Page 120 of Say It Isn't So

“It means I think you’re overthinking this, you baseball playing God. You already have your answer and don’t want to admit it.”

I waited while he put another token in for me to go again. “I played in high school. But you’re wrong,” I said, keeping my eyes ahead, waiting for the first pitch to come at me.

“I don’t think so. I can read people like a book. I’m a lawyer, it’s sort of part of the job to sniff out what’s going on that my clients aren’t telling me.”

“So now you’re a dog. The first step is admitting you’re a dog, then seeing what you can do to change your ways.”

“Real funny. But I’m serious. Sparks practically flew when you and Bianca were together this morning.”

“You haven’t seen Rina and I together, though.” Although, the only word for that was awkward. I think I just felt bad admitting it aloud.

“Meh.” It was as if he could read me. “Do you feel the same pull to her as you do Bianca?”

“Honestly? No. That’s the problem. By the way, you must be a great lawyer.”

“I’ve been trying to tell you. It’s a curse, really.”

The machine cranked out another pitch and I sent it soaring.

Getting our conversation back on track, Noah said, “Not feeling a pull to your ex like you do that cute little Italian thing is not a problem. It seems like you just got your answer.”

“I could ruin Bianca’s relationship with her dad.” I hit another ball and as it went flying, I turned quickly to eye him. “And you better watch out if you keep making comments like that about Bianca,” I warned.

Throwing his hands up in the air in the universal mean-no-harm gesture, he smirked. “It seems like we have our answer here. You like Bianca, period. And as far as her old man goes, it sounds like he already ruined their relationship when he kicked her out.”

“They could repair things if I don’t get in the way and we’re just friends.”

“You are not just friends, at least you don’t want to be. Otherwise you wouldn’t have described yourself as in a love triangle and we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

“Great, so I’m all sorts of messed up.”

“Not messed up, just overthinking this.” He sat down and hooked his arms around his knees. “Let me ask you a question, who do you think about when it’s the middle of the night and you’re alone with your thoughts?”

Easy.“Bianca.”

“And who do you find exciting?”

“Bianca.” Woah, that was fast. I stopped and thought for a second before adding, “But Rina can be exciting, too.”

“In what way?” he challenged me.

I took a beat before answering, opting instead to closely watch the ball coming at me, then speaking. “Well, she has a lot of life goals and they’re exciting.”

“Now you’re just making shit up. Listen, if I were you, I’d make a decision sooner rather than later. Stop wasting time with a girl you don’t want to be with and start being with the girl you actually want to be with.”

“Dude, that was profound.”

“I can be sometimes.”

“I’ve never seen it before.”

“Whatever. Just take the advice.”

This round over, I laid the bat over my shoulder and crossed a foot over my ankle. “You want to go another round?”

Noah found a rogue ball, picked it up and tossed it at me. “Hell no. Let’s get out of here,” he said, standing up.

“You know, I’m glad we did this.”

---