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“I was worried about it on stage, but I don’t think I did, either. It’s definitely sprained.” I grimace as he places my foot back on the ground. This isn’t my first time spraining an ankle and most likely won’t be my last.
Am I disappointed? Hell yes. Could it have been worse? Hell yes.
“Can you help me to my dressing room?” I ask before I can change my mind. I thought about toughing it out and trying to walk on my own, but screw it. Big man is around to help, so I’m going to let him.
“I thought you’d never ask, cupcake. Hop on,” he says as he turns and drops onto a crouch.
He playfully bats his eyelashes at me over his shoulder. I laugh a little as I take in the big goofy grin on SJ’s face and those fluttering eyelashes. They’re longer and prettier than mine, I might add.
God bless him. He’s trying to make me laugh when all I want to do is cry. I wince when I stand. SJ instantly sees it and takes action.
He wraps his hands gently behind my knees and pulls me upward. I go willingly, leaning into his touch and reaching up to grab his shoulders. I try to help him as best I can, but I don’t have to do much. He’s a big man, one who has more muscle than any man I’ve seen this close up.
I’m not ashamed to admit, at least to myself, that my mouth waters a little just thinking about those muscles underneath his shirt.
It takes very little effort for him to boost me up onto his back. My chest glides along the hard planes of his back muscles as he straightens, rising to his full height. I wrap my arms around the top of his chest and my legs go around his thick waist. I can’t cross my ankles to hang on and SJ’s knows it, so he leaves his hands on the back of my thighs.
He holds me close to his body as he sets a quick, controlled pace through the backstage chaos. There are crew members and dancers everywhere we look. Most of them throwing out questions like, “Are you okay?” and “What happened?”
I try to answer them, but all I want to do is bury my head in SJ’s back. The thought is way more appealing than it should be.
“Nora? Nora!”
I lift my head off SJ’s shoulder blade and glance behind me. Derik runs to catch up with us, the on-call doc trailing not far behind him, carrying his medical bag.
I tap SJ’s pec and lean in close so he can hear me over the loud and chaotic noise backstage. “Slow down, big guy. The doc is behind us.”
SJ quickly turns, pivoting so fast that I get a little dizzy with the movement. “Whoa, there, speed racer.”
I fully wince as I prepare for SJ to set me back down on my feet, but he never loosens his hold.
His light chuckle is his only response as he inclines his head toward the dressing room, then he turns around and walks again. I sigh, knowing I don’t have to get down yet. I bury my face in SJ’s wonderfully sculpted back, enjoying the feel of his firm hands on the backs of my thighs and the steady beat of his heart in my ear.
A girl could get used to this.
Chapter 19
SJ
I squeeze my hand around Nora’s thigh as we continue down the long hallway to her dressing room. She snuggles in tighter in response to my squeeze. I’m not too proud to admit that having her wrapped around me feels so damn good that I don’t want to put her down.
“I think she can walk for herself!” I don’t have to turn around to know who said that snarky comment.
Alex, Alex, Alex. A big pain in my ass is more like it.
“Mind your business, Alex! My ankle is on fire, and SJ offered to carry me. An offer I gladly took!”
Nora’s sassy answer has a smile breaking out on my face as I turn the last corner before arriving at her dressing room.
“Nora, that was a nasty twist. Do you think you broke it?” Derik asks just as he crosses the threshold to Nora’s dressing room, only footsteps behind us.
I don’t want to put her down, but it would be weird for me to stand here with her hitched to my back as the doctor tried to examine her ankle.
“I hope I didn’t,” is Nora’s quiet response.
The room falls to a quiet hush as I gently lower her to her feet in front of the small but cozy couch in the room. She wastes no time at all sitting and lifting her injured leg onto the coffee table in front of the sofa, wincing slightly when it touches down on the wood.
Alex, Derik, the doctor, Nora, and I are the only ones in the room, but it feels too crowded. Everyone is hovering over her, trying to see if she’s okay. I have an overwhelming urge to send everyone away. I need to hear how she’s really feeling, because right now, I think she’s putting on a brave face.
