Page 47 of The Stand-In Boyfriend

I puff out another breath of air, my head hurting from the blinding lights. Closing my eyes, I force out, “Leg.”

Noah moves instantly, his sure hands patting over my legs, looking for the source of pain. When his palm grazes my ankle my whole body jolts.

“Jessica, are you okay? Does anything hurt?” Miss Lopez asks as she slides down next to the two of us. A matching worried expression on her face.

“I think she sprained her ankle,” Noah says, his hand still resting on my leg. I try to lean on my elbows to see the extent of the damage, but Noah glares at me, so I stay put.

“Let me look.”

Noah moves to let Miss Lopez inspect my leg, her gentle fingers inspecting my hurt ankle as she slowly turns my foot this way and that.

“It’s not that bad,” I try to protest, hating all the attention. I can feel the eyes of my teammates on me.

“It doesn’t appear to be broken, so there’s that. But it is swollen and it’s already starting to turn purple.”

“I’ll be fine. My entire body hurts, but I guess that’s to be expected when you fall,” I try to joke, but neither of them laughs. Fine, suit yourself.

“Can you try and stand up?” Miss Lopez asks.

Gritting my teeth, I nod and push up to get into a sitting position. Noah notices my expression so he wraps his arms around me and helps me.

I look at him over my shoulder. “I can do it,” I insist, but don’t try to struggle out of his arms. “I’m fine.”

“You’re notfine. Your ankle is already purple and double its size,” he grumbles, not even trying to hide his displeasure. “And I’ll feel better if I help you, so be quiet.”

“You’re bossy.”

“And you’re infuriating, so I guess we’re even.”

“I guess we are.”

“I think you should go and see the nurse,” Miss Lopez says, breaking our stare-off. “Just in case.”

“Fine,” I sigh, knowing there is no sense in trying to fight them, because there is no way I’m going to win.

“I’ll take her there,” Noah pipes up almost instantly, not giving me a chance to protest.

I glare at him, hoping he gets my message. He does, but he chooses to ignore me instead. “What are you doing here, anyway?”

“You guys were supposed to show us the routine for the homecoming game.”

“Routine, right.”

I start getting to my feet, but my mind turns fuzzy, and my legs give out on me, dull pain shooting through my leg. Strong hands wrap around me, holding me upright.

“I’ve gotcha,” Noah whispers in my hair.

“I’m…”

“Fine,” he finishes for me, but I can see that he doesn’t trust me one bit. Then again, I did almost do another faceplant, so I guess there might be a reason for him to worry. Not that I’d admit that out loud.

“I just need time for my body to stabilize, that’s all.” Which is true; I can still feel it shaking from the impact.

“Does anything hurt?” Miss Lopez asks, breaking through my Noah haze. “Do you think you can walk?”

I press my foot against the floor, testing it. “I think so,” I say tentatively. “My ankle hurts, but the pain isn’t overwhelming.”

Miss Lopez hums, still inspecting my foot.

---