Page 43 of Now or Never

“Uh,” Adam said, tipping his head to one side. After a long pause with Adam looking uncomfortable, or at least unsure of how to answer, Chelsea shook her head.

“You don’t have to answer.”

Adam shook his head. “I moved back once I fully recovered from my accident.”

Chelsea’s brows rose. She was just about to ask “What accident?” when she heard Jae gasp from behind her followed by a crashing noise.

“I’m okay!”

Chelsea spun around to find Ben sprawled back out on the sand, pushing the bike off himself. She jogged over, with Adam beside her. Jae was already there, having wandered away from them without her realizing.

She’d have to remember to ask Jae not to give them any privacy going forward.

“Hey, Ben,” Adam said, “you hurt?”

“No.”

“Benny, you need to let me hold the seat until you learn to balance.”

Ben’s eyebrows bunched up. “No.”

Chelsea pinched her lips together. His determination was admirable. But his refusal of any help was driving her wild. She needed to find a balance between the two, but she had no idea how.

“You need a hockey stick,” Adam said.

Chelsea, Jae, and Ben all looked at him with eyebrows quirked.

“Is he having a stroke?” Jae asked. “This is a bike,” she said, raising her voice to help him out.

Adam laughed. “You put the end of the stick in the back, above the tire, then you hold the stick. That way, you can stop him from tipping, but you’re not holding the bike up for him.”

“Above the tire?” Chelsea asked, bending down to look at the bike. “Where?”

“Hold on, I have an old stick in my garage you can have.”

Adam jogged up the beach and disappeared between the houses.

“God, his back . . .” Jae whispered, mouth gaping open again.

“Okay. You need to stop,” Chelsea said, but she glanced at his muscles bunching, bigger around his shoulders, then narrowing in a V shape toward his waist.

“And those shoulders . . .”

Chelsea shook the thoughts from her mind. “Seriously, Jae,” she said in an annoyed tone, even though she’d been thinking the same thing.

“He seems so nice, too. Doesn’t he?” she asked, voice all soft.

“Well, heisnice. I think he just really loves helping people. He’s planning Ethan and Natalie’s wedding.”

“Aww,” Jae said, her eyes going all misty.

Chelsea rolled her eyes. “Get a grip.”

Adam came jogging back a minute later, wooden hockey stick in hand. “Like this,” he said, pushing the stick through the metal bars on Ben’s bike, then wiggling it to make sure it was in place. “Hop on, Ben,” he said.

Ben climbed on and started to pedal, with Adam holding the stick and the rest of them following behind him.

“See, when he falls, you just hold him up. When he gets better, just take out the stick. Done.”

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