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“Are you okay? Did you hit your head? Can you see me?”
I gripped his hands and yanked them off my head. “I’m fine,” I laughed. “Totally fine.”
I shoved off the ground, then promptly fell into his arms when my ankle gave out. My cheeks burned with embarrassment and I saw Lee shaking her head at me, like I had actually fallen down the stairs on purpose!
“You’re not okay. That ankle is swelling up.”
In one swift move, I was in his arms, cradled against his chest and feeling the warmth of skin pressed against me. I sighed in contentment, but was all too quickly tossed in a chair without a single ounce of grace. It almost hurt as much as the fall down the stairs.
“Uh…you sit there,” Dash said, running his fingers through his hair. He was all worked up, his eyes shifting around the room. “I’ll get an ice pack. Don’t move.” He started to leave, then came back. “And don’t take off your pants.”
Okay, that was weird.
“Yeah, definitely in the friend-zone,” Lee whispered. “He’s practically yelling at you to stop stripping in front of him. And what was with falling down the stairs? I told you he wasn’t into you.”
“I didn’t do that on purpose,” I hissed.
“Laura, no man likes a desperate woman. If you want, I can step aside and let you have Brock. My life is pointless anyway. Not even a good fuck could cheer me up at this point.”
“Thanks,” I said sarcastically, “but I think I can get my own man.”
“Not the way you’re going about it,” she said, walking away from me.
Seconds later, Dash returned with an ice pack in his hands, looking at my ankle warily. “Uh…we just need to…push up the pants.”
“Right,” I said, unsure of why he was looking at my ankle like it was about to bite him. “I can do it for you.”
“Would you?” he said, his shoulders sagging in relief.
Geez, I had no idea I was so repulsive. I dragged the pant leg up, then repositioned myself so the ice pack could sit on my ankle without falling.
“There. Is that good? Do you need anything else?”
“No, this is fine. Really.”
His brows furrowed as he continued to stare at my ankle. I really didn’t know what to do with this anymore.
“I should get dinner. Do you want some dinner? I’m feeling hungry,” he said, walking away from me, but then spun on his heel and returned. “Not…hungryhungry. Just hungry. For food. That you get from the store. Or a restaurant.”
“Yep, I got the picture. You only want food.”
“To eat. For dinner.”
I had to bite my lip to keep from yelling that I got the point. Geez, I wasn’t going to attack him and make him eat me. “Me too. Just dinner.”
“Good. Glad we’re on the same page.”
I huffed out a breath, blowing my semi-dry hair out of my face. Shot down again in the most humiliating way possible. If he made itany clearer, I might shoot myself. I buried my head in the back of the chair. Now I was starting to sound like Lee.
9
DASH
I waited as longas I could, but it was eleven o’clock and I was beat. I needed to get to sleep since I had to be up early tomorrow. There was just one little problem—the sleeping arrangements. I could sleep down here, but it would be uncomfortable as hell. These chairs were the best for watching sports, but most definitely not for spending an entire night.
“I’m going to bed,” Brock said, pushing off the floor. “Lee, would you care to join me?”
“Why not,” she muttered. “It’s not like life will get better if I stay celibate.”