Page 42 of Not Just Gal Pals

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I said a little curtly due to the pain. I stood unsteadily, wincing as I put weight on my left foot.

“Where does it hurt? Any numbness or tingling?” Blake crouched next to me, carefully tugged my sock down, and inspected my ankle, frowning.

“It’s just painful here.” I pointed to the tender spot. “But no numbness or tingling.”

“Okay, good. The fact you can stand on it and don’t have any other symptoms is promising. Hopefully it’s a mild sprain rather than a fracture.” Blake looked up at me, her eyes soft with concern, her wet hair slick against her forehead, and any residual irritation vanished.

I resisted the urge to lean over and sweep her hair away from her eyes with my hands, to tug her up and kiss her until the worry in her eyes disappeared. But given my ankle was throbbing and the rain was pouring down, a kiss was not the most practical course of action.

“Do you think you’ll be able to walk the rest of the way back? I think we’re probably about ten minutes away from the car. You could use me as support.”

I tentatively stepped forward. It was painful, but not agonizingly so.

Blake stepped closer to me. “Here, put your arm around my shoulder.” I followed her instructions, and she wrapped her arm around my waist. We slowly hobbled back to the parking lot, the rain now a light drizzle.

When we reached Blake’s car, she opened the passenger side door.

“Sit.”

I looked down at my clothes. “But I’m all muddy. I’ll ruin your car.”

“No, you won’t. Now let me look at your ankle again.” Blake’s voice was so firm I obeyed.

I carefully lowered myself onto the seat, sitting sideways so my legs were hanging out the side of the car. Blake crouched down and inspected my ankle again, touching it gently. “I can’t see any swelling or bruising yet.” Blake took off her backpack, rustled around in it, and pulled out an ice pack from the cooler bag that had held our bagels.

“Hold this on your ankle.” Blake was frowning again, her voice stern and authoritative. A delicious chill ran down my back. Bossy Doctor Mitchell was kind of hot. I wonder how Blake feels about role play…

Just then, Blake looked up at me, and her mouth twitched, ruining my doctor fantasies.

“What?”

“You, uh, just have a little bit of mud on your face.” Blake’s mouth twitched again and then broke into a wide grin.

I yanked down the sun visor to examine myself in the mirror and burst out laughing.

“Oh my god! A little bit? Here’s hoping this mud has rejuvenating properties, because it’s giving me a full-blown facial.” Mud caked my nose, cheeks, and forehead. The rain must have dislodged some of it, because dirty dribbles ran down my lower face and neck. I looked like an absolute disaster.

Blake grabbed some tissues from the glove department and was about to hand them to me when she stopped. “Wait! We should take a photo of this for one of your funny posts.”

“One of my funny posts? Have you been looking at my social media accounts?” I asked in a teasing tone, secretly thrilled Blake had been engaging in some light internet stalking.

Pink crept up Blake’s cheeks. “No comment. Now hand me your phone.”

CHAPTER TWENTY

JENNY

By the time Blake pulled up at my parents’ house, I’d managed to clean most of the mud off my face.

I undid my seatbelt and leaned over to push open the door.

“Wait! Let me help you out.” Blake yanked off her seatbelt.

“I think I’m fine, really. It’s already feeling a lot better,” I protested.

Ignoring me, Blake jumped out of the car and walked around to the passenger side, offering me her arm. Once I started walking, I was grateful for Blake’s support. Like contestants in a very slow three-legged race, we made our way to my parents’ front door.

On entry, we were immediately assaulted by Walter leaping on me, his eyes wide with excitement.