Page 49 of Puck Princess

It takes me a second to understand what she means. When I do, my stomach drops.

I forgot the next game is an away game. It means being on an airplane with the team. It means hotels. It means very close quarters with no space to hide.

Fuck.

As soon as I get to work, I go straight to Miriam’s office.

I believe pregnant women can do anything. Using pregnancy to discriminate against a woman in the workplace is wrong. And illegal.

With all of that being true, will I be using pregnancy as an excuse to avoid getting on a tube of recycled air with Spencer Santos? Yes. Yes, I will. And I have no shame about that.

But the moment I bring it up to Miriam, she shakes her head. “I’m sorry, Callie, but several of the guys are in bad shape. More than one of them are carrying around doctor’s notes. We have tohave a PT with us. If they’re injured, we can allow them to play so long as they have a ‘treatment plan.’ And as the PT?—”

“I’m the treatment plan.” I sigh, slinking back in my seat.Damn.

“In a few months, you’ll be grounded whether you want to be or not. But right now? You gotta go.”

I nod. “I totally get it.”

Miriam studies me from across her desk. “Can I ask you something? In full confidentiality.”

My heart picks up a little in my chest, but I remain cool as a cucumber. “Sure.”

“Is there another reason you don’t want to go?”

I shuffle mentally, scraping for a quick and believable answer. “I just get sick when I fly.”

“There’s no other reason?”

She’s digging into the no-go zone here. Her intuition is too strong. I don’t know what she thinks she knows, but I’m going to shut it down.

“Not at all. What other reason would I have?”

“You just seem… jumpy.”

“I’m tired.” That’s true.

My nightmare from last night lurks on the edges of my thoughts, and I have to clear my throat to scatter it away.

“With everything that happened with Miles, it makes sense, but you still seem like you aren’t yourself.” She gives me a tightsmile. “I just want to make sure you’re okay. Is there anyone else making you uncomfortable at work?”

Alarms are sounding in my head. “Why would you ask that?”

“Woman to woman? In the sports medicine field, we always have someone treating us inappropriately. It’s a job I love that I also wouldn’t wish on anyone else. If you’re ever feeling that way, I want you to know you can report it.”

“Of course.”

She studies me then lets it go with a smile..“Okay. That’s all I wanted to say. These boys are a rowdy bunch, but they can’t do shit without us. We gotta work together to keep them in line.”

Miriam’s interrogation is still looming over me when I push through her office door and run smack dab into Lance in the hallway.

Proving Miriam’s point about me being jumpy, I flail and let out a little shriek before Lance grabs my shoulders. “Whoa.”

“What are you doing just standing there?” I hurry past him, hoping Miriam didn’t see any of that. The last thing I need is to raise even more suspicions.

“Waiting to talk to you.” Lance keeps pace with me easily. “I overheard you talking to Miriam back there.”

His words nearly stop me in my tracks, but I press on.

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