He tried not to focus on that as he sat toward the back of the team’s box while the game continued without him.
“Hey.”
Em’s voice pulled Grant from his pity-party. He looked from the field to where she stood, just on the other side of the board dividing their bench from fan seats. She gave him a small smile when his eyes met hers. Not only had he injured himself, but it was in front of the very girl he was trying to impress. “Hey.”
“I’m not going to insult you by asking if you’re okay.”
Grant chuckled. That was the most obvious segue into talking about what had happened, but he still liked that she wasn’t going to ask a question she already knew the answer to. “Thanks.”
There was a small stretch of silence before she asked, “Did Mason say how bad it is?”
Grant’s gaze went to his ankle where the ice pack still rested on it. “He thinks it’s a grade two sprain. If he’s right, I’ll be out for several weeks.”
“Oh, Grant. I’m so sorry.”
He slowly nodded his head. “Yeah. It sucks.”
“Want me to get you something? Since you can’t play, you could always eat a greasy piece of pizza from the concession stand and make the other players jealous.” She wiggled her eyebrows.
Grant laughed again. He loved that Em was trying to cheer him up when the situation was as bleak as it was, but he shook his head. There was no way he’d be able to keep anything down right now. “Maybe I could take a raincheck? We could grab some another time.”
Her eyes widened slightly. “Like a date?”
“Your words, not mine. Not that I would call second-rate pizza a date.” He shook his head. “What kind of guys do you let take you out?”
She looked away, and he wasn’t sure if she’d answer or not. “The kind that thinks that counts.”
He leaned over the best he could while having one of his legs propped up. “If you ever let me have the chance, I’d show you what it’s like to go out on a real date.”
She sighed. “Grant…I—”
Em didn’t get to finish her thought because the ball was kicked out of play and was flying right toward her. Grant didn’t think, he just reacted. He jumped up from his seat, letting his elevated leg fall as he leaned over the board and blocked the ball with his hands.
If he hadn’t, the ball would have hit her in the side of her head. Sure, players hit headers all the time, but they were ready for it and used their foreheads. Getting hit on the side of the face without warning? It would hurt much worse.
Em gasped. “That was going to hit me.”
The pain of moving his leg crashed over him, and he tried to keep his face neutral as he nodded. Grant didn’t want to let on how badly it hurt to get up.
Her hand flew to her chest. “And your foot. You should have just yelled at me.”
He shook his head. “And risked you turning your head and getting a broken nose or something? No way.”
“But you must be in so much pain.”
“It doesn’t feel great.” Grant eased back down onto his seat. “But it was worth it to make sure you weren’t hurt.”
Em’s mouth fell open, and she looked like she was about to say something, but she closed her lips.
“Oh my goodness, Em!” her friend Frida cried from her other side.
Em looked at Grant, obviously hesitating like she wasn’t sure if she should leave after he’d hurt himself.
“Go, let her fuss over you.” He lifted a corner of his mouth, but inside he was disappointed. He’d love to be the one fussing right now. “I’m sure Mason is going to have a lot to say after my stunt anyway.”
She bit her bottom lip and nodded. “Thank you, Grant.”
“It was my pleasure.”
Emmeline
It was my pleasure.
Grant’s words echoed in Em’s mind as she hurried over to Frida and Miriam. As much as she wanted to stay with Grant, his adorable forwardness made it difficult to keep her walls up.
“Are you okay?” Frida’s hands flew to Em’s shoulders, her eyes wide. “That ball almost hit you in the head.”
Em nodded. “Uh-huh.”
“Thank goodness Grant was so fast! He just jumped off that chair to save you,” Miriam said. The look of concern on her face matched Frida’s.
“Yeah,” Em said, her stomach in a tangle of knots.
“She might be in shock,” Frida said. “Let’s give her some space.”
Em wasn’t in shock, but she appreciated how Frida and Miriam both took a couple steps back.
“Do you need to sit down?” Miriam asked.
Em shook her head. She didn’t get hit. She was fine—just a little confused.
She replayed the incident in her mind. It was just a stray ball. If it had hit her in the face, it would have hurt, but it wouldn’t have been life-threatening. It definitely wouldn’t have hurt more than the damage Grant had done to himself in his attempt to protect her.
And yet, he had said it was his pleasure.
With those words, it felt bigger than just stopping the ball from hitting her. Em wasn’t sure if she was reading too much into it. Was she trying to find something that wasn’t really there? After all, they didn’t actually know each other outside of their Instagram flirtations. It wasn’t like they were dating or anything.
Em snuck a glance in Grant’s direction. His face contorted in pain as the athletic trainer manipulated his foot. Mason was speaking loud enough that Em could hear every word he said.
“What were you thinking?”
A muffled response from Grant.
“You need to stay off your foot until a doctor can take a look at it. And even
