Page 19 of Houston, We Have a Problem
“You really need to go,” he says eventually, and I can tell he’s itching to grab my arm and pull me from the training room. But he won’t put a hand on me because he’s smarter than that. One unwanted touch, and I could be on my phone in two seconds recording a tearful live video and telling the country that he harassed me. Not that I would actually do that, but he doesn’t know that.
It’s at this point that I notice he isn’t sweaty like the rest of the team. It could be that he finished his workout a while ago, but his hair is too neat and dry to be freshly washed. He’s in workout clothes, luscious tan arms on display, but I don’t think he’s lifted any weights today.
I glance at the door to the PT’s office, where he came from, which immediately spooks Briggs.
“How did you even get in here?” he asks, taking a step forward so he’s in my space. He’s hoping to intimidate me, and even though I know he wears terrible slippers and loves his mama enough to want to stop swearing, Tamlin doesn’t know that. She’s pretty self-assured, but maybe she would be a little intimidated by this display of machismo. So I take a step back.
Briggs takes that as a sign that he’s gaining the upper hand and pushes again with another big step, then another, andbefore I know it, I’m in the hallway. “Don’t sneak in here again, Park, or I’ll have you arrested for trespassing.”
He does seem the type to follow through with a threat like that, especially when my presence is threatening his team, so I know I’ve pushed as far as I can today.
Still, I give him a saucy smile and wave my fingers. “I’ll see you around, Briggs.”
His angry facade cracks, making way for a bit of fear. “I really hope you don’t,” he growls and then slams the door shut.
And I’m pretty sure I’ve stumbled onto the right track.
Chapter Ten
Houston
Brook’s house always feels likehome. I can’t remember back far enough to know what our house looked like growing up or what sort of decorations Mom would put up, but my twin sister got the feel right. Coming here is always peaceful and comforting, which is what I desperately need afterTamlin Parkshowed up at the clubhouse today.
What is she doing in Sun City? Baseball season is over, and we don’t have any other big teams here, unless you count the minor league soccer team. She should be off covering college football or infiltrating illegal steroid rings in the NFL or something, but no. She’s seducing security guards and making first basemen cry. Hopkins went into a panic about his arms being too big after Tamlin pointed it out.
And no, I’m not bitter that Hopkins listened to Tamlin when he’s ignored me over the same subject for years. Not even a little bit. Nope.
“Rough day?” Brook asks as she hands me a water bottle and joins me on the couch.
I groan. “You have no idea. How are the kids this year?”
She recognizes that deflection easily enough and shakes her head. She may be the sweetest person on the planet and shy to anyone who doesn’t know her, but Brooklyn grew up with two brothers. Five, if you count our stepbrothers. Brook knows how to hold her own.
“You want to talk about it?” she says, and it’s not so much a question as it is a command.
If I tell her the PT forbade me from fully training with the team and now I’ve got the guys asking questions, she’ll figure out something is wrong. I could tell her it’s just overuse and I’ll be fine in a week, but that would be a lie. I don’t think she’s all thatfond of the lifestyle baseball has given me, but she knows how much I love the game. And I don’t want her sympathy.
If I tell her I’m feeling restless, like my life doesn’t have meaning anymore, she’ll start to worry about me. I’m not depressed or anything, but there’s a hole in me that won’t seem to heal. And I haven’t found anything to fill it. If I tell her that, she will feel it too, and Brook is way too empathetic to share this pain with me. I don’t know if it’s a twin thing or a Brook thing, but she’s the kind of person who shares burdens. I can’t put this on her when she seems so happy.
And she really does seem happy. Because baseball season gets crazy, this is the first time in months that I’ve been around her for longer than a few minutes, and the difference is astronomical. What does that mean? She’s been hanging out with Jordan for the last little while, and if he’s the source of her happiness… I might have to start getting more used to the idea of the two of them being a couple, though I wish one of them would straight out tell me what’s going on with them so I can stop wondering.
I could ask, but I’m not that brave. Just paranoid and tense and overwhelmed.
I have to tell hersomethingabout what’s bothering me, so I tell her the one thing I know she can’t fix. “There’s a journalist who won’t get off my back,” I say. Okay, so it was just two times, but she made it clear she isn’t going away. Whatever she’s doing here, it can’t be good for anyone. And I can’t shake the feeling that she’s here especially for me, like she somehow sniffed out my impending decision. If Tamlin gets that story before I make an official announcement, she’s going to twist it into something it isn’t.
Brook furrows her brow. “Is it that pretty one you ran away from?”
I gape at her until I figure out why she would have watched that one. “Jordan showed you,” I guess. “I didn’t run away from her.”
“Pretty sure you did. That was the shortest interview I’ve ever seen. You usually never stop talking because you like the sound of your voice too much.”
I grab a pillow and smack her with it. “I do not.”
“Keep telling yourself that, Hou. So, is this reporter looking for anything specific? You didn’t do anything, did you?”
I scrunch up my face, debating the merits of hitting her again. Whatever I do to her, she has the blanket right to do it right back, and I know she’s already planning up her strike for that last one. Brook may look gentle, but she’s got a mean swing with a pillow. “Of course I didn’t do anything,” I say instead of earning myself another pillow smack. “I have no idea why she would be after me when she could help us get rid of O’Donohue once and for all.”
Brook makes a face of disgust. “Is he the one that always gives me the heebie-jeebies?”
