Page 16 of Double Trouble

“Exactly that, actually.” Heat burns through my neck. Holy shit, I think it’s time.

Aislynn not-so-gracefully excuses herself. “Guess I’ll go introduce myself to that sexy man over there.” She pushes off the palm tree and hip-checks me as she passes. I let out a laugh so awkward that it ends in a cough.

Mad chuckles at the exchange, shaking her head at Aislynn’s retreating figure. “I wonder how long it’ll take her to find out he’s deaf.”

“Is he really?”

She nods, fiddling with the shoulder on her dress again. “It’s taken me a bit, but I think I’m pretty good at understanding his language. I’m not fluent by any means, but we can at least hold a conversation.”

“That’s cool.” It really is. Can’t believe I didn’t know it already, but then again, Mad doesn’t talk about her day job often.

She lifts a shoulder like it’s not a big thing and that just makes me love her more. She hooks a finger with my pinky and pulls me to a darker section of the outside zone, near hole seventeen on the mini golf. Every step gives my heart an extra zap, and rocks plummet into the pit of my stomach.

Holy shit… this is it. I’m gonna tell her I love her and ask her on a date.

I will.

“Okay,” she says, dropping my hand. I immediately miss it. She peers around me, then lifts her gorgeous hazel eyes to mine. “You think we could get any boarding in tonight?”

The question throws my one-track mind off kilter, and I hop onto the train her brain’s running. “Not sure. This party could go on for a while.”

“That’s what I was afraid of.” She reaches for the hem of her dress and yanks it up. My eyes bulge out until I see that she’s wearing light saber bike shorts underneath that red thing, and her phone is tucked inside. Holy hell, my heart nearly stops. “I was hoping you could help me with something else, then.”

She taps her phone on, wiggling her hips until her dress falls back into place, the screen lighting her face. A single curl bobs over her right cheek, and my fingers twitch with the urge to tuck it gently behind her ear.

“What’s up?” I lean in, turning my attention to her phone… and her perfume. Something flowery. Mouth-watering. Amazing.

“The Ultimate Boarding Competition requires a video entry this year.” She scrolls through the web page, stopping at the entry rules. “I was hoping you could help me come up with an audition tape.”

“Hell yeah.” I pluck the phone from her hand, using my thumb to read it over as she explains.

“I was thinking of starting out with the half-pipe, then dropping into some of the grinds and flip tricks.”

“That’d be a good idea. Maybe freestyle for a bit, too. Do what comes naturally.”

“No routine?”

“Freestyle would be part of the routine.” I hand the phone back, a grin tilting the corner of my lips at her excitement lit up by the phone and board talk. “Some of your best stuff comes out when you’re not thinking about it.”

She tilts her head back and forth, considering. “Maybe. I’m thinking you could film me a few times during these practice sessions. I could study them, fix some of the missteps. That kind of thing.”

“Sounds like a good plan.”

“You don’t mind?”

“’Course not.” No way in hell do I mind. That equals more time with her, more involvement in her boarding. “We could even go see the amateur league in Indy next weekend. Check out what the judges are impressed with this year.”

“Oh, good idea. It’s a date.” She scrolls through the rules, her eyes bright and excited and focused while my jaw drops like a fish out of water.

Did I just do it? Did I ask her out?

After a few seconds of silent scrolling, I decide that I didn’t. I think I want it to come out better than that.

Maddie grins and hefts out a large sigh, her shoulders falling in the most relaxed position I’ve seen all night from her. “All signed up. Video needs to be in by the end of August.”

“Plenty of time.” My mouth twitches upward in what I think is a grin, but by the wrinkle in the bridge of her nose, I don’t think I’m doing it right.

She tilts her head, curiosity running wild in her eyes as she lifts her skirt again, short-circuiting my brain until her phone is in her pocket. “Did you need to chat with me about something?”

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