Chapter 9: Riley Carried Me Off the Field
Riley Summers swept a fierce glare over the group of boys standing frozen not far away. When she spoke, her voice came out through clenched teeth, cold enough to cut.
“Were you trying to kill her?”
That sharp shout shattered the silence on the field. The anger in it made every one of the boys shiver.
The buzz-cut boy who had kicked the ball looked at the soccer ball buried deep in the chain-link fence, now completely warped out of shape. Then he met Riley’s terrifying glare, and his legs went so weak he nearly dropped to his knees.
“I-I’m sorry, Riley! I didn’t mean to! I really didn’t mean to!” he stammered, his voice almost breaking as all the color drained from his face.
“The teacher’s here! Everyone, step back!”
The gym teacher finally snapped out of his shock. Blowing his whistle, he pushed through the crowd and hurried over, ready to handle the accident.
Riley ignored him completely.
In her world, the only thing that existed in that moment was the fragile “porcelain doll” in front of her, someone who looked like she might break if touched too hard. The teacher, the culprit, and all the eyes around them might as well have vanished.
She knelt on one knee in front of Tessa. Her tall figure cast a steady, reassuring shadow over her. Her voice was a little rough from holding back her anger, but the worry in it was impossible to miss.
“How are you? Did it scare you? Are you hurt anywhere?”
Tessa was still badly shaken.
For that one instant, she had really thought the soccer ball was going to smash straight into her face. The shadow of death and the fear of being disfigured had wiped her mind blank. Only now did she slowly come back to herself, with her heartbeat pounding in her ears and Riley’s sharp, anxious face filling her vision.
She could only shake her head dumbly. Her amber eyes shimmered with leftover fear, and her lips trembled slightly. She could not get a single word out.
She looked so pitiful that Riley’s protective instincts went straight through the roof.
“No. I don’t believe you.” Riley’s tone was firm, almost forceful. “You’re so clumsy you’ve fallen at least ten times since warm-up. You probably hurt yourself and didn’t even notice. I’m checking.”
Without waiting for Tessa to react, Riley began inspecting her.
Her hands, lightly callused from years of training, held Tessa’s slender arm with no room for refusal. She pressed carefully from shoulder to wrist, checking for injuries.
Through the thin layer of athletic fabric, Tessa could clearly feel the heat of Riley’s palm.
Riley’s inspection did not stop there.
Her gaze quickly landed on Tessa’s pant leg, which had ridden up slightly from the fall, revealing a pale, delicate ankle beneath.
“You fell so many times. This has to be twisted.”
Riley frowned, sounding completely certain. Without thinking, she reached out and wrapped her hand around Tessa’s exposed ankle.
The instant that warm palm closed around her slender ankle, a strange electric current shot up from the point of contact and numbed Tessa’s nerves.
Her breath caught. Her body tensed uncontrollably. Her face went red in an instant, and the blush spread all the way down her fair neck and to the tips of her ears.
Unfortunately, Riley misunderstood her reaction completely.
She saw Tessa’s flushed face, watery eyes, and pained little sound, and immediately decided she must have touched an injury.
Riley’s expression darkened.
In her heart, the guilt assigned to those boys grew several times heavier.
[Ding! Detected “Intense Protective Desire” from Riley Summers. Affection Points +10!]
[Ding! Detected deep “Pity” from Riley Summers. Affection Points +5!]
[Ding! Affection Points +3!]
The system alerts ringing one after another in Tessa’s head pulled her back a little, but the strange feeling in her body only made her more helpless.
“No. This place is too dangerous.”
Riley made her decision. She looked up at the gym teacher, who wore a deeply conflicted expression, and said, “She’s hurt. I’m taking her to the nurse.”
Then, without giving anyone time to respond, Riley tightened her arms.
Under the gaze of hundreds of students, she lifted Tessa’s light body into a perfect princess carry.
“Ah!”
Tessa let out a short cry. The world spun, and in the next second she found herself held securely in Riley’s arms.
Being carried like this by another girl, in such a bold and overwhelming way, sent Tessa’s embarrassment straight through the sky. Her heart raced, her mind went blank, and all that remained was panic mixed with a strange, powerless sense of safety.
The entire field exploded.
If Seraphina’s hand-holding and cookie-feeding over the past few days had been beautiful, heart-fluttering scenes, then Riley’s full-force princess carry was a completely different kind of impact.
“Whoa… a princess carry…”
“Riley Summers is way too cool. She just picked her up like it was nothing.”
“So what’s going on now? A couple days ago it was Seraphina Frost, and today it’s Riley Summers? Who exactly is this Tessa girl?”
At the same time, on Halewick University’s campus forum, the post about Seraphina and Tessa had only just started cooling down. Now, new information set it ablaze all over again, and the replies climbed at terrifying speed.
Soon, an even more eye-catching post was pushed to the top of the trending page.
[Live Report! Gym Class Accident. Riley Summers Saves the Beauty and Carries Stunning Transfer Student Tessa Vale to the Nurse. Video Included.]
The main post was a short video of barely more than ten seconds. It clearly captured the entire moment Riley lifted Tessa into her arms, and the visual impact was overwhelming.
The comment section instantly boiled over.
[1F: Holy crap! What kind of legendary scene is this? Riley’s boyfriend energy is off the charts, but all my attention is on Tessa. Did you see her expression when she got picked up? Shocked and embarrassed. I’m a girl and even my heart skipped.]
[2F: The real point is her figure, okay? She’s wearing loose athletic clothes, but when she got lifted, that body line… damn. And those legs are unreal. So pale and straight.]
[3F: Thanks, I’m already shipping it. Sunny athletic girl x fragile stunning beauty. I hereby announce that “SummerSweet Tessa” is officially founded today. Anyone joining me?]
[4F: Stop only shipping them and look at this screenshot [image.jpg]. Tessa buried her face while being carried, so you can only see her pale neck and slightly red ears. She looks so obedient and soft. My protective instincts just maxed out.]
Riley, the center of all this chaos, heard none of it.
She carried the soft, light girl in her arms, feeling Tessa tremble slightly from nerves and embarrassment. Her brows drew even tighter.
Too weak.
Too light.
Too easy to hurt.
Ignoring the gym teacher calling after her, ignoring the countless shocked, jealous, and gossip-filled stares, Riley held Tessa firmly and strode toward the nurse’s office with a clear purpose.