38 - Joanna

38

Joanna

I went down like a bag of apples, face-planting in the sand. My ankle flared with pain, and I cried out.

Austin was on his knees next to me in a flash. "You okay?"

"I think I rolled my ankle."

"Don't need to think about it. I saw it happen. You gotta watch where you're stepping on this sand."

"THEN YOU SHOULDN'T DISTRACT ME BY WINKING," I shouted at him.

I was angry and frustrated, so I pushed up onto my knees and tried to get my foot underneath me. That was immediately a bad idea; it wouldn't bear any weight, and I went down again.

"Now just hold on," Austin purred at me. "Take a breather. You weren't gonna win that race, anyhow."

"Thanks for reminding me!"

"Let me see that." He tried touching my ankle.

"No! I'm fine!"

"Hope so," he replied. "But let me take a look, just in case."

I leaned back and extended my leg in his direction. His touch was tender as he examined my ankle, gently maneuvering my foot a few millimeters in one direction, then another.

"OW," I hissed at him. "That hurts."

"It's not broken, but it's twisted real bad," he agreed. "You've got no range of motion at all."

"Gee, thanks for the breaking news," I muttered.

Austin stood up and gazed down the beach. Clark and the other groomsman were no longer behind me; they must have decided to give up rather than start the second lap.

"It's a ways back to the resort," Austin said.

"I can walk just fine." I pushed to my feet, putting all of my weight on my good ankle. As soon as I tried putting any amount of weight on the bad one, debilitating pain shot up my leg.

"Let's take it slow." Austin put an arm around me. "One step at a time."

Even with his help, every step was excruciating. After ten steps, I shook my head.

"I can't. I need help. Can you go get someone?"

"Like who?"

"I don't know. A medical team with a stretcher?"

Austin raised his brow at me. "A Jamaican ambulance and a team with a stretcher? You want all that fuss over a twisted ankle?"

I didn't want all that attention. This was already too much embarrassment for me to handle.

"Thought so," Austin replied, staring off into the distance. "It's only a quarter mile. I can carry you."

"What! No!" I protested. "You just want to humiliate me!"

He glanced down at me. "Suit yourself. You can crawl back. I'll let the others know you'll be a while."

He started walking away.

"Wait!" I said.

Austin turned around, a half-smile on his face.

"Well? Are you going to help me, or not?"

"You're being awfully mean to the man who has the power to save you from a long crawl back to the resort," he pointed out.

"You're right. I'm sorry. I'm just in a lot of pain."

He planted his hands on his hips. "I'm gonna need to receive a verbal request. If you don't mind."

"This is funny to you?"

He chuckled. "A little bit, yeah."

I gritted my teeth. "Can you please carry me back to the resort?"

"With pleasure, ma'am."

With a hand around my back and another down by my knees, he scooped me up into his arms like I weighed nothing. I hooked my arms around his head and surrendered to my embarrassing fate.

His body was warm and smelled like banana sunscreen. The muscles in his shoulders and neck were thick and solid; I never felt like I was in danger of being dropped. After a few feet of walking, I forced myself to relax.

"This is payback for the hiking trip I sent you on, isn't it?"

His crystal-blue eyes seemed even brighter than normal as he glanced at me. "Payback? I'm the one doing you a solid, sister."

I was silent for a few more steps.

"Sorry for being grumpy," I said.

"No problemo. I'm a big baby when I hurt myself."

"You seemed like you knew what you were doing when you examined my ankle."

"It's kind of my job."

"As a guitar player?"

He snorted. "That's only a side-gig. I'm with the Chicago Fire Department."

"You're a firefighter?" I asked. "That actually makes a lot of sense."

"Why's that?"

"Because you're…" I stopped myself from saying a big hunk . "Because you're strong."

He smiled like he knew what I was going to say. "Thanks for the compliment."

"Not a compliment. Just an observation."

"Uh huh."

Listen. I didn't consider myself the damsel-in-distress type. I hated those women. I could take care of myself.

But having a busted ankle, and then being carried to safety by a very strong man? Who was shirtless? It kind of turned me on. I was only human, after all. This was the female equivalent of a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader bouncing her boobs in a man's face.

He doesn't need to know that . But based on the way he kept grinning, I suspected he already knew.

As soon as we neared the starting point, Landon and the others came running toward us. "What happened?!" he demanded.

Theo was there, eyes wide and concerned.

"Twisted my ankle," I said. "Look."

By now, my right ankle was swollen up to the size of an orange. The skin was already turning a gnarly shade of bluish-purple.

"Fuck!" Landon said.

"She tried limping home," Austin explained, "but can't keep any weight on it. You can take it from here, chief."

Theo stepped forward to take me, then stopped himself as Landon reached me first. Thankfully, nobody had noticed. Austin handed me over to Landon like I was a big bag of dog food. Landon bore my weight easily.

"Better watch out," Danicka teased. "Austin might be making a move on your girl, Landon."

Landon and I both laughed. Maybe a little too hard.

"There's a medical room next to the lobby," Landon said. "Let's get you all fixed up."

I never had a chance to thank Austin, because Landon was carrying me up to the resort, escorted by half the wedding party. I looked over Landon's shoulder and saw Austin standing on the beach, shirtless and concerned.

He gave me a final stomach-fluttering wink before we disappeared from sight.