Page 48 of The Stand-In Boyfriend

“It was one nasty fall. I’m surprised you didn’t break something,” Noah chastises.

I look at him. Holding me like that, he’s so close I can see the smallest details of his face. A few yellow spots in his otherwise blue-gray irises. A fair dusting of freckles covering the bridge of his nose. A faint scar on his chin.

“I guess I’m lucky.”

He shakes his head, his lips pressed in a tight line. “Don’t joke like that. You could have been seriously hurt.”

If I didn’t know better, I’d think he was actually worried about me.

“Are you sure you don’t need me to go with you?” Miss Lopez asks once again.

“Yeah, you guys go on without me.”

“She’s right. First period will start soon. We’re pushing it as it is,” Lisa chimes in. I’m not sure where she came from, or how long she’s been here at all.

“Okay, Jessy will go to the nurse to get her ankle checked out. In the meantime, let’s go through the routine.” Miss Lopez claps her hands to get everybody’s attention and only when I turn around, do I see that the gym is filled with both cheerleaders and football players, and all eyes are on me.

“Why is everybody staring at me?” I ask, feeling uncomfortable with all the attention.

“Oh, I don’t know, because you almost broke your neck?”

I roll my eyes, trying to hide how much it actually hurts to move. “It was just a little fall, no need to get your panties in a twist.”

He sighs and shakes his head, but says nothing.

“Let’s get this over with.” I start hopping toward the edge of the gym where I left my bag earlier.

“Noah, who’ll be your partner?” Lisa asks, batting her eyelashes at him.

My back stiffens, but I don’t turn around to face her.

“Jessica,” he grits. I can feel his irritation like it’s a living breathing thing. “But she needs to go see the nurse.”

“Can’t she go alone?” Lisa asks, huffing. “We don’t have that much time to get it perfect.”

“She just fell and probably sprained her ankle. She can’t go alone!” Noah says, his voice rising with every word until he’s outright yelling.

Everybody quiets, all eyes turning toward us.

He takes a deep breath, calming himself.

“Jessica will show me the ropes later when she’s feeling better. Now I’m taking her to the nurse’s office,” he says with finality. I can feel his frustration with the whole situation so I don’t say anything to contradict him.

Noah pulls me closer, his touch softer. “Let’s get you checked out.”

Chapter Eighteen

NOAH

What the hell is wrong with people? I can still see Jessica losing her balance as she was trying to do some kind of flip, her body falling in slow motion right before my eyes. Slow enough that I can see every detail happening, but too fast for me to actually be able to do something to stop it.

And everybody’s acting like it’s nothing.

I’ve suffered my fair share of injuries playing football, my body’s been beaten and bruised more than once, and I even broke my arm once, but it’s nothing compared to watching Jessy’s small body crash into the ground from six feet in the air.

“How are you feeling?” I ask from my space against the wall.

The nurse was working on her until a moment ago, making sure her leg is properly wrapped and elevated to stop the leg from swelling before she put some ice on it.

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