Is that what Mason thought it was? Just an attempt for Grant to get to touch the ball even though he was injured—is that what everyone thought? It was possible they were all so focused on the game in front of them that they didn’t realize Grant was being a hero—everyone but Frida and Miriam, of course, who had both freaked out.
Grant looked over at Em. His features softened when his eyes met hers, and his lips curved into a small smile while Mason lectured him on the finer points of RICE—rest, ice, compression, and elevation.
Em’s face burned under his gaze, and she glanced down at her feet. Her lips tipped up into a smile that matched his. When she looked back up, he was still looking at her.
“I’m sorry,” she mouthed.
“Worth it,” he mouthed back.
A shiver went through her.
Mason waved a hand in front of Grant’s face. Following Grant’s gaze, the athletic trainer glanced at Em and glared before his attention went back to his patient.
Someone cleared their throat. Em turned back to her friends.
Frida and Miriam both had smug expressions on their faces, and Em wondered when the two had become so in sync with one another. “What?”
Frida laughed before she gave Em an over-the-top look of innocence. “What?”
So that small exchange between her and Grant had not gone unnoticed. She bit her bottom lip.
“You’ve got it so bad,” Frida said.
She shook her head. “I don’t have anything. I was just looking over at Grant to make sure he was okay after what he did.”
“Mm-hmm.” Miriam gave Frida a sly look. “It’s funny how the more you say you don’t like Grant, the less I believe you.”
Frida waggled her eyebrows suggestively. “Have you seen the way they try to interact all sneaky on Instagram?”
“No.” Miriam gasped. “What do they do?”
“They—”
“If I was trying to be sneaky about it, I would DM him instead,” Em said. “But there’s nothing to be private about since there’s nothing going on.” Her words had gotten progressively louder, and she glanced over to Grant to make sure he hadn’t heard, though she wasn’t entirely sure why. There wasn’t anything going on. She was speaking the truth.
The coach was talking to him now. The stern look on his face made Em think that Mason wasn’t the only one giving lectures.
“Don’t worry,” Miriam said. “He didn’t hear you say there was nothing going on between you.”
Frida giggled. “No trouble in paradise today.”
Ugh. If she hadn’t known Frida since they were kids, and if Miriam wasn’t one of her only friends who loved the Storm as much as she did, Em would find new friends.
No, that wasn’t true—not even close.
But that didn’t mean she liked them teasing her about her non-crush on Grant.
“I just got a great idea,” Miriam said, a wide smile on her face.
A pit formed in Em’s stomach as the game went on forgotten. Whatever made Miriam look that gleeful was sure to be something that Em wouldn’t like.
“So, you know how I’m the community outreach manager for the Storm, right?”
Em gave her a look that said “duh.”
“Well, Silas had this great idea earlier this season for some of the players to go visit local schools and read to the kids. Maybe it’s because I haven’t seen you all season, or maybe it’s because there are so many elementary schools in the area—it’s hard to remember them all—but I can’t help but notice that they haven’t visited your school.”
The pit in Em’s stomach got heavier. She sat down in one of the seats.
Meanwhile, Frida started clapping her hands in front of her. “Oh, I like where this is going.”
“I was thinking this would be the perfect time for the guys to do another visit. And guess who likes going to community events.”
“Silas?” Em deadpanned.
Miriam laughed. “Yeah, he does. But guess who else.”
Em knew the answer Miriam was looking for, but refused to say his name out loud.
“I think she means Grant,” Frida leaned down and whispered loudly.
Em smacked her leg. “I know who she meant.”
“Good, then there won’t be any surprises when he shows up to your classroom next week.”
Next week? Em tried to ignore the way her heart thumped at the idea of seeing him outside of the arena.
True to Miriam’s word, the school set up a visit with the Storm players—though when the day came, only one was able to show up. It wasn’t a surprise to Em that that player was none other than Grant Vaughn.
Em was just finishing a lesson on volcanoes when there was a knock on the door. She was surprised when Frida’s face peaked through the crack when it opened.
“Sorry to interrupt, Ms. O’Brien. You have a visitor.” She cleared her throat, though it sounded an awful lot like a stifled laugh. “Since I happened to be in the office when he arrived, I was happy to walk him to your classroom.”
The visitor was obviously Grant, and even though she wasn’t sure how Miriam and Frida had pulled it off, Em was sure that the timing of his visit during the art teacher’s break was no coincidence.
Em struggled to keep her voice even. “Let him in.”
Frida opened the door wider, and Grant soon entered the classroom hunched over a pair of crutches wearing a small backpack. Even though he’d confirmed his sprain on social media, she’d almost forgotten he’d injured himself at the game. She hated seeing him like that. He was fit and...a guest in her classroom.
This wasn’t the time to ogle him. She smiled at him as he slowly made his way to the front of the classroom. Thankfully, her students were all too young to notice the way her cheeks got redder the closer he got. She fought against the urge to fan her face as he stopped beside her.
“Thanks for coming today.”
“It’s my pleasure.”
My pleasure. There were those pesky words again. They had the same effect on her as the
