Pain and liquid gather in my mouth. I’m terrified I chipped my newly repaired tooth.
“Pippa, are you okay?”
I nod and shake my head because I’m not sure if I’m okay.
“Is there a first aid kit nearby? Ice?” he asks, taking charge.
I point back the way I came toward the teacher’s lounge.
There’s definitely blood and it definitely hurts, but I refuse to open my mouth until I’m certain my tooth is intact.
“We’ll get this taken care of, not to worry,” Chase says soothingly.
When we enter the room, Everly startles as if caught doing something naughty. Looking at photos of her Viking beast, perhaps? She hides her phone and blinks a few times. “Oh, this is Chase Collins? I’d only recognize him from the back. I mean?—”
I nod because yeah, I know what she meant. It’s impossible not to notice his assets. Everything about him is quite buff and brawny.
Then she spots me with my hand covering my mouth.
“Ice?” Chase answers his own question and gets some from the freezer.
“What happened?” Everly asks.
I try to explain using gestures and speaking without opening my mouth, but Chase hushes me.
“Pippa stumbled and I think she bit her lip.”
And not in an adorable or provocative kind of way. Like I took a big chomp out of it as I did with my chicken sandwich. Then I remember Chompy the Swamp King and die a little inside, because with the way this day is going, I’ll wake up next to him in the middle of the night—and I’ll be missing a toe.
Chase finds the first aid kit and digs through it until he finds what he’s looking for. Even though it pains me to do so, I rubmy tongue over my teeth. Everything feels like it’s in the right place...except there’s blood and a bump—not exactly what I’d call attractive.
The grandfather clock chimes, followed by a loud bang.
“Sounds like the beast is awake. I mean Grey. Your teammate. Sorry, that wasn’t very proper.” Everly wrings her hands.
“Was he napping?” I ask, hoping she can decipher because it sounds more likeuz ee apping?
“Said jet lag was getting to him,” Everly answers.
In a low voice, Chase says, “Don’t leave him alone.”
“Is he a danger to children? Private property?” Everly asks, alarmed.
“No, he,” Chase waves his hand around his head, “he can get lost in the clouds.”
“What clouds?”
“The dreary, rainy ones. The guy needs some sunshine in his life.”
Everly taps the air with her pointer finger. “And that really is my cue to go. Hope your lip is okay,” Everly calls as she rushes from the lounge.
Chase turns to me with a tilt of his head, his lips soft and poofy like he’s asking himself what he’s ever going to do with me.
“A vacuum, really?”
“In my defense, it wasn’t supposed to be there. Cate has had to let employees go and the new ones don’t always know how things are run around here.”
He lets out a long sigh and starts to peel my hand away from my mouth. “Only you, Pippa. Only you.”
