Page 61 of I Can't Help It

Hank? Hank who?

On second thought, it’s probably better that I don’t know.

“All right,” Luke drawls as we leave the lounge, “was bingo a hit or miss? Well, excluding our overeager fellow player.”

“Hit,” I reply without hesitation. “But maybe you should include a warning that the game can become heated and competitive depending on who’s playing.”

Luke laughs in agreement, then pulls out his little notebook from his back pocket. “I’ve jotted down a few things since we got here yesterday, but I need to make sure I document everything as much as possible so it’s easier to put my report together afterward.”

In saying that, he quickly writes in the notebook, and then flips to another section before writing something else down.

I raise a curious eyebrow. “Do you normally write notes separately from each other?”

He clicks the pen closed and slips it into the holding spot of his notebook. “Uh, sometimes.”

Odd. But I guess everyone has different methods that work best for them.

“Let’s go see if your room is ready.” He repockets the notebook. “And if it is, we’ll get your key…”

I try to listen as we walk toward the lobby, but how can I focus on what he’s saying when his hand is now resting at my lower back?

There’s no chance.

Luke

Ava needs to be in her own room. We shared mine because it worked out that way, but we can’t keep staying in here together. Especially since I’m dying to kiss her whenever she’s within my reach.

It feels like she’s leaving me though.

Watching her pack up everything she took out of her suitcase hurts more than it should.

I hate it.

“If my room doesn’t have a super soft throw blanket like this one,” she says, holding up the blanket she used last night, “I will come back over here and steal it. You’ve been warned.”

I could just let her take the throw blanket, so she’s covered either way. Ha! Get it? Covered either way? Because it’s a throw bl—

Never mind.

Anyway, I could let her take it, but I selfishly want to keep the blanket for myself. Ya know, since it’s so soft. I definitely don’t want to keep the blanket because it probably smells like Ava.

That would be weird.

“Well…” Ava trails off, zipping up her suitcase. “I guess I’m done.”

Get a hold of yourself, Luke. In fifteen minutes, you both will be together for the cooking class. It’s not like you’re never going to see her again.

“I’ll walk you to your room!” I blurt out, grabbing her suitcase off the bed. “I mean, if you want me to, I can.”

For context, her new room is only two doors down the hall from mine.

She doesn’t need me to walk with her.

“Yeah, you probably should.” She gives me a flirty smile, and I want to kiss her even more. “What if I got lost or something?”

“Right,” I agree as we make our way to the door. “Hallways can be tricky.”

“The trickiest.”

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