Page 66 of More To Us

"I'm fine. I just need to loosen it up."

A group of cyclists goes by and Austin stands in the trail, blocking me so they don't run into me.

"We need to get you off the trail," he says. "Can you slide back?"

"No." The cramp is even worse now, the pain so bad my eyes are watering.

"Shit." Austin kneels down by my leg. "Where does it hurt?"

"Right here." I point to the back of my thigh.

He glances to the side and sees another group of cyclists coming. "I'm gonna slide you back, okay?"

I nod, and he goes behind me and puts his hands under my arms and slides me onto the grass. He kneels in front of me, straddling my leg. "Can I try?"

I'm afraid to let him touch my leg but I'm in so much pain right now I can't massage it myself.

"Go ahead," I say, leaning back on my hands.

He wraps his hands around my thigh and gently massages it. "Is this okay?"

"Yeah." I close my eyes and take some deep breaths, trying to make my body relax. "Press harder," I tell him. "Then just hold it there."

That trick always worked in physical therapy and was what I was attempting to do just now but couldn't.

I feel his fingers tighten over the cramp, squeezing the muscle. "Like this?"

I nod really fast. "Yeah. Don't move." I keep my eyes closed and continue taking full deep breaths until the muscle finally relaxes. I open my eyes and see Austin watching me, that concerned look still on his face. "You can let go now," I tell him.

He slowly lets go, then sits beside me. "I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have made you go that far."

"It wasn't that far. And you asked me before we did it. I'm the one who agreed to it."

"But I wasn't even thinking about your leg." He points to it. "That's the one you hurt, right?"

"Yeah, but like I said, it was a year ago. I'm fine now."

"What did you do? How did you hurt it? You never really said."

"I just fell during gymnastics practice." I laugh but hear how fake it sounds. "I'm a klutz sometimes."

He must've noticed the fake laugh because he's not smiling. His face is serious. "A gymnast isn't a klutz." He looks down at my leg. "You must've really hurt it if you're still having problems with it." He looks back at me. "So what exactly happened?"

My heart's pounding as I race to come up with a lie he'll believe. He can't know what really happened. I saw how panicked he looked just now when I dropped to the ground, and that was just from a leg cramp. It was nothing. If he knew the truth about my leg, he'd treat me like Amber does. Always watching me, telling me to take it easy. And we'd never go rollerblading or biking or do anything else like this again.

I smile. "This is embarrassing, but one day I was at practice and I wasn't looking where I was going and I tripped on one of the mats. My leg got caught and I ended up breaking it."

"Was it a bad break?"

I shrug. "It was just a normal broken leg. And like I said, it feels great now. That's not what caused my leg cramp. It was because I didn't drink enough water today. I always get muscle cramps when I'm dehydrated."

He reaches for his water bottle but then notices it's empty. "Shit, I should've brought more water. I have some in the truck. I'll go get it." He stands up.

"I'll go with you. I just need help getting up."

"You sure you can make it?"

I laugh. "Austin, you're overreacting. It was just a leg cramp and you cured it. Now help me up." I hold out my hands and he pulls me up.

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