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My gaze snags on hers. I feel heat simmering in my body, when I think of spending time with her alone, in a cozy wooded spot. I see a spark in her eye, too. Maybe she’s having the same memories I am.
Memories of being young.
Memories of how it felt, when we snuck away from everyone and got to be alone.
Her brow scrunches, like she’s having some sort of argument with herself.
“Don’t overthink it,” I tell her, even though I’m probably overthinking it, myself. “Just a ride.”
“I’m not overthinking it.”
I laugh. “Yeah, you are.”
“You and Carly both act like you know me better than I know myself.”
“Maybe we do.” I polish off the last of the delicious oatmeal.
She types busily for a minute. When she finally looks up at me it’s with pursed lips, a lifted chin, and a determined spark in her green eyes. “I’m serious about being here to work, Parker. And since you’re being completely and totally uncooperative about this, I’ve taken matters into my own hands. I’ve been watching your interviews for hours. There’s something I don’t get.”
“Fine. Hit me.”
“Okay…” she glances down at a notepad at her side. “On your Podcast with Eddie Stuart, you said that you—and I quote— ‘don’t really care about winning.’ Then on your ESPN interview a couple months after that, you said you don’t even know where your Olympic medals are. Now, come on. That can’t be true.”
“I don’t lie, Gem.”
“Everyone lies, whether they know it or not. You were making that stuff up, right?”
“Nope. I really never cared about winning. I only cared aboutplaying. Everything’s more fun that way. After I won those medals they were shipped somewhere. Probably the Wayland address, because I didn’t have a house then. Mom and Dad probably put them in the basement or something.” I shrug, carry my bowl to the sink, and rinse it out.
When I turn back to her, she’s scrutinizing me through narrowed eyes. “But, that doesn’t make sense. You have to be competitive. You excelled at a competitive sport.”
“Tennis is competitive if you make it competitive. Just like anything. Chess, baking, skiing… whatever. Some guys wanted to win, and that’s all they cared about. But those first few years I played in the big tournaments, I figured out that when I got narrowly focused on the outcome, I got too wrapped up in my head. Better to get out of my own way and just have fun and play my hardest.”
“Hm.” She thinks this over, then types something up on her computer.
I spot a stack of cat food cans on the counter near the fridge and grab one off the top. The lid makes a scraping sound as I peel it back, and that gets Gemma’s attention.
“What are you doing?” she asks.
“Gonna put this in a dish, and then try to catch myself a cat. Your friend is probably hungry by now. Most animals rely on scent cues and this stuff stinks.”
She narrows her eyes at me again. “How do you know so much about animals? I thought you didn’t have pets.”
A sucking sound comes from the can as I turn it upside down over a bowl. The wet food inside drops down onto ceramic. “You got yourself some trust issues, along with that fancy therapist career of yours?” I ask her. “I really don’t have pets. I didn’t lie about that.”
“But youarekeeping something from me. Something about your house. Or, trailer, or whatever it is. You haven’t been… um… feeding, like, rats or anything, have you? Because that’s the kind of dumb thing that would get you a big rodent problem.”
“Chill out. I don’t have a rodent problem,” I assure her with a laugh, as I carry the bowl across the room. “I’m going to put this in the garage and freshen up that bowl of water we left out, too. You coming or what?”
She makes a big show of looking down at her wrist watch. “Thirteen hours, thirty-six minutes.”
I arch a brow at her as I grab my baseball hat and fit it over my messy hair. “What’s that—the amount of time you’re going to spend bugging me about this dating thing?”
She laughs as she hops off her stool and joins me by the side counter. “No, that’s exactly how long it took you to tell me to chill out.”
“You’re lucky. I thought it the minute I saw you.”
“Oh yeah? Funny. Because when I saw you, I thought: he hasn’t changed at all.”
