Page 48 of I Can't Help It

And why did she almost fall? Oh, right, because it seemed like such a great idea to put her up there at the time. I’m such an idiot…

“Well, I should finish my patrolling,” Officer Garcia huffs, finally uncrossing his arms. “If you were planning on doing anything else though, I suggest you take your business someplace a little more private. Have some decency.”

This officer can’t be that much older than us, but between the uniform and his grouchy attitude, I feel like we ARE a couple of overeager teenagers who got caught messing around.

It’s embarrassing.

“We weren’t!” I blurt out, fumbling to pocket my phone. “We weren’t planning on—you know what? It’s getting late and we should just go.” I guide Ava toward the gazebo’s opening, and away from Officer Garcia, before things get even more awkward.

“The guilty always run,” our new BFF grunts as he steps around us. And then he wastes no time in striding over to his police car.

Meanwhile, I’m cringing like there’s no tomorrow.

“Well, that was a first,” Ava says once Officer Garcia drives away. “I don’t even look like I could be a Lynn, am I right?”

I know she’s trying to lighten the mood, but I’m spiraling,

I’m spiraling and there’s no way to stop it.

When she asked if we could just be coworkers on a date, it’s like I totally forgot about Wyatt and all the reasons why Ava and I can’t be involved with each other. I threw caution to the wind, and it came back like a sneaky boomerang to smack me in the face.

I didn’t think about the consequences.

Why didn’t I think about the consequences?

Because you didn’t want to.

“Luke?” Ava’s voice is hesitant as she touches my arm. “Hey, where’d you go?”

I don’t mean to flinch, but it happens anyway, and the color immediately drains from her face. “Please don’t tell me you’re having regrets.”

The hurt in her eyes tears me apart as I try to think of what to say. Having regrets would mean that I wish we hadn’t kissed.

Do I wish we hadn’t kissed?

Absolutely not.

I could never regret kissing this woman.

“I’m not having regrets,” I finally reply, rubbing the back of my neck. “I just—I’m struggling with how I’m supposed to feel right now.”

“Feelings don’t have rules,” she says, regaining some of her composure. “So, don’t worry about how you’re ‘supposed’ to feel. Tell what you’re actually feeling. How did kissing me make you feel?”

The second my lips touched hers, I was a goner. She invaded all my senses at once, leaving me anxious and hungry for more, so much more. And when she kissed me back…

I wasn’t my own anymore.

Kissing Ava was like being lost and being free at the same time. It shouldn’t have made sense, but somehow it did. I was desperate to stay in the moment forever. I needed her closer. I wanted—

“Luke?”

“That was the best kiss I’ve ever had,” I tell her without hesitation. “Kissing you made me feel like I was the luckiest guy in the world. I don’t regret it.”

It just can’t happen again.

Ever.

Unfortunately…

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