[She bends forward, leaning down to pick up the ball, and hesitates for a moment before she sits down next to him again. Letting it fall back down to the earth with a unceremonious thud, she shifts her weight back onto her hands, stretching long legs out in front of her.]
I am fully aware that you had no ill intentions. I just... wasn't expecting something like that. [Especially not that close. She felt the warmth rushing to her face again and bit down on her lip. Guilford would have taken her elbow to steady her. But Oliver had pulled her so close. Close enough to smell his aftershave, to feel the heat of his chest as it brushed against her. No one else would have dared to get that close to her. Unless, her very life was at stake.]
In any case, I am not that sort of princess. Chivalry is useless. I would rather fall.