Page 30 of The Perfect Game

“It’s not that far. Keep that tight until we get something to wrap around it.” I lengthened my stride, knowing that juggling two fishing poles, a bag of food, and a large blanket that wasn’t folded would only get heavier if I walked slowly.

Ben followed, his face pale and worry etched around his eyes. “I’m so sorry. I can’t believe—I’m so sorry,” he kept saying. I wanted to comfort him, but my main goal right then was to get to his car.

Once we made it to the parking lot, I opened the trunk, dumping the blanket and bag inside. I had to pull the poles apart to fit inside the trunk, but once that happened, I slammed the door.

“Give me the keys,” I said, looking up into Ben’s dark blue eyes. They were stormy now like he was fighting some internal battle.

“I can drive,” he said, sounding more like a robot than his normal self.

I shook my head, palm out as I waited for the keys. “I know it’s just a cut on your finger, but my ankle is fine, and this way you can keep it covered until we find some bandages.”

He finally relented, pulling the keys out of his pants pocket and handing them to me. I opened the door for him, and he slid in, frustration in his expression.

I moved the seat forward enough to reach the pedals and started the car. “Okay, direct me to your house.”

It only took a few minutes until we were pulling into his driveway. His house was nice—nothing near the size of mine, but with Penny’s and Brynn’s houses being smaller than mine, I was used to it. And it wasn’t like a mansion of a house could make anyone feel more at home. I knew that better than anyone.

I unbuckled my seat belt and got out of the car, walking over to where Ben now stood.

He glanced at an SUV in the driveway, and his face fell. “Y-you don’t have to stay. I, uh, feel bad that this is how our date went.”

Ben avoided my eyes, and I moved to stand in his line of sight. “You’re fine. Let’s get you inside and make sure you have everything you need.”

He walked with me toward the front porch, his steps wooden as he moved forward. As he opened the door, I tried to figure out what was wrong besides a small cut on his finger. He couldn’t be going into shock, right? There hadn’t been quite that much blood. Was he worried about something?

I saw his mother walking down the hallway and called out, “Mrs. Gates, do you have some Band-Aids and ointment? Ben cut his finger on the fishing hook.”

She turned and surveyed the two of us. “Yes, let me grab it. You two have a seat in the kitchen.”

Seventeen

Ben

Of course, all this would be happening to me. I’d done a lot of work to make sure our date went off without a hitch, and here I was, acting like a statue because of a little blood. I could stomach it on other people just fine, but when it came to seeing the red liquid coming out of my limb or appendage, it was too much.

My mom came back with the first aid kit, opening it. Serena reached over her and pulled out ointment, a bandage, and some white tape. Without saying anything, she removed the napkin from my finger and opened a small white package to wipe the area around the cut with the cool wipe.

She applied the ointment and then two bandages, finishing it off with the white tape to keep it all secure. “There you go. Now you should be good.” She pulled out a bottle of ibuprofen and opened the bottle. She shook out two pills into her palm and moved it over to me. “Take these to help.”

I took a glass of water my mom had filled and swallowed the pills, hitting my chest to make sure they went down.

“That’s impressive, Serena. You look like you’ve worked with injuries quite a bit. Are you a CNA?”

Pink rushed to Serena’s cheeks, and she looked more bashful than I’d ever seen her. “No, I just, well, my dad plays football, and he always has cuts or small wounds that need cleaning out. I used to do that a lot when I was little. He’d sit and wait for me to get it all done and then, and then, yeah.” She looked like she wanted to say something else but stopped herself.

“You have the patience to be a nurse; that’s for sure.” My mom beamed at her, and Serena looked even more surprised than before. “I always wanted to be a nurse as a young girl. But then I got older and realized I was pretty good at planning out food for a party.”

I smiled, pointing to my mom. “She owns a catering business, MC Catering.”

“Really?” Serena said, looking at my mom for confirmation. “I’ve heard great things about your company. I think you’ve catered a couple of parties my parents have gone to.”

“It’s a lot of work, but my friend and I make it work so we can be moms too.” She smiled at us. “Lee and Daniel just left in the SUV, and I need to finish cleaning upstairs. Let me know if you need anything else.”

Now that the blood on my finger was hidden, the panic had eased somewhat, and I said, “You’d be great at nursing. You didn’t freak out once, like I did.”

“Thanks,” was all she could say, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.

My mom turned to walk back down the hall, and Serena glanced around. “Where did your dad take Daniel?”

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