Page 5 of Force Play
Alas, he was, and I’ve been single since the start of last baseball season.
Too damn busy during the season to date much, but thanks to the Stars not making it out of the first round of the postseason last month, I’m free.
I’m one of the athletic trainers for the team—theonlyfemale one at that. Our physician, Dr. Coltrain, is amazing, but my coworker Logan has such a superiority complex solely because he has a dick and I don’t.
And with Logan and me both gunning for the Head Trainer position that will be open at the end of next season, I can only imagine how annoying he will be then.
All of this leads me to here, where I’m on a terrible lunch date with a man who has me seeing red.
And he’s so damn full of himself that he can’t see how pissed I am.
“You agree, don’t you?” he prods me. I think his name is Brian. I didn’t even realize he was still talking, but I also don’t think he’s stopped since we sat down.
“What am I agreeing to?” I ask.
“That sports are starting to be overrun by women. As a woman, you have to see that.”
“Excuse me?” I scoff, blood boiling.
“Oh, come on,” Brian says. “Men need those spaces to just be men.”
“And what does that mean, hm?” I snarl, sitting up straight. “You need space away from the women who cater to your every damn whim so you can be misogynistic in peace?”
“What the hell?”
I sneer at him. “Did you evenreadmy bio?”
He actually looks a bit nervous, and I take pride in making him sweat. “No. I saw you were five-ten, and that’s all I cared about. I like tall women.”
I roll my eyes. “Well, this tall woman is a fucking athletic trainer, dipshit. I work for the Stars.”
“You?” Brian looks at me like I have two heads. “You’re an athletic trainer?”
“I am,” I state with a saccharine smile. “Who knew owning a pair of tits didn’t preclude you from working with athletes?”
“I mean, I—”
“Save it. You thought I was another meek woman you could push around. Hate to break it to you, Brian, but that’s not me.”
“My name is Brad.”
Whoops.
“Doesn’t matter,” I say, standing up and fixing my skirt. “Thanks for lunch, Brad, but there won’t be a second date.”
I stalk out of there with my head held high.
Sure, it’s yet another failed date for me, but at least I get to leave with my dignity.
“Seriously?” Ella sighs.“Anotherbad date?”
Ella is my closest friend and the first female friend I made in NYC. She came with Josh when he signed with the Stars right as I started my first season with the team. We’re both California girls, and we immediately clicked.
“Yup,” I state, tipping back my glass of Chardonnay. “No such thing as a good date in this day and age. Men suck.”
“They aren’t all bad,” Harlow tries to reassure me.
But of course, she would think that. Her fiancé, Knox, was so broody before they started a fake relationship. Obviously, that relationship isveryreal now. He went from always grumpy to basically skipping anytime Lo is even in his presence.
