag, locking the door shut behind me. I haven't been swimming in so long, I'm so excited. I put the shopping bag on the counter, bouncing on the balls of my feet while reaching into it and pulling it out. I put it on the counter and frowned immediately. I reached back in, pulling out the bottoms. 

Not revealing? One-piece? Nice and simple? 

"Alexander!" I unlocked the door, going back out. 

"What's wrong?" he asked. 

"This? This is your idea of a not revealing, nice and simple, one-piece?" I asked, holding up the bikini, the top in my right hand and the bottom in my left. 

"Um... no. No, that is not my idea of what you just... I did not buy that for you." 

"Are you seriously joking right now?" 

"No, no, I swear. I'll check the receipt too." He pulled out the crumpled receipt from his pocket, scanning in. "It says 'black one-piece' see?" 

"Okay. But does this look like a black one-piece to you?" 

"No," he mumbled, looking at the bikini in my hands. "It looks like a light blue bikini with sparkly, metal, blingy straps." 

"That's because that's exactly what this is. What happened to the black one-piece?" 

"I don't... oh. Oh no. Oh no, no, no," he groaned, sitting at the foot of the bed. "That lady!" 

"What lady?" 

"That woman!" 

"What woman?" 

He huffed. "While I was there, another girl was there shopping for herself. I was paying but she was in such a rush that she cut me in line and threw all her things at the cashier. I already paid but... maybe in a rush the cashier switched this out for the one-piece? There must have been an exchange." 

"An exchange?" I groaned. Well, this exchange is really costing me an entire day I could have spent swimming 

"Aria, I'm so sorry." He stood back up. "We can go swimming tomorrow. I can get you that one tomorrow if you want. Or I can go right now too. If you-" 

"No, you just got back, I won't send you off again," I mumbled grumpily, slouching and sitting beside him. "Maybe we can go tomorrow," I shrugged, tossing the bikini on the bed. 

"But... you seemed so excited to go swimming," he stated. 

"I was. I haven't been swimming in forever, I thought I could have fun. Nevermind," I sighed, standing up. "We can just watch a movie." 

"Why don't you try it?" 

"Huh?" 

"Just try it. If you feel too uncomfortable you can change right out of it and we won't go. If you're comfortable then we can go. It's a bikini, I'm sure plenty of girls would be wearing them." 

I raised my eyebrows at him. 

"Not that I'll be looking," he cleared his throat. "And I already paid too. Come on, just try it on. You don't have to show me," he shrugged. 

"I don't know," I mumbled, staring at the bikini. It's not too revealing considering that it's a bikini. I'm sure there are bikinis out there that are much more eye-catching. But I was expecting a one-piece I could just be more comfortable in. Guess not. 

"Come on, come on, come on." He grabbed my arms, pulling me up. I grabbed the bikini while he pushed me into the bathroom. "Try it on." And then closed the doors, throwing me in here. 

I locked the door, stripping out of my clothes with a sigh. I pulled on the bikini, clasping the top shut, and then looked in the mirror. I blinked in surprise. I looked down, then back up, and repeated this a couple of times. I looked at the tag that I broke off before putting them on. It's small-sized but the top happens to be a push-up bikini. Fantastic. The blue bottoms were high-waisted and sat in a v-shape along my hipline. 

I looked fine. It didn't look as weird as I thought it would, nor did it make me feel as comfortable as I thought it would. "Whatever, it's not like anyone sees it underwater anyway," I mumbled to myself while throwing my hair up in a high ponytail. I opened the door, sticking my head out. "Alexander?" 

"Yes?" 

"Can you pass me a pair of shorts from the suitcase with a t-shirt?" 

He appeared in front of me moments later with a white t-shirt of mine and a pair of denim shorts. 

"Thanks," I replied, taking them. 

"Are we still going swimming?" 

"Yes," I nodded. "We're still going swimming." 

"Okay, don't come out here then. Let me change." 

"Just tell me when I can come, okay?" I closed the door and pulled the shorts and t-shirt over the bikini and then applied sunblock while waiting for his permission to come out. 

He opened the bathroom doors and came inside, picking up the sunblock from where I kept in on the sink as I applied it to my arms. He was just in plain black swim trunks. They had a thin neon green line on each side. "Oh, can you get my back?" he asked. 

"You don't burn but sure," I shrugged. 

"You don't burn either but sunblock is still necessary." 

"Okay," I sang, squeezing some out onto my hand. I stood behind him and rubbed my hands together, putting handprints on his back with my sunscreen. I snorted and kept going. 

"I'm not a canvas and you're not four years old," he stated. 

"But it's fun," I shrugged. Once my handprints weren't coming off as clearly anymore, I rubbed the sunblock in. "All done." I went outside and pulled on the huge hotel slippers. 

"We'll get towels there and I'll take the key card. Come on." 

I followed him out, in my own world, mentally. When the elevator dinged open on the rooftop, I realized that it wasn't too crowded. Maybe because it's in the middle of the afternoon. But whatever. There was just one family of four and three women sitting on sun loungers. We grabbed a sun lounger under the shade and put all our stuff there. "Is it too early?" I mumbled while looking around, squinting a little under the sun, even though most of the pool and this side of the rooftop were in the shade of the building's shadow. 

"A little, but what does it matter? We don't have anything else to do. And the less crowded the better, no chances of accidental drowning then," he said while knocking his slippers off. 

"I guess," I mumbled, unbuttoning the shorts. It's always awkward taking your clothes off by the pool so I did it as quickly as possible. 

"I'll go get the towels." 

I saw one of the women lower her sunglasses and follow Alexander with her eyes. "This is what I get for marrying an attractive guy like him," I mumbled to myself while grabbing the hem of my tank, pulling it over my head. I tightened my ponytail, before shaking my head, sighing. I'll be tortured like this for the rest of my life. With women drooling over my husband and flirting with him. "How annoying." 

"What's annoying?" 

I spun around, seeing him making his way over to me, holding out the towel for me as he looked at the women. 

"Why is she looking at me like that?" he mumbled to himself. "Anyway, what's annoying?" 

"Nothing," I replied, taking the towel. 

He turned to me and looked at me up and down. 

"Keep your thoughts to yourself," I said quickly. 

"Okay," he mumbled, putting his towel on the sun lounger. "But why is she looking at me like that?" he asked himself again. 

I rolled my eyes, biting back a laugh, and went towards the pool. I settled down, dipping my legs in while sitting on the edge, leaning back on my hands, and squinting a little under the sun.

He came down, getting into the water and standing beside me. He turned around, his back to the women, and faced me. "Why do they keep staring?" he asked softly, resting his arms on the edge. 

"Because you're you," I laughed. 

"What does that mean?" 

Why is he so modest now but extremely cocky when he's trying to annoy me?

"You're Prince Alexander. Tell me. What does that mean?" I arched a brow at him sharply. 

He frowned in confusion. "What does that mean?" he asked again. 

"Don't you look in the mirror every single day?" 

"I do. But what does that have to do with this?" 

I sighed. "They think you're attractive." 

"And you?"

"What?" I chuckled. 

"You don't?"

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Chapter 27

I think there were only like two people who guessed that the swimsuit would be exchanged lol

next chapter: gratitude