Match Me

Chapter 7

“What happened?”

Paul’s face was inches from mine. “Relax. You fainted.”

My hands were wet and sticky. So was my back. So was everything. I tried to focus my eyes but everything was blurry and lit-up, like I’d just spent fifteen minutes staring into a sky filled with fireworks. I attempted to sit up but he held me down.

“Hang on. Jenna went to grab you something to change into.”

“What?” I pushed his hands away and raised myself to a half-sitting position.

I was sprawled on the floor of the produce aisle, covered in something red and sticky.

“You fainted,” he repeated. “And, uh, you sorta took out the tomato display on your way down.”

My shoulders sagged and I sighed. Of course I did. A couple of curious onlookers had stopped and were staring at me, their expressions a mixture of horror and amusement. It reminded me of the looks on the faces of the wedding guests and I immediately wondered which event they were reacting to, my current situation or my past transgression.

Jenna appeared then, holding up a Minnesota Gophers shirt that looked more like a sail.

“This is all I could find,” she said, breathless.

Paul frowned.

“It’s a grocery store, not Target,” she said. “She should be happy I was able to find something that wasn’t covered in tomato paste.”

Paul took it from her. “Can you stand?”

I nodded. “I think so.”

He held out his hand to me and helped lift me off the floor. Jenna waited, watching.

“The bathroom is over by the deli,” he said. “You can go in there and at least change your shirt.”

I shuffled out of the produce section and toward the deli counter. Paul hovered next to me, his hand on my elbow. “I need to pay for it first.”

He ripped the tag off the shirt. “I got it.”

“No.”

He steered me toward the bathroom. “Don’t argue with me. Just go change.”

“Do you need help?” Jenna’s voice was laced with honey. I didn’t know she’d followed us.

“You’ve already done enough,” Paul said.

Her face brightened and I knew she missed his intended meaning. “OK. Well, let me know about that lasagna. I’m free tonight…”