“You—” was all I got out before she jumped, rearing like a horse who’s been spooked.
If I hadn’t seen Tally’s head coming straight for me, I would’ve thought someone had taken a sledgehammer to my face. There was a loud crunch—like someone stepped on a bag of potato chips—at the same time that a sharp pain shot upthe length of my nose, landing between my eyebrows. Everything went dark. A swear word I didn’t tell myself to say hissed from my mouth at the same time that my vision went black. My eyes teared up and I groaned but it couldn’t come out of my lungs because it felt like I was sucking air through a straw with a hole in the side.
Tally gasped. “Oh Ash, I’m so sorry. You caught me off guard.”
Someone tugged on my arm. I stumbled and they righted me. Then they leaned me against the wall. That had to be Blue. The hands were too big to be one of the girls.
Everything burned and my mouth tasted like copper. I touched where I thought my nose ended. It was wet.
“His nose is gushing,” Anna yelped. “Napkins!” I heard her snap, probably at the hostesses. A few seconds later she was next to me, pressing the cloth against my face. I knew it was Anna because she was half-cussing under her breath.
Spots started to appear and then the top of my vision cleared. I blinked and Blue’s forehead came into focus.
“Can you see, man?” Blue asked.
“Kind of.”
His eyes were next. Oh good. There he was. Mostly. He was kind of grainy. He touched the bridge of my nose, reinforcing the ache in my skull that was making me rethink every life choice that led to this moment.
“Ah.” I winced. “Don’t do that.”
“I think it’s broken,” he said.
“You think?” I snapped. I didn’t need him to touch me to figure that out.
And then, finally, Tally was next to me, leaning against me, tears in her eyes. “I’m so sorry,” she said again.
I should’ve told her it was okay but I couldn’t. As irrational as it was, it felt like she’d attacked me purposely. Emotionally, this whole date had been as painful as my face feltright now. The throbbing in my skull was egging me on, gaslighting me to lash out. I needed to get away from her before I said something I’d regret.
I pushed off the wall and strode outside, the napkin still pressed to my nose. Then I lowered myself on the closest bench and slid down until my head was resting on the back, eyes to the sky.
Anna sat next to me. “You’re not supposed to tip your head back when it’s bleeding. You could choke on the blood. At least that’s what Gramps always says.” She dropped her voice into a Gramps newscaster impression. “Choking on Nosebleeds—America’s Silent Killer.’”
“Perfect. Maybe I’ll be out of my misery soon.”
“Oh, Ash,” she whispered as she lay her head on my shoulder. “I think we need to take you to the hospital.”
“I can’t afford it.” I lifted my cast. “Already been there once this month. I have a stupid-high deductible.”
“We’ll pay for it. Or Ford will. We’ll blame it on him somehow.” She laughed but it sounded sad.
Ford was the last person I wanted to pay my medical bills. Or anyone really. I was a grown freaking man. A grown freaking man who’d had the crap kicked out of him this year, physically and emotionally. Between Madden punching me twice, breaking my hand, and now this, I was afraid for what the rest of the year would bring if I kept pursuing a relationship with Tally.
Anna sighed. “I’m so sorry for how this day has turned out.”
I closed my eyes. A tear slipped down my cheek—from the nose or from the date, I didn’t know. It was all terrible. “You really think I need to get it looked at? It’s that bad?”
She peered over, checking my nose again. “Let’s just say it’s reminiscent of the scene where Malfoy hits Harry with the Petrificus Totalus curse and stomps on his face.” Sherubbed my shoulder. “Kidding. But yeah, I think we should get you checked out. It might need to be reset.”
“Awesome.” I blotted my nose and checked the napkin to see if it had stopped. Nope.
We sat there for a few minutes, my nose still gushing, Anna stroking my arm.
“Is this even worth it?” I asked quietly. “I mean, if it’s right, it shouldn’t be this hard. Should it?”
“Eh.” She laughed softly. “I think Blue would disagree. I put him through the ringer.” She squeezed my hand. “But I also think he’d tell you it paid off in the end.”
I grunted and stared at the clouds, wondering if she was right.
