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COREY
The last thingI want to do after my conversation with Vaughn is sit through an afternoon of interviews, but this is part of Avery’s plan to mend my public image. She’d kill me if I skipped the event after she went through all the effort of organizing it. I’m not going to lie, I’m a little scared of the no-nonsense, PR agent.
So, I drag my ass up to the second story of the baseball field house and head toward the conference room where a dozen sports reporters are lined up to ask me questions. I’m hyping myself up to endure the impending intrusive questions when I see Carlee standing outside the propped-open doors.
I pull up short and stare like a deer in the headlights. We haven’t spoken since our kiss by the bus. I didn’t think giving into our mutual desire would make us lose the progress our tenuous friendship agreement had made, but it did that and more.
Carlee hasn’t attended a single meeting between me, her boss, and Avery to discuss the progress of revamping my image. She’s gone back to sending all social media post suggestions to Avery who then forwards them to me, and she hasn’t responded to either of the two texts I sent the day after the park reopening.
This whole situation is ridiculous. I’ve wanted to find her apartment and demand she explain why she’s keeping her distance, but fear held me back. Now that I’ve admitted I want to be with her, I’m afraid of what will happen if she decides she doesn’t want the same. I decided to keep my distance, but at the same time be open to her reaching out when she’s ready to talk.Ifshe’s ever ready…
I stand there and watch Carlee speak with Joshua Chen. The pair are hovered over his phone, talking animatedly about whatever is on the glowing screen.
I use the opportunity to drink in the sight of her. She wears a calf-length maroon sweater dress, a pair of black ankle boots, and a matching black cardigan. Her hair is twisted in a low bun, and a pencil is tucked above her ear. She looks like she should have a notepad and press badge like Lois Lane in my favorite Superman remake. She’s beautiful and professional. She’s a woman who has everything going for her.
Joshua is the first to notice me staring. The young ball player looks up, and a genuine grin covers his face. “Corey! Hey, man. How’s it going?”
Carlee stiffens, but she doesn’t look away from the phone.
“Good.” I walk towards the pair. “What are you doing here?” I ask the first baseman.
“I just finished up my interviews.” He hikes a thumb over his shoulder, towards the room filled with press.
I’m not surprised the press wanted to speak with Chen. Since joining the team, I’ve learned he was a skilled college player and his stats have only gotten better since playing in the majors. With a little more experience, he’ll be one of the best players in his position.
“What were you looking at?” I wave a hand towards his phone.
“Oh, nothing much. Just some sponsored posts Carlee helped me arrange while I was in Singapore over the holidays,” Joshua answers without hesitation. “I was showing her the stats.”
I nod as if I have any idea what the hell he’s talking about. “Got it. Cool.”
“Yeah.” His grin grows. “It really is cool. Carlee’s great at this social media stuff.” He looks at the pretty social media coordinator. I take the opportunity to do the same.
She’s still avoiding my gaze, but I have a feeling the blush on her cheeks isn’t from Chen’s compliment.
“Hey, Chen. Would you give us a minute? There’s something I want to talk to Carlee about.”
Her eyes snap up to mine. “That’s not necessary?—”
“No problem,” He speaks over Carlee. “No problem at all. See you later, Carlee. Corey.” The first baseman backs away with a head nod in my direction, followed by a quick wink before he turns on his heels and disappears through the doors leading to the building’s stairwell.
The sound of the reporters talking flows out of the conference room. I don’t know how long I have before Avery finds me and ushers me inside. I decide not to waste this opportunity and get right to the point. “How long are you planning on ignoring me, Carlee?”
“I’m not ignoring you,” she says while staring at something over my shoulder. If I looked, I’m sure I’d see there’s nothing of interest there.
“Then what are you doing?”
She bites her lip. “Avoiding you.”
I huff a laugh. “What’s the difference?”
Reluctantly, she drags her eyes to meet mine. “Ignoring you would mean not engaging in this conversation. Avoiding youmeans I spent the last six weeks trying to prevent this sort of interaction from occurring.”
Her attention feels like a victory even though her words are less than encouraging. “Okay. Let me rephrase. How long are you planning onavoidingme?”
She presses her lips together. “I don’t know.”
I can work with that.
