Page 26 of The Player Next Door

“I need to be more assertive, you mean?”

“In a way. It might not be you at all, honestly. But if it’s a lot of guys, they’re probably just . . . not hearing you. They’re caught up in their own ideas and ignoring yours, which fucking sucks.”

Clare sighed, and he hated how frustrated she sounded. “Doesn’t sound like something I can fix.”

“Not easily,” he agreed. “But you need to make yourself hard to ignore. Don’t give up, keep bringing up your ideas, over and over again.”

“And if they shoot them down?”

“You try again,” he said.

She let out another sigh. “I guess it’s worth a shot.”

He bit into a roll she produced from her bag and almost moaned. “Holy shit, you made this?”

“Last night. Couldn’t sleep.”

“Damn. When I can’t sleep I just watch old episodes of30 For 30.”

Clare made a face. “Isn’t that about sports?”

“Mostly, yeah. Why, not a fan?”

“I think the NCAA is a scam and college athletics is a waste of money. I’m sorry, but when grad students are making sub-poverty wages, teaching is farmed out to adjuncts making even worse money, and tenure lines are being cut left and right, then the indulgence of paying coaches millions of dollars for a stupid game is just insulting.”

“Wow, okay.”

“You asked.”

“What about non-collegiate sports?”

“I like watching gymnastics and ice-skating during the Olympics, but other than that, I can’t say I’ve ever willingly watched a sporting event from start to finish.”

Logan laughed. “I take it that means you won’t be coming to watch my pick-up games anytime soon.”

“Ugh, never. I hate football.”

“Good thing I mostly play basketball then.”

Clare laughed and reached for another slice of cheese. “Yeah, that’s still gonna be a no from me. Besides, that feels rather . . . girlfriend-y.” She looked at him out of the corner of her eye, like she was waiting to see how he responded.

Logan hesitated, not sure how to answer. He changed the subject instead. “When did you learn how to bake?”

“Taught myself when I was in college. A character onGrey’s Anatomyalways stress-baked, and I used to watch it when I was in middle school, and I guess that imprinted on me. I figured it’d be a good stress relief, and it turns out, it is. I have to focus on it hard enough that I don’t screw up the ingredients, but not so hard that it hurts my head, you know? Keeps me from spinning out when I’m super-stressed or I’ve given myself a headache from thinking too hard.”

Logan did not know what it felt like to think so hard his head hurt, but he nodded anyway. “Well, you’re really good at it.”

“I know,” she said, just a touch smugly. “What about you?”

“I’m a terrible baker, sadly.”

She snorted and handed him another roll. “What are your hobbies? Other than sportsball.”

“Basketball,” he corrected with a grin. “I don’t really have any.”

“Really?”

He shifted uncomfortably. “I mean, not anymore.”