Page 47 of Better Than the Movies
Because both the vomit and the blood had happened right when I’d been having moments with Michael. Both times, it’d felt like we were connecting, and thenBOOM. Bodily fluids.
“Still okay, Buxbaum?”
I couldn’t see Wes’s face, but his deep voice made me relax. Probably because I knew him better than the rest of them. He’d dropped to the ground beside me after shoving his shirt against myface, and the smell of him, combined with his unexpected nurturing side, kept me calm.
“Noah, you broke the girl’s face.”
“If you would’ve actually caught the pass, you bum, poor Liz wouldn’t be on the transplant list.”
I was starting to sightlessly recognize their voices because they never stopped jawing.
Adam said, “How can I catch something I didn’t know was coming?”
“How can you not?” Noah said it around a snort. “It’s called instinct.”
“Isthere such a thing as a nose transplant?” That sounded like Adam again. “Just curious.”
“Listen to you with the good questions.” Michael sounded like he was laughing and bouncing the basketball. “Because that’s certainly relevant to this situation.”
Not going to lie, it was kind of alarming how Michael was so loose and relaxed while I was practically bleeding out.
Adam said, “I can’t help it if I’m a curious boy.”
“You’re such a nerd.” Noah sounded like he was kind of laughing too.
“I still need an answer,” Adam said.
“I think yes.” My voice sounded weird and muffled behind the shirt. “There was a lady who got her whole face ripped off by a monkey, and she had a face transplant.”
“For real?” Adam sounded fascinated. “Her whole face?”
“I’m pretty sure.” The small talk was a nice distraction from myanxiety over potential nasal damage. I mean, didn’t people who got their noses broken end up with massive bumps on them? Was my nose broken?
I tried squinching it up, and it freaking killed.Shit.
Wes’s face popped into my line of sight, something to look at besides the gym ceiling. “You okay?”
He looked really concerned, and for some reason I felt compelled to reassure him. I blindly reached for his hand and gave it a squeeze. “I think it’s fine. As soon as the bleeding stops, we’ll probably be good.”
“She’s so much tougher than you, Bennett,” Adam said.
“No shit.” Wes adjusted one side of the shirt so I could see a little better, and I felt his big, warm hand squeeze around mine. “I’d be bawling.”
Michael added, “Same.”
“Oh my God, what happened?” An adult appeared in my line of sight, a blond woman with a severe bob, looking worriedly down into my face. “Are you okay, sweetie?”
I repeated what I’d said to Wes, and she suggested I try removing the shirt. She said in a knowing voice, “I bet most of the bleeding is done.”
As she took a second to lecture the boys on how they shouldn’t be in the practice gym, I steeled myself for moving the shirt. Even though I knew it was really immature, part of me didn’t want to, because surely there were blood smears on my face. And ewwww, right? I didn’t want Michael—or anyone—to see me like that.
But I took a breath and lowered Wes’s shirt, glancing up at everyone.
And… The expressions on the boys’ faces werenotgood.
Michael coughed a little and said, “Well, it doesn’t seem to be bleeding anymore.”
I looked at Wes. He was perpetually tactless, and I knew he’d be honest with me. “What’s wrong?”
