Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 107667 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107667 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
She makes a face. “I don’t know. Let me see how things go out here. I’m starting a new job, and Jason is lovely. Also, I need to know your break for Christmas. Jason wants to take me home to meet his family for Christmas, and I need someone to keep her.”
I just blink at her. “You don’t want to spend Christmas with us?” I ask, and she shrugs.
“And do what? We aren’t holiday people.”
No, she’s not, but I don’t say that. I don’t want to get into a fight with Sabine right here, and I know that’s what’ll happen. “I’ll get those dates to you,” I say, hating how I try everything to make her happy. How I want so fucking badly to please my mom. Maybe then she’ll love me. I lean into Sabine, and she rests her sweet head on my shoulder. She looks up at me, those blue eyes shining as she asks, “Can I play on your phone?”
“Sure,” I say, handing it over. “Games only.”
“Yeah, I know,” she laughs, but when she turns on the screen, the photo of Tennessee and me stares up at us, taking my breath away in one swift swoop. “Who’s this?”
I feel my mouth go dry, even though I just downed a cup of orange juice. I lick my lips, and I wrap my arm around her, holding the phone with her. “That’s a friend of mine.”
She side-eyes me. “Like your friend who left lipstick on your mouth and her panties on the floor?”
I chuckle. “No. She’s something entirely different.”
She’s more.
Sabine takes her in and then smiles. “She sure is pretty.”
“Yeah, she is.”
I feel my mom looking over, and even she smiles. “Look how happy you two are. Is this a girlfriend?”
I shake my head, leaning it in Sabine’s. “Nope, just a girl I know.”
I feel my mom’s gaze on mine as Sabine asks, “Can I meet her?”
The emotion constricting in my throat makes it real hard to breathe. I can’t answer her at first and only shrug. “We’ll see.”
Which is a lie. There is nothing to see. Because in a perfect reality, Tennessee would have met Sabine by now. She wouldn’t be ignoring my calls and texts. She’d be telling me how much she loved me and asking me what I wanted to do once I got home from my road trip. She’d tell me how lonely that bed is without me in it. We’d have a dog. Or a cat. Shit, might as well add a damn white picket fence to the yard too. A fantasy, that’s all my thoughts are. All she was.
Because none of that is my reality.
Instead, I’m being ghosted by a girl who rocked my world, and I am still thinking about her daily. Which is fucking pathetic. I can have anyone I want. Anyone.
But I want Tennessee.
Chapter Ten
Tennessee
Another month later…
“You see this spot right here?” I say, pointing to Leann’s scan, where it shows the reason for the weakness in her ankle. “This is your posterior tibial tendon, and it’s weak, which is hindering your jump.” I swipe to the next slide that illustrates how she jumps for a block, and the spot turns deep red. “Your jump is already the highest on the team, but it can be even higher—a solid two inches, according to my calculations.” I swipe to the next slide, showing my calculations and then a simulation of how, if the weakness is fixed, the AI figure of her could clear the net with ease.
“Wow,” Leann says, watching as the AI version of herself jumps with ease and blocks like a brick wall when the other AI team tries to spike the volleyball down. “What can I do?”
I swipe to the next slide with a nod. “Rehab. We need to get you a good brace that will support that tendon until it’s stronger. You need to up your calories, and you need to up your strength training on weight days.”
“Did you already make a plan?” Coach Rey asks, and I smile at him since he already knows the answer.
“Yes, sir.” I swipe one more slide, and together, we go over everything Leann needs to do to achieve her goal.
The Olympics.
I know she’ll get there, too, especially with my plan.
As I explain it all, going over the science and the formulation that are the basis of my strategy, a giddy feeling fills me from head to toe, as it always does when I get to this part of my job. The confidence of trusting my knowledge, my plan, and knowing it will work.
I have a very high success rate, the highest in the company, especially for someone who has only been working for them for two months. The only two people I’ve worked with who didn’t succeed had that happen because they quit the sport. I was devastated since a lot goes into these simulations and the formulations I use, but at the end of the day, I still love my job.