“To bounce!” A grin spreads across her face as she grabs my hand and pulls me inside. “Shoes off!” She yanks them from my feet and tosses them in opposite directions before I can protest. The next second, she jumps, dragging me with her. “I haven’t done this since I was a kid,” she laughs, bouncing again. “I forgot how fun these are!” Her braid flops wildly as she smiles, and I find myself smiling right back. She reaches for my hand, lacing her fingers through mine just as her balance tilts. Her bounce sends her straight into me.
“Oof—sorry!” she laughs, hands flying up to grab my biceps for stability.
“It’s okay.” I wobble, knees bending with the uneven surface. “I think the bounce house has strong opinions about my coordination.”
She grins. “You’re doing great. Very… upright.”
Another bounce launches her directly into me. Instinct overrides logic, and my hands land on her waist to steady us. Her body presses against mine, sliding with the motion of the bounce. This is a bad idea. A very bad idea. “Okay,” I manage, already a little breathless. “New rule. No full-contact bouncing.”
“I didn’t mean to!” Her laughter spills out between bounces.
We mistime the next one. Badly. I go down first, arms flailing, and Nora tumbles after me, landing squarely on top of me. “Oomph.”
Silence. Well—silence except for the distant shrieks of kids and the steady hum of the blower motor keeping the bounce house inflated.
Nora freezes, palms pressed flat against my chest, her braid slipping over her shoulder. “I—oh my god—sorry?—”
“It’s okay.” The words come out too fast.
A breathless laugh escapes her. “We should probably?—”
“Yeah.”
But we don’t move. My chest rises under her hands, and I’m suddenly hyperaware of how fast my heart is pounding, and it’s definitely not from the bouncing.
“Okay.” She tries to push herself up, but the uneven surface shifts beneath us. She tips forward instead, her thigh sliding over my crotch, and a sharp breath punches out of me. My grip tightens instinctively at her waist.
“Oh no,” she whispers. “That was worse.”
“Much worse.”
Her gaze flicks to my mouth, and mine drops to hers. For one electric, terrifying second, everything goes very still. The curtain rustles.
“UNCLE MILES, YOU FELL!” Colton’s head pops inside, eyes wide with delight.
Nora immediately rolls off me and scrambles to her feet, wobbling slightly. I sit up and discreetly adjust myself, staring anywhere but at her.
“Alright.” She exhales, brushing at her hair. “I think that’s enough bounce house for me. Actually… I should probably head out.” She slips through the opening, glancing back. “If that’s okay. I know your party isn’t over.”
I follow behind her. “No, that’s fine.” I collect my shoes before crouching to untie the laces, slide my feet into my shoes, and retie them. When I glance up, her socks catch my attention—one pink, one purple. “So that’s what you meant about the socks.”
She wiggles her toes before stepping into her shoes.
I straighten. “Thanks for coming. Even though you didn’t have to.”
“It’s no problem. I actually had fun. I can’t remember the last time I said that about a date.” She nudges my side with her elbow.
We stroll back toward the pavilion when I spot my mom and Mallory near a table. “I’m going to walk Nora to her car.”
My mom’s head snaps up. “You’re leaving already?”
“I have to stop by my mom’s house,” Nora says.
Mom’s face softens immediately. “Do you want to take a plate of food for her? We have plenty of leftovers.”
“No thanks. She’s on a strict diet.”
“What kind of diet?” The question slips out before I can stop it, because apparently my brain only operates in two modes: facts or follow-up questions that make me sound like an overly curious golden retriever.
