Page 77 of I Can't Help It

“Sure,” she says, giving her orange beanbag a little shake. “Here it goes.”

She tosses the bag, but it misses the hole, and her board, by at least a foot.

Ava proceeds to fake a cough. “Stupid wind.”

“Wind can be such a menace,” I drawl, even though there isn’t a breeze right now. “The worst.” And in saying that, I toss my yellow bag and it goes through the hole of my board.

“All right, showoff, are you going to give me some pointers?” she asks with an eyebrow raise. “Or are you just going to let me lose miserably?”

I smirk at that. “Well, come here then.”

She takes a couple of steps forward, erasing the small amount of space between us, and looks at me expectantly. “Okay, let’s hear it.”

I’d rather kiss her again.

However, Officer Garcia could be lurking around, and I don’t want history to repeat itself. So, I clear my throat as I stand behind Ava, and then I cup her hand. “Try not to grip your beanbag too tightly.”

Her fingers relax around it. “And then?”

“Don’t overthink the toss.” I resist the urge to slip my other arm around her waist. “That’s just going to stress you out and throw you off your game.”

“Noted. No overthinking.”

“Good, and now you’re going to diagonally line your body up with the board by positioning yourself to the left side since you’re right-handed.”

But she doesn’t move. Instead, she peeks over her shoulder at me with coy eyes. “Aren’t you going to position me to make sure I’m standing the right way?”

This woman…

My hands immediately drop to her hips, and I let my thumbs caress the little bit of skin underneath the hem of her top. Soft and smooth. Crap, now I’m wishing we weren’t standing here playing cornhole. I’m wishing we were—

NOPE. Stay focused, Luke.

I carefully turn her body at an angle, then I nudge the side of her left leg with my knee. “You need to firmly plant your foot forward.”

“Like this?” she asks, stepping forward with exaggerated emphasis.

“Yeah,” I laugh, reluctantly letting go of her, “just like that. And then try tossing again.”

I give her some space, and then watch as she tosses her next beanbag. This time, it actually lands on the board.

“HA!” she exclaims before turning around to face me. “Did you see that? I’m basically a pro now! I guess I should put my two weeks in sooner than later, since my future is obviously cornhole.”

The thought of Ava quitting—even hypothetically as a joke—causes my stomach to knot up.

So, I grab her hand and draw her close. “There’s no way I’m losing my favorite coworker to a beanbag game.”

She smiles at my grumbled statement. “Fine. I won’t give it all up to become a cornhole champion.” Then, she takes a hold of my other hand and laces our fingers together. “But only if we get dinner somewhere that has chicken nuggets.”

I lean down to kiss the tip of her nose. “Deal.”

A FAMILIAR LAZY GRIN

Ava

“Is it normal for my legs to feel like they want to fall off? Because that’s exactly what’s happening right now.”

I take a few more gulps from my water bottle and then turn my attention to Luke, who’s leaning back against the hallway wall. “That’s how I felt after my first cycling class too.”

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