Page 9 of Deking at Love
Toby:How’d PT go?
Sam:Hard to say.First day.Mostly eval and ice.
Toby:Who’s your PT?
Sam blew out a breath before typing.
Sam:Angie Rossi.
Toby:The blond!Fuck, you are so hosed, dude.
Sam found his defenses rising for reasons he didn’t comprehend.
Sam:She’s not half bad.
Truth was, Sam didn’t have enough information to go on, but Angieseemedto know what the hell she was doing.But what if he read her wrong?What if he was applying the filter of past Angie on present-day Angie?Back then, she always applied herself to whatever she set her mind to and hit her marks a hundred percent of the time.She’d aced her ACTs and had a permanent spot at the top of the honor roll.She’d even tutored him so he could pass his classes, using oddballStar Warsreferences that had stuck.He could still recall her face puckered in concentration and how Brianna used to rib her about it.That was Brianna, though.Thoughtless, self-centered, sometimes cruel.Why had Sam fallen for her again?Oh.Because he’d been sixteen and she’d been the hottest chick in high school.Yeah, he’d also been a shallow jock back then.
Even if hehadthought about Angie that way, she had lived next door to his billet family in Minnesota, and his billet brother, who had also been his teammate, had been into her.Angie hadn’t returned the guy’s interest, but it didn’t matter.She’d been so off-limits she might as well have lived on another planet—which was probably why Sam had never considered her more than a friend.
As for today’s Angie, he knew nothing about her.Despite her being on the frosty side, he had to admit she projected a no-nonsense professional vibe he could respect.But what if that was an act and she was a terrible therapist?Or what if she was after revenge and set him way back in his rehab?He wouldn’t know until he was farther into PT, and by then, it would be too late to change his outcome.Good-bye, season.
His phone chimed again.
Toby:Not bad to look at, that’s for sure, but she is going to hurt you, bro.
Why Toby’s comment irritated him, Sam couldn’t say.Before he could come up with a rejoinder, another text sounded.
Toby:May as well get at it while the getting’s good.If she’s going to put the hurt on you anyway, cop a feel or three.Plenty there to grab, bro.??
The asshole added a winking emoji.
What the actual fuck?Sam could feel his temperature rising.
Sam:Dude, not cool.My livelihood depends on this woman.
Toby:I get that.You know PTs give massages, right?See if she’ll give you a rub-and-tug.Bet you could use one.
Normally, Sam would have some kind of comical comeback, but he was momentarily at a loss for words.The comment seemed so … juvenile.Crass.Disrespectful.His teammate’s joke pissed him the hell off, though he couldn’t say why.He used his need to ice as an excuse to end the conversation.
As he was levering himself from the couch to put the gel pack back into the freezer, his phone chimed again.
“Damn it, Toby.Leave me the fuck alone,” he growled.He didn’t recognize the number, but he did recognize who sent the message, and his heart took a weird skip.What the fuck wasthatabout?
Angie:Time’s up for this round.Do you need a reminder in two hours?
“Why not?”he said to his phone.He was already bored with the video game, and he wasn’t much of a TV guy.
Sam:I’m sure I’ll need it.
Angie:Did you ice already?
Sam:Just finished.About to put the gel pack away.
She sent him a clapping hands emoji, and he felt a ridiculous surge of pride.Seriously?“You’re a doofus,” he told himself.But hey, now he had her phone number.It might have been a work phone, but who the hell cared?It was a number.
Sam:I only did it cuz you scare me.
Angie:I doubt anything scares you, Sam.I’ll text you in 2 hours.
