Page 20 of I Can't Help It

“All right,” I say, finishing off the last bit of my muffin, “I know this is just a mini-road trip, but four hours andddd—” I glance down at my phone. “Four hours and forty-five minutes is still a lot of time.” Which I will be thoroughly appreciating. “So, how about I find one of those lists online that has a bunch of random questions?”

The wince on his face should discourage me, but it doesn’t.

“It’s going to be fun,” I tell him as I do a search on my phone for some kind list. “I’ll even answer first.”

“Ava, I don’t—”

“Pleaseeeee? If there ends up being any questions you don’t like, we can just skip over them.”

He taps his thumb against the steering wheel and lets out a sigh. “Okay, we’ll do a question list.”

I keep any triumphant cheering to myself as I choose the first list suggested to me by the internet, but I wait for the maps app to read out loud its next directions before I say anything.

“Did you hear it say you’re going to make a left in a few more miles, and then you’ll just stay on that road for a bit?”

He offers a slight nod. “Sounds good.”

I silently hope this list has some decent questions, so he won’t want to back out of answering them. Even though we’re not strangers to each other, I still feel the need to know so much more about him. I crave that closeness between us like a woman craves chocolate on her period.

Haters will say it’s a myth, but I’m a believer.

“Ava? You okay?”

Oof. I zoned out.

Also? The way it sounds when he says my name should be illegal. He probably doesn’t even realize it’s sexy as heck.

“Uh-huh.” I try my best not to stare at him like a creep. “I’m good. Ready for me to start the questions?”

There’s the wince again. “Um, yeah. Whenever you are.”

I clear my throat, challenging my inner drama queen (aka: Sloane Malick). “Our first question is pretty intense, so I’ll understand if you want to pass.” I pause for a second to build anticipation. “Do you…” Another pause. “…prefer zombies or unicorns?”

I proceed to shake my head, still going strong with the dramatic flair. “Well, I’m going to answer first, since that was the deal; and I have to say I’m not partial to either species because they’re both overrated. If I had to choose though, I would say zombies. I know the Dead and Back movies are cringey, but I actually enjoy them. So, yeah, zombies.”

Andddd, SCENE!

Sloane would be so proud.

“Wow,” he says with a little smile. “That was…a lot. The Dead and Back movies, huh?”

I offer a shrug. “I’m not a hardcore fan, but I don’t mind the series.”

“Same,” he drawls, taking the left turn as my phone reminds him to. “So, I’d have to say zombies over unicorns, too.”

Do I see a Dead and Back movie marathon in our future?

A girl can dream.

Granted, I don’t know how many girls would dream about watching zombie movies with the guy they like, but it sounds like a great date night to me.

Sigh.

“All right, next question,” I say, glancing at the list. “What do you spend too much time doing?”

Luke

What do I spend too much time doing?

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