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Then he heard the click—the noise that meant the button releasing his prosthesis had been triggered—and suddenly the pin at the end of the socket was freed from its moorings in the prosthetic leg…
And he was falling.
Right into Bryce and her nieces.
Chapter 11
Look out!” Bryce shouted as Addison tripped Ryker, and he fell out of the booth.
He’d been coming straight at them, but at the last second did some sort of midair Simone Biles maneuver, twisting to land on a nearby table, knocking over the chairs instead of the girls. When his shoulder hit the table, it wobbled like a boat in strong waves but didn’t flip. Ryker balanced on the top, lying splayed like a starfish until the motion stopped.
The two little girls gasped, and Bryce was momentarily frozen in shock as the man lay sprawled on a table next to a tumble of upended furniture.
“Is everyone okay?” he asked.
The sound of his voice broke the paralysis. June dashed over at the same time as Bryce, both of them righting chairs and pushing them out of the way.
“Wow, did you see him fly across the restaurant? He was like Superman!” Addison exclaimed, doing a twirl-like movement herself in midair and landing on her butt. She stood up, rubbing her backside, fairy wings bent at a severe angle. “Hey, how’d you do that? Can you teach me?”
Ryker’s face went red as he levered himself onto his elbows, surveying the scene.
Bryce eased him down as he sat up, sending the table tilting again.
“Before you stand up, are you okay?” she asked. “I don’t think you should move if you hit your head. Lie still for a second. You might have some sort of concussion.”
“I’m fine,” he growled, but June, Cecily, and Addison rushed over, pestering him to listen to her, and he eventually leaned back, his head barely held up by the corner edge of the table. He rolled his eyes as the girls fussed over him. “The pin got released and I stepped out of…my foot.”
“His eyeballs look good.” Cecily leaned two inches over Ryker to peer into his eyes. “They’re real blue, like Wendy’s dress inPeter Pan. I don’t see any blood, ’cept there’s a couple skinny squiggly liney-things by the corner. Is that normal?”
“Those are veins.” Bryce bit her lip, trying to remember any first aid at all.
Cecily continued her evaluation. “His nose is pretty straight-ish and isn’t bleeding. He’s not crying, either.”
“I got his special foot!” Addison picked up the prosthetic still in its sneaker, waving it in the air.
“Give it to him, Addie,” Bryce said, frowning with worry. What if he’d hurt his leg or twisted his knee when he’d come out of his prosthetic?
“Here you go, Mr. Ryker.” Addison plopped the leg on Ryker’s lap.
“Oof,” Ryker grunted, his body curling up on itself into a half crunch, sit-up maneuver.
Addie had thumped him right in the junk.
Addison’s little face puckered in a serious expression as she scanned him. “Sorry, Mr. Ryker. Did that hurt?” She reached over and patted his cheek in reassurance. “There’s no blood, sweetie-heart. You’re okay.”
It was completely uncool to laugh right now. So Bryce reined in the giggles by taking in a shaking breath as Ryker removed the sneaker from his groin, holding it as he looked at all of them.
“Did I hurt any of you girls as I stumbled?”
“No, we’re all good.” Bryce offered her hand and helped him slide off the table onto his solid leg. “Cici, can you get some ice from the ice machine and put it in a towel for Mr. Ryker? Addie, go help her find a clean towel.”
The two little girls were up and sprinting before the last word was out of Bryce’s mouth.
“I’ll grab the first-aid kit.” June sprinted toward the kitchen.
Which left her alone with Ryker.
“I don’t need any of that stuff.” His tone was a little grumpy. But then again, he’d just been knocked in the balls.
