Savannah had a point that Alicia hadn’t considered. “No, he wasn’t.”
“So there could have been some behind-the-scenes maneuvering on Max’s part to shift you out and put himself back in charge of your guy’s therapy. Then, when Garrett moves back into the starting rotation, who gets all the credit?” Tara asked.
“Max likely will,” Alicia admitted.
Tara nodded. “That’s what I thought. Jenna and Savannah are right. You need to talk to Garrett.”
Alicia stared at all of them. “And tell him what? That I’m pissed he pushed me out? It’s his prerogative. He can choose which therapist he uses. Max is the best.”
Tara cocked a brow. “Is he the best for Garrett? Or are you the best for him?”
“I think I’m the best for him. I got him to stop moaning about never pitching again. And goddamn it, he is pitching, just not the way he thought he’d be. And he will be a starter again.”
“Then tell him that,” Jenna said. “And when you’re doing that, also tell him he acted like an asshole.”
“One would think he’d come to that realization on his own,” Savannah suggested.
Alicia sighed. She didn’t know what to do. But she definitely wasn’t going to go begging to Garrett. He would either figure out he needed her or he wouldn’t. In the meantime, she had other players she was assigned to and her own job to protect.
Her own heart to protect.
“But it’s more than just your job and your working relationship with Garrett, isn’t it?” Tara asked, keying in on what was really bothering Alicia.
“Maybe.”
“No maybe about it. You’re in love with him, aren’t you?”
She turned to look at Jenna. “Yes. I’m in love with him. Or I thought I was.”
“Is he in love with you?” Savannah asked.
“I don’t know. We never talked about it.”
Savannah slanted her a look. “Did you ever tell him how you felt?”
“It was never the right time.”
A collective chorus of groans filled the room.
Alicia drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. “So now what do I do? After what happened, I’m sure as hell not going to tell him I love him. It would seem like begging for my job back.”
“No, you can’t tell him now,” Savannah said. “The ball is definitely in his court. He has to come to you. He owes you that much.”
“So, now I wait?”
Jenna nodded. “Since you’re in love with him, I guess waiting is the best thing to do. I agree with everyone else—you can’t go to him. Not with all those feelings you have. Then if the two of you end up together, you’ll always be left wondering. It’s definitely his move. If he’s worth it at all, you shouldn’t have to wait long.”
“And if he doesn’t come to me?”
Tara shot her a look of sympathy. “Then he’s not worth waiting for, honey.”
TWENTY-NINE
IT HAD BEEN A REALLY GOOD DAY. GARRETT HAD pitched two solid innings. Things were going well. He’d been working with Max, who seemed to think therapy was progressing nicely.
Manny had told him his pitches were getting stronger, hitting the mark, and if all went well, he might be rotating into the starting lineup within the next month or so.
Things were looking up.
But he still felt an emptiness inside that couldn’t be filled, because Alicia wasn’t in his life, wasn’t the center of his universe, and that just plain sucked.
He’d called and texted her a few times after Max had removed her from his case, but she hadn’t answered. And like a coward, he’d stopped trying, focused instead on his pitching, figuring that maybe it had been for the best, that maybe they’d had a great fling and he should just look forward, not back.
Problem was, she filled his head at night when he lay in bed, and on the road all he could think about was talking to her. When he was at home, he wanted to see her, be close to her. He wanted her at his place. He wanted to have dinner with her, sit on the couch with her watching movies. He wanted her in his bed.
He ached for her. Like it or not, she’d become an integral part of his life that had nothing to do with rehabbing his shoulder. His shoulder was fine. He was nearly 100 percent recovered now, and eventually, he wouldn’t have needed her for that anymore anyway.
But he’d always need her to fill the space in his heart that had opened up and let her in.
And that’s what he needed to tell her. He couldn’t allow fear to keep him from having something—someone—that meant so much to him.
She’d been busy working on rehab for some of the other guys, so he rarely got the chance to talk to her during treatment and workouts anymore.
On an off day, he waited until she finished and showed up at her house that night, hoping like hell she hadn’t moved on, that she didn’t have a date over when he rang the doorbell.