Page 15 of Not that Impressed (Houston Pumas #3)

WILL

“Ellie?” I kneel next to her.

I relax slightly when she moans in response.

Her eyes flicker open. “Will?” Her voice is surprised, like she can’t fathom why I’m here.

I lift her pant leg to eye her ankle. The heel of her shoe is broken, but there’s no swelling or bruising there to indicate she injured it.

“I’m about to pick you up so we can go to the hospital,” I tell her. I carefully push some hair from in front of her eyes. I hope my voice is gentle, but I’m stressed and anger is still heavy in my chest, so it’s unlikely.

She scowls, but her expression is confused. It’s almost adorable. “Why?”

“You fell, and I’m pretty sure you have a concussion.” She hasn’t objected to me picking her up, so I scoop her into my arms and enjoy the little gasp she gives.

She moans again and leans her head against my chest. I forget everything she said to me before. Holding a beautiful woman, her soft hair brushing against my arms with every step, makes it hard to stay angry.

Her knowing about my history with Hollis explains a lot. Already my chest is easing over her accusation. He’s obviously been spreading lies again, and I’d correct her right here and now, except she probably wouldn’t remember.

She gently strokes my cheek. “Your face is sooo pretty,” she murmurs. “Too bad you’re such a meanie.”

“It’s a tragedy,” I say dryly.

She sighs forlornly in response. “So pretty you’d never believe you caused Grayson so much misfortune.”

I snort. “Misfortune?”

She nods seriously then cringes. “Poor guy.”

You know how everyone is a different kind of drunk? It’s the same with concussions. Charlie says the last time I got one, I was moody and angry and not that much different from my normal self. Charlie, on the other hand, like Ellie here, gets goofy.

I settle her in the passenger seat of my Expedition, leaning the seat all the way back for her.

Then I empty out some trash from a Chipotle bag on the floor into a nearby garbage can.

Normally my car is spotless, but I grabbed food on the way over to the service project. I hand her the bag when I get back.

“We’re going to drive to urgent care,” I tell her, trying for a comforting tone. I wish Charlie was here for me to check in with. His expressions always tell me how I’m doing with not sounding like an entitled jerk. “If you feel sick, throw up into this.”

“Will?” she says, sounding confused again about seeing me still there.

“Yup.” I put the bag in her lap and shut the door. I run a hand down my face as I walk around to the driver’s seat. Tonight ended up a lot differently than I planned. I text Charlie before I get into the car, since he’s with Janelle. I don’t know how to get a hold of anyone else in her family.

Will

I’m taking Ellie to urgent care. I think she has a concussion. Tell Janelle.

Charlie

Bro…

Will

It wasn’t my fault. I’ll explain later.

We get to urgent care without incident, but I keep the bag with us as we head in since she looks increasingly pale. I carry her in, and several heads pop up as we step through the door. I settle her in a chair away from the few people waiting, and she leans her head back with a moan.

“I’m going to go check in,” I point to the desk.

Her answer is another groan.

We’re lucky. A nurse calls for us only a few minutes after we get there.

She hands me a clipboard, but I shake my head. “We don’t know each other well. I happened to be there when she fell. Her sister’s on her way.”

The nurse eyes me. “Okay.” She turns to Ellie, who’s clutching the Chipotle bag even though the nurse has put a small plastic bin in her lap. “Can you tell me what happened?” she asks.

Ellie nods solemnly and then winces. “Will made me a proposition.” She winks several times at the nurse, who in turn looks at me and raises her eyebrows. Ellie takes the nurse’s chin in her hands and forces the nurse to look back at her. “No, nurse. I told him, oh, he?—”

“It was not a proposition,” I break in loudly. “I asked her out.”

Ellie snickers. The nurse looks as though I’m the one making things up.

“Look at her,” I protest. “She’s got a concussion.”

“Anyway,” Ellie draws out the word. “My stupid shoe got stuck and WHOOOP!” She makes a sliding gesture with her hand that almost smacks me in the face. I am definitely standing too close, and I don’t know when that happened .

I back up a step. “You’ll want to check out her ankle too.” I change the subject. “It didn’t look bruised or anything to me but … yeah, I’ll be out here if you need me.” I flee from the room. It’s better that I don’t know what either of those women are about to say about me.

Charlie stands in the lobby when I emerge from the hallway that leads to the exam rooms. He tilts his head at me.

I walk outside, since I’m not recounting what happened in front of the handful of people still waiting, and the one guy who’s squinting at me like he’s trying to place me from somewhere.

The last thing either Ellie or I need is someone posting a blurry photo of us together in urgent care.

Even the thought of those rumors makes my head ache. She did us both a favor by saying no.

I’m still hoping it’s mostly because of what Hollis told her.

I can fix that.

“I asked her out.” I rub my face with my hand. I don’t want to relive that conversation. “She said no.”

“And then you thought she was the Blues quarterback and went full-on linebacker on her? Add one more sack to your stats?” Charlie asks, laughter in his voice.

I raise my eyebrows and blink slowly at him, hoping he knows how unamused I am. He keeps smiling anyway. “She made it very clear dating me was the last thing she’d ever want to do,” I say. “When she went to walk away, her heel got caught and she fell.”

“You asked her out?” Charlie confirms.

I shove my hands in my pockets. “I thought it would be cool if we got to know each other.”

“Huh.” Charlie doesn’t make a comment beyond that, even though his expression is as confused as Ellie’s was when she opened her eyes after she fell.

“I think it would be best if I went home. Is it okay if you stay with them?” I’m basically pleading.

“Yeah. No problem.” He pats me on the shoulder, and he’s pressing his lips together. I think he might be trying not to laugh. Some friend.

“Later.” I hurry off toward my Expedition.

Mr.Colin

Poll: Should @Ellie.Bennet.IRL and I do a collab? (Let’s get Ms. Bennet on board with this, fans!)

@Bennet_Fanz_For_Life replied to your story:

You are delusional. This is a no-win situation for Ellie. Your fans will hate if she doesn’t. Her fans will drop her if she does. You’re such a pick me boy. Grow up.