Reece

Four

The rugby game must have taken more out of Reece than I realised. When he saw me run for him, he stood upright and held his hands up. I wasn’t expecting this, and instead of stopping, I ran right into his side. His right side at that. He took a sharp intake of air and winced before grabbing onto my waist and fell backwards onto the muddy field. We landed with a thud, but from the grunt Reece gave, I could tell her took the worst of the landing. And I was sprawled on top of him, my face inches from his.

His eyes were pinched closed and his chest wasn’t moving. I wasn’t sure if he was breathing, so I brought my hand up to his cheek and gave him a slap.

“Cadence,” Reece groaned through his pain. When he opened his eyes they were glossed over and staring directly into mine. “You ok? Are you hurt?”

“What?” I half laughed, but his stern frown told me this wasn’t a time for joking around. “I’m fine. You broke my fall. Are you ok?”

“Yeah,” he winces as he helps us both to stand. I watch as he places his hand on his side and gasps from pain. Instinctively I move so that his arm drapes over my shoulder, half his weight on me as I help him walk towards our friends. “A couple of painkillers and I’ll be good to go again. It’s my shirt I’m more worried about.”

I laugh, sneaking a look at the shirt he wore. “It’s caked in mud,” I state the obvious. Reece laughs at my statement but stops abruptly because of the pain. “You shouldn’t laugh.”

“Then stop making me laugh,” he nudges me with his hip. Being that he’s a good half a foot taller than me, instead of hitting my hip, he got my waist and I almost fell over again. It was a good thing Reece had a tight grip on me. “You have shocking balance, Cadence.”

Erin and Mark are deep in conversation when Reece and I make it back to the bench, but Dylan is nowhere to be seen. I scan the area for him, but he’s long gone. I frown and help Reece sit.

“Where is Dylan?” I ask, trying not to make it obvious that I was very much infatuated with him.

“He left,” Mark answers, his eyes deliberately looking everywhere else but at me. “He said something about needing to get ready for tonight and that he’s see us later.”