Page 19 of Pitcher Perfect
Of course, this was how Robbie finally got the vets to pay attention to him.
It had to bethis.
“It’s not a big deal. I’m just helping her out,” Robbie started.
Sig raised an eyebrow. “Why?”
“Well, for starters, I acted like a presumptuous dickwad at the game this morning. Her words, not mine. I made her uncomfortable.” Grandpa Nick would have been ashamed of him. He couldn’t say that part out loud. “This felt like the least I could do.”
“I’d say an apology is the least you could do,” Burgess pointed out. “Pretending to date to make another guy jealous sounds above and beyond the typical mea culpa.”
“Meawhat?” Robbie griped. “Stop talking like you’re in the Bible.”
Burgess nearly stared a hole through Robbie’s face.
“Sir Savage is right, though,” Sig chimed in. “You could have apologized, bought her a coffee—”
“Orange juice.”
“—and walked away whistling. Why are youreallydoing this?”
“You better not like her,” Mailer said. “Do youlikeher? In a more than sex way?”
“Yup,” Robbie said, dragging miserable hands down his face, accompanied by a long, drawn-out groan. “How did this happen?”
Mailer backed away from him. “Wow. You think you know someone.”
“Wasn’t it you who asked the new general manager out for sushi this week?” Robbie hurried to point out.
His roommate’s expression didn’t change, but he visibly winced at the mention of Reese Bauer, a take-no-prisoners type with big ambitions who’d recently assumed the GM spot in the wake of her father’s departure. Mailer’s eyeballs had nearly popped out of his head when she’d walked into their first team meeting less than a week ago. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Convenient.”
Sig and Burgess traded a withering look. “All right, Corrigan.” Sig sighed. “We’ve established this is a ridiculous situation you’ve put yourself in—”
“More ridiculous than spending every waking moment with your future stepsister?”
“Shut up,” Sig snapped. “We’re not talking about me. This is about you.”
“Convenient.”
“Yeah. Convenient,” Mailer said, backing Robbie up, even though he was still openly disgusted that Robbie liked someone. “Word of the day.”
“What is the actual plan, Corrigan?” Sig persisted. “A date or two? Just a nudge to get this catcher to pay attention?”
“I’m spending next week in Rhode Island with her family for a series of wilderness competitions. He’ll be there. All of us are duking it out over a Pepsi can trophy. Normal, everyday shit.”
Burgess’s laughter boomed through the entirety of the locker room, while Sig and Mailer donned various expressions of incredulity.
“I’m not even going to address the wilderness competition thing, but suffice it to say? What the fuck. Let’s focus on the rest. You’re helping her land another guy,” Sig enunciated. “Butyoulike her, Corrigan.”
While this happened to be one of the most demoralizing moments of Robbie’s life, it was a necessary splash of cold water to the face. This plan he’d proposed to Skylarwascrazy. If he liked her now, how much was he going to like her after a week? What the hell had he been thinking?
“Back out,” Mailer said, slashing a hand through the air. “Tell her you’re moving to France.”
“She’ll know I didn’t move. We play hockey on television, bro.”
Mailer shrugged. “Wear a disguise.”
