"Dinner would be good." Her body heated and she stretched onto her toes to meet his waiting lips.
Her phone vibrated in her back pocket. She eased away from Liam and reached for it. Lauren's number, calling not texting. Lauren always communicated via text.
"Let me grab this." She slid her thumb across the screen. "Hello?"
"I fell off the balance beam and rolled my ankle. It really hurts. Coach Kay thinks I sprained it, but what if I broke it?" Short sniffs mixed in with her words. No doubt, Lauren was crying.
Desire and duty twisted up inside her. She loved her sister deeply and sympathized, having been down the road of injury and disappointment many times. "Break would be better. You'd heal faster. Where are you now?"
"At the gym. It just happened. Can you please come?"
"Did you call Dad?"
"No." She sniffed again. "He's at work."
"I'm on my way. We'll go to urgent care and get you an x-ray." She ended the call, left a voice mail for her dad, and then turned to Liam. "I'm sorry. I need to leave."
"I heard." His lips pressed into a forced grin and he looked down at his cast. "Totally get it. I hope she'll be okay. Do you want me to come in case you need help?"
She blinked at his words, unsure if she'd heard him correctly. "Really?"
He nodded at his crutches with a self-deprecating shrug. "I can't help carry her or go on a coffee run for you if there's a long wait, but I can sit there and tell her stupid shark jokes, and we can compare injuries."
"I'd like that." She kissed him again, appreciative and amazed. She'd never really had anyone to lean on.
Two hours later, she led Lauren and Liam into her family home, then helped Lauren get settled on the couch in the living room. She shook her head at the soda cans, books, and magazines that littered the coffee table. "I'll get some pillows so you can elevate your ankle."
"Can I have a blanket and some iced tea too?"
"Sure."
When she returned with the pillows and blanket, Lauren was taking a photo of her ankle. Her sister twisted toward where Liam sat in the armchair and held out her phone. "Which filter makes my injury look more dramatic?"
The corner of his mouth winged up in a smile. "I like the third one, where everything in the background fades out. But..." He pushed to standing and hobbled over. Leaning on his crutches, he took her phone and then captured another photo. "This one includes your crutches in the shot."
"Ooh, that's better. Thanks." Lauren accepted her phone and winced as Claire set the pillows under her bandaged ankle. "Maybe I should take another picture with the pillows."
Claire paused in gathering the empty cans. "Why do you need so many photos?"
"I have to see the best one to put on social media. My friends will want to know how I'm doing." She flipped her hair over her shoulder and frowned at her ankle. "I don't know how I'll handle getting around school next week."
Rolling her eyes at the dramatics, Claire tossed the cans into the recycle bin. Could her sister have actually forgotten the doctor’s instructions so quickly? She sighed at the sink full of dishes. Who knew if her sisters had worked out a new chore system? There wasn't any evidence of one in the kitchen. She grabbed an ice pack and the glass of tea and delivered them to her sister with two pain pills. "It's a mild sprain. Remember, the doctor said you'll be able to start putting weight on your ankle on Sunday. And you won't need the elastic bandage past Sunday or Monday. As long as you use the crutches, you'll be fine."
"Still. I'll need someone to help carry my books."
"You'll probably be okay using your backpack."
"Nope. I'll be off balance." Lauren again turned to Liam. "You understand, right? You told me all those stories in the waiting room about how it's been hard to get around. Maybe I need a golf cart too."
"Oh my god." Claire pinched the bridge of her nose. "You don't need a golf cart. You're going to be fine in a week. And until then, you have Krissy, Ginger, Amanda, Jen, and Dad to help you do things around here."
Lauren pouted and crossed her arms over her chest. "You don't have to get mad. I didn't get hurt on purpose."
Anger tingled on the edges of Claire's nerves. She'd had about all the teenage drama from Lauren she could tolerate for one evening. But losing her cool would only spoil her great day. She counted to ten. "I'm sorry. I know. I sent Dad a text with all the info the doctor gave me. He said he's going to try to come home early tonight if he can."
"Yeah, he sent me a text too." She looked at her phone again. "Krissy and Ginger are staying at a friend's house tonight, and Amanda and Jen won't be home until late. Can you stay until someone gets home?"
"Uh...sure." Claire met Liam's gaze. Definitely not how she'd thought the evening would turn out, but if her sister needed her, she couldn't leave.
He moved closer to her. "We missed dinner. Are you guys hungry? I can order something."
"Pizza and chocolate chip cookies," Lauren called from the couch. "Please? It would help me feel better."
He grinned and nodded. "Claire?"
"Anything's fine." She studied his gaze, trying to see past the smile. Was he intending to stay the whole evening with her? He’d seemed to take their change of plans in stride.
He made the call, and then dropped into her father's worn out recliner, chucking his crutches to the floor with a clank. The reach of his hand toward her convinced Claire to abandon straightening up her sisters’ clutter and join him on the chair. She carefully sat by his side, conscious of his ankle and her sister’s scrutiny.
He joked with Lauren
