Page 40 of Chasing Headlines
“Did she ask you something inappropriate?”
I lifted my head so I could look at her. “The reporter? Yeah, she mentioned mytroublewith the press, I believe is how she phrased it.” I grumbled. “I said no comment and she went away. There's no issue or whatever.”
She took in a breath. “Do you think she was trying to embarrass you? For a school news story?”
“I . . .”
Those blue green eyes glimmered in the light. “We’re on the same team.”
“I’d say it seems unlikely, doesn’t it?” The doctor cleared her throat. “Coach Eberhardt certainly didn’t think she was anything less than professional.”
I laced and unlaced my hands together. Flipped my wrist to check my watch. We were only twenty minutes in.Dammit.
“Do you trust the coaches?”
“What does any of this have to do with baseball?” I stood up and paced the small space behind the couch. “I don’t need to do interviews. I just need to play ball. Let her go flirt and shake her tits at Meyers. It’s not like I give a God damn. He seemed to like it.”
A small smile played on her lips. “I'm glad you were here.”
“Well, I guess that answers the other question I had for you.”
“What’s that?” I cringed as I ran a hand through my hair.
“Your sexual interest score on your inventory. The first time we met, you said you hadn’t been interested in anyone sexually in more than a year. You mentioned it rather bothered you.”
I leaned against the wall next to the door and silently wished for it to open and suck me through it like a magic portal to the land of Not-Here-ia.
“I wanted to ask you who the young lady was that caught your interest. So, it’s this reporter.”
I closed my eyes. “No.”
“It’s someone else?”
“No, it’s,” I mumbled. “Complicated.”
“Is it? Already? So, you want more than sex with her?”
I gaped at this woman. How the hell did she jump to that conclusion? “I just meant, I saw herbefore I found out she was a reporter. Now, I know. So, there was an initial reaction. Which is good, right? It's healthy. Normal.”
“It seems like progress.”
“Right. But, I’m not interested in that blond menace.”
She gave me some tight-lipped smile that looked like she’d just had a bite of my dad’s burnt lasagna. “And yet it bothers you she’d flirt with your teammate?”
Fuck! She was twisting everything around. Ugh. “I want to talk about something else.”
“You know that sex between two consenting adults can improve your outlook—having a positive impact on your mental health. It decreases your stress response and can lessen depression symptoms.”
I stared at this woman. Was she serious? “I don’t know her. I don’t even like her.”
“If you don’t know her, not sure how you can not like her—except you don’t approve of her decision to take journalism this semester.”
Was that all it was? A class? And wait, why did it sound like this therapist lady was practically prescribing sex with Rally Girl as like a cure for?—
“Think about it. She knew your story. Maybe she’s already interested.”
I already think about it. Way too much.This wasn't helping. “Why are we still talking about her? This?” I buried my face in my hands. “She doesn’t matter. At all. I just need to play baseball.”