Page 41 of Nothing Like the Movies

Was I fully aware of the fact that if it was anyone else, I probably wouldn’t care that much?

Absolutely.

But this was how it was, and it was bugging the crap out of me.

It irritated me as I threw the next pitch—finally controlled—and I was crazy annoyed while I nailed the pitches that followed.

By the time I was finished, I was ready to rage about their constant distracting presence.

But I was also relieved that I’d stopped tanking.

That my game was back for now.

That I’d fuckingkilledafter the initial hiccups, praise Jesus.

“Way to work through it,” Ross said as he walked by, not slowing long enough for me to mention my latest email. “The last set was a lot better.”

“Thanks,” I said, loading my stuff in my bag, so relieved that I’d finished strong.

But as I walked out of the bullpen area, there they were again. Liz and Clark were standing side by side, talking quietly next to the fenceright beside me, so there was no way to avoid them.

“Hey. Wes.” Liz squinted in the bright sun, clearing her throat, and when I didn’t slow, she started walking beside me, her boyfriend following at a distance while looking down at his phone. “I’m starting to schedule the meet-the-team intros, and I was wondering when you’re available.”

I kind of wanted to laugh at that, because from the sound of it, she’d been scheduling them for almost a week. Everyone on the team who I talked to on a regular basis was all set up for their intros already.

I’d been starting to wonder if she was planning on skipping me entirely.

I’d been hoping.

Because even though Lilith assured me via email that they wouldn’t ask me about my dad, I was nervous.

“By ‘available’ you mean…?” I said, unable to stop myself. It was ridiculous how much I’d missed messing with her.

“You knowexactlywhat I mean,” she snapped, her eyes narrowed in irritation as she looked straight ahead, like she refused to dignify me with a glance. “It won’t take more than thirty minutes.”

“I’m available now,” I said, the smell of her perfume making me drunk on the idea of having thirty minutes alone with her.

“Oh.” There was a crinkle between her eyebrows as she blinked fast in surprise and stopped. “Well, I don’t think Clark can because he has class.”

Perfect.

I hadn’t known that Clark was going to be a part of it, and now he wouldn’t have to be.

“It’s probably the only time I can squeeze you in this week,” I lied, “because I’m buried in homework.”

That part wasn’t a lie. I wasn’t sure if it was UCLA, college in general, or just my chosen field of study, but every one of my classes had gone from zero to a hundred on homework mere days into the quarter.

I was swamped.

“No, that’ll work, Liz,” Clark said, pulling his keys out of hispocket. “We only need one-shot filming for these casual intros, so you can just use your phone.”

“I thought we were going to do two,” she said, looking up at him with ahelp melook on her face that should’ve amused me, but it didn’t.

It made me feel like shit.

I never would’ve thought she’d want to be rescued fromme.

“That was for the interviews, not for the meet-the-team intros.” He put on a pair of sunglasses and said, “One’ll be perfect. Go nail this down, and I’ll see you at home.”

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