“You saved Royce?” Violet asked. “How?”
I sighed. “He was on the phone and not paying attention to where he was going. He walked out in front of a bus. I pulled him out of the way, but yeah, it hurt my back a little.”
“Does the team know?” Jeanine asked.
“Some of them, yeah, I guess,” I said with a shrug. “Cap came to check on me, and PT looked me over. The coaches knew.”
“Colt’s so sweet,” Violet said.
Jeanine was already typing away on her phone. “Wait until marketing hears about this.”
“Test,”I said gently into the microphone clipped on my shirt.
“Perfect. Can you guys scoot a little closer together? Let’s bring the stools in tight. Come on. Act like you like each other.”
Royce and I sat in front of a green screen background in the marketing office. We both stood, and Royce slid my stool to nestle with his. “Like this?”
“No, hang on.” The social media intern stepped forward and staggered the stools so my shoulder would be in front of Royce’s. “There.”
Jeanine owed me some wine for this. She blabbed to marketing that I saved Royce, and now we were going to be a feature on social media.
When I sat again, Royce’s fingertips touched my lower back, like he was making sure I didn’t topple over. “Good?”
“Fine.” I was being cold to him, but it was with good reason. I was trying not to get flustered, which was hard to do when the man sitting next to me smelled nice, kept biting his whoreish neck chain, and took me for a ride on his motorcycle not long ago. If I was cold, he couldn’t get to me. If he couldn’t get to me, they wouldn’t catch it on camera. I stroked my fingers through my hair, looking around for a mirror to make sure it was sitting nicely.
“Here.” Harlan tapped my chin so I’d face him. Then, just like when I got off his bike, he ran his fingers through my hair. He mussed it a little at the roots and smirked.
“Are you messing it up?” I asked.
“I would never,” he said with a wink. He tucked a lock of my hair behind my ear, just like the last time. “There.”
“Alright, we’re rolling. Emma, tell us what happened from your perspective. And Royce, just cut in whenever it comes to your involvement.”
“Got it,” he said. “Whenever you’re ready, Chef.”
I drew in a breath and blew it out through my lips. “In and out,” Royce said, voice low. “You camera shy?”
“Do we have to do this?” I mumbled back. “It feels weird and self-congratulatory.”
Again, that monstrous hand landed on my back. “We don’t have to, but it’s a pretty cool story. You deserve some limelight.”
I nodded and sat straighter. I’d just launch into it before I could second-guess myself. “Okay, so I was walking into work and Royce was in front of me on the phone.” I left out the part where he was zigzagging like he was running from an alligator. “I was hanging back so I didn’t eavesdrop, but he didn’t check for traffic at the corner. He just walked out into the street.”
I hadn’t relived the accident since that day, not like this. Not with him sitting next to me and him smelling just like he did that day. Not with his skin so close to mine that I could feel his warmth radiating off him.
In truth, it was scary that day. I didn’t want to see anyone die, but I really didn’t want to see him die. Him specifically. Because who would annoy me if he died? Who would come loom on his floor tile if he wasn’t around to do it? So often, we don’t realize how much impact someone has in our lives until we see that there would be a void without them.
I didn’t expect to get emotional about this, but it really had been a big moment. My voice cracked on my next words, and Royce let out a little hum.
“I saw a bus headed toward him, and I knew he hadn’t seen it. His head wasn’t even turned that way. I called his name, but he didn’t hear me. So, I ran.”
I looked beside me to find Harlan watching me talk, and he looked different. Like, day-of-the-accident different, how he looked at me when I thought something more was about to happen. Enamored. Spellbound. Hopeful. I stopped talking because my body set off several distracting signals, my stomach dipping, my heart skipping, my hands itching with the urge to touch the man whose outer thigh was already kissing mine.
Harlan jumped in. “Yeah, so I was out of it and then there was a horn blaring, and headlights, and this flash of blonde hair before I was on the ground. It was a true life-before-my-eyes moment. Chef tackled me out of the way.” His jaw muscle twitched and he put a hand on my knee. “She saved my life.”
Our eyes met, and his were a little watery. It was the softest I’d ever seen him, and my chest squeezed at how earnest he was being.
Plus, his hand was on me, and it was being recorded.
