Now that he was sufficiently awake, he was geared up for battle. He turned to her. “I don’t need a goddamn babysitter.”
“Then stop behaving like a child and act like an adult. One who takes his responsibilities seriously.”
He arched a brow and crossed his arms. “So I sleep in one morning, and I’ve suddenly failed?”
“You cancelled your therapy sessions thirty-four times before I took over.”
He cocked a brow. “You counted?”
“Yes. And while you think missing one session doesn’t make a difference, blowing off thirty-four sessions does. That’s why you’re not improving. That’s why you’re not on the mound throwing pitches yet. Have you even had a ball in your hand since you’ve been injured?”
He changed his mind. He didn’t like Alicia after all, and frankly, he hated her ball-busting attitude.
“Answer me. Have you?”
“No.”
“Then stop blowing me off and start taking this therapy seriously. Maybe then we’ll get somewhere.”
Tired of listening to her, he pushed off the counter. “I’m going to take a shower.”
She trailed after him.
He turned to her in the middle of the hallway. “You going to follow me into the shower?”
That finally got through to her. She stopped. “I’ll wait here.”
He looked her up and down. Just the thought of her stripping down to continue their argument in the shower was enough to make his dick twitch to life. He needed to get away from her before he did something really stupid, like suggest they use their energy on something more productive, like sex.
And then she’d really be pissed off at him.
He pivoted and headed into the bedroom, stripped off his sweats and turned the shower on, blowing out a frustrated breath as he stepped under the steamy water.
He’d always hated being told what to do. Being in this business, it was all about the rules, including where you fit in the rotation.
Hell, at the rate he was going, he’d be lucky to be in the rotation at all. If he didn’t rehab well, he could end up losing his job as a starter, a job he’d worked his ass off to get and to hold on to. Instead, he could wind up as a middle-inning reliever, tossing a few pitches every couple of games when needed. If he pitched at all.
Or he could end up spending this season rehabbing his arm in the minors.
He shoved his face under the spray and thought about what that might be like.
The one thing he knew about the majors was that once you went backward, you very rarely got a shot at coming back up.
He pulled his head away from the water and scrubbed his hand over his face, turned off the shower, and grabbed a towel. After the steam cleared in the bathroom, he took a look in the mirror.
Maybe Alicia was right. God, he hated to admit that, but maybe it was time to take this therapy thing more seriously.
Or at least think about taking it more seriously. He still wasn’t convinced any of this was doing any good. But maybe he should give it more time—give her more time—to make it all work.
He threw on clean clothes, combed his hair, and came out of his room. Alicia was staring out the back door into his backyard.
She turned when she heard him come out.
“Okay, let’s get this therapy thing going.”
She walked over to grab her coat. “About damn time.”
He smiled as he pulled his jacket off the back of the chair. Yeah, he still liked her sass.
He followed her to the treatment facility and got out of his car.
“Wait,” she said as he headed to the door.
“What?”
“You didn’t eat.”
“No. Didn’t have time.”
“You need to fuel up first.”
He leaned against his car. “What? And ruin your carefully crafted time line?”
“Funny. Come on.”
They walked across the street to Denny’s. Alicia ordered a cup of coffee and some juice while Garrett ordered the full breakfast.
“Nothing to eat for you?” he asked.
“I already ate breakfast. I was on time and waiting for you at the facility two hours ago.”
“Okay, I get it. I was an asshole,” he said as he downed a glass of juice.
She didn’t answer, so obviously, she agreed with him. Then she went quiet. She’d brought her notebook, so he contented himself with playing a game on his phone.
“You get that this is all for your benefit, right?”
He waited to answer her while the waitress delivered his food. “Part of me does. The other part of me just wanted to sleep in this morning.”
“That other part of you needed a wake-up call.”
He dug into his eggs. “Yeah, well, that part of me doesn’t like you very much.” He swallowed. “Sorry.”
“I don’t need you to like me, Garrett. I just need you to follow the plan.”
“And just what is the plan for today? More of the same?”
She smiled. “No. I have something fun in mind for today’s therapy.”
Fun, huh? Nothing about therapy was fun.
After he finished eating, they headed back to the facility. Alicia stopped at her car. “Get in.”
“We’re not going to train in there?”
“Not today.”