Which was incredibly optimistic of him.
Instead, she burst out in nervous laughter while Briggs and I both watched in slow motion as a big glop of spit flew from her mouth and landed on his cheek.
It all went downhill quickly from there. I didn’t even have the chance to laugh, because things just kept happening.
Shelby jumped up from her seat and grabbed a pile of napkins sitting on the table behind him, thrusting them in his face.
“I’m so sorry,” she said, mortified. Suddenly, she looked up at me and sent a distress signal. I sat up in my seat, ready to do…something, but then Briggs was back, grinning up at her.
“It’s not the first time I’ve swapped spit with a girl.”
She stared at him incredulously. “Are you still going after all that?”
He smiled. “I could go all day. It’s pretty entertaining watching your face.”
Her shoulders relaxed just then, and I appreciated Briggs going easy on her. And then, looking like the Shelby I knew, she leaned forward to give him a big push—the kind she probably imagined was friendlier than it actually was. Except, his shoulder was not where it was a moment ago. Briggs had leaned back in his chair, the two front legs of his seat in the air, the rest of his chair leaning on the table just behind him.
The rest happened in slow motion. An entertaining mixture of momentum and gravity.
I was halfway out of my seat when she fell forward, arms flailing wildly before falling face down against his body. A grunt coming from Briggs was the only sound in my ears. Suddenly, the chair they were both now occupying began tipping backward, smashing into the table behind them. Unable to bear the force of their sudden weight, the table buckled beneath them, tipping toward the ground.
Briggs landed first, banging against the metal folding chair, now smashed against the dirt. Shelby landed second, slamming on top of Briggs, where they immediately began getting pelted in the head with bags of buns, hot dogs, and cans of pop sliding off the table.
Gravity for the win.
5
SHELBY
For a long moment,blessed numbness and denial were all I could feel. But the soft moaning of the body partially beneath me told me that he probably felt a lot more than that. I gently rolled off of Briggs and sat up.
The entire group stared at us. Stared atme. Their eyes wide. Cade’s mouth was open like he had been in mid-sentence before the crash. The noise from the playground was absent. One second. Two seconds. Three seconds. So many seconds. Lots of blinking. No noise. The moment frozen in time. Somebody, for the love, needed to say something.
“She’s better on the court, Briggs,” Jake interjected slowly, his voice a welcoming break into the stunned silence. “Maybe play with her there.”
I shot him a look of death, but that only caused his lips to curl, which was fair, since I was literally buried under a pile of hot dogs and paper plates. But Jake’s comment did as he probably intended—lightened the mood. I was able to breathe an awkward sigh of relief when Briggs began laughing, rubbing his forehead gingerly. The rest of the shocked groupof onlookers spurred quickly into action, helping put the table back to rights.
Jake was by my side before I could move, pulling me up. Not able to deal with his teasing just yet, I sent an apologetic look toward my unintended victim.
“Don’t think a little assault and battery is going to scare me off, Shelby,” Briggs teased, wiping hot dog juice off his arm. “We’ll have to settle this tomorrow night on the courts? 8:00?”
He looked at me hopefully. I couldn’t help but be grateful that he was being so kind about it all, even teasing me to take the sting out of everything. For that, I’d give him one basketball game.
“Deal. I’m so sorry.”
“Do I have any hot dog in my hair?”
“You look great, buddy,” Jake supplied cheerfully while I buried my head in shame, making both guys laugh.
Finally, Briggs waved me off while taking another seat.
Across the fire from me.
Actions definitely spoke louder than words. I became grateful when Tessa and Kelsey drew me into their conversation, easing my embarrassment—if that were even possible.
The night grew late, and soon enough, most of the group gathered their kids, said their goodbyes, and meandered back to their homes. Briggs, obviously too scared to get too close to me again, only waved while attempting to stifle a slight limp as he walked away.
Eventually, it was only Jake and me seated around the waning campfire. The path of the smoke had pushed Jake to take a seat next to me on a log. Sophie seemed content for the moment on the swings, singing softly to herself. My eyes remained fixated on the fire, which had slowly dissipated into white ash and embers. I could feel his eyes on me, but I refusedto look over at the lanky cowboy. I didn’t need his laughing eyes burning into mine. I refused to acknowledge?—