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Only the best for SG, of course.
“Those girls are flirting with you, Austen. They bat their lashes your way and hope you’ll come calling.”
My jaw drops. “But that’s — it’s ridiculous. I don’t date. Everyone knows that.”
Surely, everyone knows that. I’ve never given them any indication otherwise. I’m positive about that much.
“They knew this, yes, but that was when you were playing. Has this all picked up since you stopped playing, or was it something soccer distracted you from?”
I think hard about his words. Did more girls approach once I stepped down from the team? Well, yes. And soccer probably did actually distract me from anything before that. I might have been a star player, but I never enjoyed the fame that came with it.
The life-sized posters. The hours of interviews. The pressure to go pro.
Not anything I particularly liked.
Since I quit, most of the things that bothered me went away. I no longer had a schedule that kept me from my studies. I’m able to spend more time with my brother and our uncle. I’ve never felt better.
Yet now I’m wondering how someone could possibly think me quitting the team meant I was suddenly interested in dating. If anything, it’s even less on my mind. The guys on the team always had questions back when I played. They’d discuss women like it was a buffet, and they were eager to get as many as they could.
While I’m not here to judge, I can wholeheartedly say that it’s never interested me. Sex is a thing. It happens, and it’s how life continues through generations.
It's not the be all, end all people make it out to be.
“They got worse after I quit,” I admit after taking the time to really analyze Tennyson’s question.
“Exactly! Proving my point right there.”
“Your point may be proven, but it doesn’t help me much. I would really like to have some peace and quiet to myself without someone trying to approach me when I’m out.”
“Sorry, bro. Not going to happen. At least not while you’re single. You could always pick one to date.”
I park in the garage for Stryker Global, then yank my badge out of my bag to head inside. There are stringent security protocols in place, all of which I had to learn on my first day here. Since that very intimidating introduction, I’ve learned to keep my badge on me and visible at all times when I’m on property.
“I don’t want to date any of them,” I say honestly. “What’s the alternative? I need something to keep them away and make them think I’m taken, but it also leaves me free to do what I need to.”
“Ah, yes. The studying and being boring. Got it.”
Scanning my badge at the door, I wait for the green light to appear, then I push through to the lobby. I nod to some of the security people I’ve gotten to meet, then get on the elevator to head to the tenth floor.
“Just because you didn’t enjoy school, doesn’t make it less than.”
He sighs. “I actually did enjoy it some. Learned a lot, but I’m also grateful it’s over. My point is that you’re going to have a hard time doing anything less than dating someone.”
I watch the numbers tick up the elevator as I listen to his point. The truth of the matter isn’t all that helpful.
“I don’t want to have to date someone. They expect things like dinner dates and movies.” And sex.
The last part is kept as a thought only. I don’t need another talk from him about exactly how to find a woman’s g-spot. He described it as solving the greatest mystery of the earth or some shit.
I’m sure with proper time and attention, it’s not as difficult as he made it out to be. Then again, my brother isn’t all that patient. To him, it might remain a mystery.
“Maybe you need to hire a girlfriend or something? Like find a chick who just wants the title and popularity from when you used to play. She could be chill and not expect you to do much past that,” Tenn says unhelpfully.
“That’s a fantastic idea. Why didn’t I think of that?” I pause as the elevator opens. “Oh, right. Because it’s not going to help me one bit. I would still have to fake the part with them enough to get people to believe. I’m not a fan of doing that with a stranger.”
Or anyone, really.
I turn the corner to see my intern supervisor, Evan, waiting with wide eyes. “Thank heavens you’re here early!”
