“So you like her, we like you, we like the idea of you two together, so we’ve decided to give you a crash course in romancing Gabi,” Mariah announced.
I took a swig of water. “What makes you think I need that?”
“Because it’s Gabi.”
“Fair point.” I lowered my voice. “You know she’ll kill you both if she finds out you’re doing this, right?”
Amy lightly punched Mariah in the arm. “I told you.”
“So let me save your lives and say thank you, I appreciate the offer. But if I can’t figure out how to romance Gabriella on my own . . . I don’t deserve her. I’ve already screwed up more times than I care to admit to, but each time it happens, I learn something important about her.” And myself, but they didn’t care about that.
Mariah harrumphed. “This was a bust.” She lifted Amy off her lap. “Call us if you get stuck and maybe we’ll help you.”
After the food trucks pulled out, the kids started to go too.
We got a lot of questions about when we planned to do this again. While I appreciated that they had a good time, we wouldn’t make any future decisions until we’d crunched the numbers. While LCCO didn’t only do fund-raisers, an event where we footed the bill entirely wasn’t the goal either.
I gathered the volunteers around. “Thank you, everyone, for coming today. It meant a lot to the kids and it meant a lot to me too. So give yourself a round of applause.”
I waited for the whistling and commotion to fade before I spoke again.
“And because I’m an astute people manager and I noticed the looks of envy you all gave the bowlers today, I’m now giving you the chance to hit the lanes. Free bowling for all volunteers!”
They acted way more excited about it than I’d imagined. Even Q and Elton went to dig through the boxes of shoes so they could bowl against Mariah and Amy.
Gabriella tracked me down as I restacked the tables that’d already been stacked. She said, “OCD much?”
“Only about some things.”
“Why aren’t you bowling?”
I shrugged. “Not really my thing.” I looked at her. “Why aren’t you bowling?”
“Everyone is partnered up already.” She sighed. “Now I know what it feels like to not be picked for a team.”
“Pretty sure you’re full of shit, Welk.” I tugged on her ponytail and bent to whisper, “You told them that we’d agreed to bowl together so you could get out of it, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I hate bowling.”
Did she? Or was she trying to get me to challenge her to a game because she was a damn ringer? Gently, I cupped her chin in my hand and titled her head up to meet my gaze.
The woman had a killer poker face. I had no idea if she was bluffing.
Only one way to find out.
“Well, I can’t have you lying to my volunteers. So find some shoes and a ball because we’re going head-to-head on the lanes.”
“I can’t.”
I cocked an eyebrow at her. “Because?”
“Because I’m . . .” She dropped her gaze. “Still sore from the hockey game.”
“Maybe you should show me exactly where it hurts.” I lowered my voice. “I’ll kiss and make it better.”
Her gaze snapped up to mine. “Nolan.”
“Your ribs, right?” I slid my hand down and curled it around the left side of her ribcage. “Here?”
“Uh. Yeah.”
“Lemme see.”
“No. It’s okay.”
“I’ll be gentle. I promise.”
“It’s not that. It’s just . . . I don’t want to lift my shirt. There are people around.”
This, from the woman who stripped down to her skivvies in front of me and Q, and only two days ago was buck-ass naked in an entire locker room of hockey players? If I hadn’t seen that behavior with my own eyes, I absolutely would’ve believed her shyness.
“No worries. I’ll block you from view.” Then I hooked a finger beneath the hem of her T-shirt and started to peel it up.
“What are you doing?”
“Helping you.” I held fast when she tried to jerk away. “Now, hold still. I wouldn’t want you to further injure yourself.”
“Omigod. You don’t believe me.”
“I’ll believe it when I see it.”
“You are such an ass.” She stepped back and pulled her T-shirt up to the bottom of her sports bra band. “See?”
I bent down to get a better look. “Nothing here,” I said after placing my thumb on her sternum and stroking my fingers across the soft skin on the left side of her