“No, I’m not, but I know how to clean up a wound.”
Lea comes running over with the first aid kit. “Is she okay? What happened?”
“She just tripped. I think she fell for me,” Denver answers for me, sounding matter-of-fact.
How did he see what happened? I was about to chase after him, and he couldn’t even hear me.
A burn sears through my forehead as Denver places pressure on it. “Just cleaning up the cut on your forehead.”
“Do I need stitches?”
“I’m not sure yet. I need to clean it up first.”
“Then there was the timethatlifeguard needed to be saved from drowning,” Lea says, jokingly.
“You’re not funny,” I tell her.
“I think you lucked out. It’s superficial. I’m going to put a butterfly stitch on it, and you’ll be good to go.”
I close my eyes, trying to remove myself from the embarrassment, but lately, it’s like I’m being followed by humiliation.
Denver’s hands move and cup around the back of my neck. “Does this hurt?” he asks as he presses down on a couple of places.
“No,” I say softly.
“How about this?” He twists my head slowly to each side.
“No.”
“I’m going to help you slowly sit up. Tell me if you feel any pain.” Denver helps me up, and thankfully, I don’t feel anything wrong.
“No pain,” I tell him.
“Show’s over, everyone,” he roars. “Let’s give her a minute.”
The guests clear out, and Lea leans over to kiss my head before scratching her fingernails through my hair. “You sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“I got her,” Denver assures Lea. Of course, Lea smiles and nearly skips off, back to the cabana hut.
“That was my fault,” he says.
“No, it was mine. I tripped,” I tell him. “How would that be your fault?”
“I heard you yell for me, but I was giving you a hard time.”
I scoff and slap the back of my hand against his chest. “Look what you did to me!” I say jokingly, but he doesn’t laugh in response. He looks incredibly guilty.
“Seriously, I didn’t think you’d even get up. I was going to come back. I don’t give up that easily.”
“I should have figured,” I tell him.“Thanks for yanking me out of the water. I never thought I’d need to be lifeguarded, but life is just full of surprises, isn’t it?”
“I think that’s a fair statement. So, what were you tripping to tell me?”
I give him a long glare before opening my mouth to respond. “Just so you know— you’re not, in fact, funny, at all.”
“I’m a little funny.”
