“Go, let her fuss over you.” He lifted a corner of his mouth, but inside he was disappointed. He’d love to be the one fussing right now. “I’m sure Mason is going to have a lot to say after my stunt anyway.”
She bit her bottom lip and nodded. “Thank you, Grant.”
“It was my pleasure.”
Emmeline
It was my pleasure.
Grant’s words echoed in Em’s mind as she hurried over to Frida and Miriam. As much as she wanted to stay with Grant, his adorable forwardness made it difficult to keep her walls up.
“Are you okay?” Frida’s hands flew to Em’s shoulders, her eyes wide. “That ball almost hit you in the head.”
Em nodded. “Uh-huh.”
“Thank goodness Grant was so fast! He just jumped off that chair to save you,” Miriam said. The look of concern on her face matched Frida’s.
“Yeah,” Em said, her stomach in a tangle of knots.
“She might be in shock,” Frida said. “Let’s give her some space.”
Em wasn’t in shock, but she appreciated how Frida and Miriam both took a couple steps back.
“Do you need to sit down?” Miriam asked.
Em shook her head. She didn’t get hit. She was fine—just a little confused.
She replayed the incident in her mind. It was just a stray ball. If it had hit her in the face, it would have hurt, but it wouldn’t have been life-threatening. It definitely wouldn’t have hurt more than the damage Grant had done to himself in his attempt to protect her.
And yet, he had said it was his pleasure.
With those words, it felt bigger than just stopping the ball from hitting her. Em wasn’t sure if she was reading too much into it. Was shetryingto find something that wasn’t really there? After all, they didn’t actually know each other outside of their Instagram flirtations. It wasn’t like they were dating or anything.
Em snuck a glance in Grant’s direction. His face contorted in pain as the athletic trainer manipulated his foot. Mason was speaking loud enough that Em could hear every word he said.
“What were you thinking?”
A muffled response from Grant.
“You need to stay off your foot until a doctor can take a look at it. And even then, you can’t just jump up because you want to catch the ball.”
Is that what Mason thought it was? Just an attempt for Grant to get to touch the ball even though he was injured—is that what everyone thought? It was possible they were all so focused on the game in front of them that they didn’t realize Grant was being a hero—everyone but Frida and Miriam, of course, who had both freaked out.
Grant looked over at Em. His features softened when his eyes met hers, and his lips curved into a small smile while Mason lectured him on the finer points of RICE—rest, ice, compression, and elevation.
Em’s face burned under his gaze, and she glanced down at her feet. Her lips tipped up into a smile that matched his. When she looked back up, he was still looking at her.
“I’m sorry,” she mouthed.
“Worth it,” he mouthed back.
A shiver went through her.
Mason waved a hand in front of Grant’s face. Following Grant’s gaze, the athletic trainer glanced at Em and glared before his attention went back to his patient.
Someone cleared their throat. Em turned back to her friends.
Frida and Miriam both had smug expressions on their faces, and Em wondered when the two had become so in sync with one another. “What?”
