When he got to practice the next day, he felt the anxiety in his stomach. Not just about the final rankings, but also about Brooklyn. Would her telling the coach about their contest pull down his ranking? And had she really forwarded his last message as well?

Dustin tried to make eye contact with Coach Kent as he started the morning meeting. He didn’t look right at him much, but that was fine. Afterward, he waited to be pulled aside but wasn’t. He started to relax a bit throughout the day, and by the end of it all, he was confident that she hadn’t followed through on her threat.

Coach posted the list, and the guys at the bottom ran to it first. This would mean either being part of a semi-pro team or being put back into the general work force as an ex-athlete cast off. Luckily, he didn’t have to worry about that, but he wanted to make sure his rank was nice and high. That would earn him more negotiating power when it came time to discussing contracts.

When he made his way up there, he started at the top, as always, and the names he’d come to expect were there. But as he got through the tens and twenties, and still didn’t see his name, he started to panic. But there, finally, at number 32 was his name. He was a good distance from the cut line at number 50, but still. He’d only moved up two spots? He wanted to ask Coach about it, demand to know how in the world he’d come up with that, but given all that had happened, he thought maybe this wasn’t the best time. He let it go and went on with his evening.

His plan for now was to do what she asked and not contact her directly. Instead, he ordered a huge bouquet of flowers and had them sent to the training facility. He put on the card, “To the fabulous Polar Princesses. Good job on all your hard work! Best wishes, Dustin.” He hoped that wouldn’t just get him points with Brooklyn but with the whole squad. They all needed to see that he wasn’t someone to be hated.

If the flowers had any effect, no one was saying so. Or they weren’t allowed to say. He messaged her just to ask if she’d gotten them and to tell her that he hoped she enjoyed them. Short and sweet. No response. He needed a next step.

He thought maybe sending her a fancy gift would win her over. He went to the mall over the weekend and picked out some moderately expensive jewelry. It was stuff he’d never buy normally, but his reputation was on the line, and he needed to win this contest, to be the one to get through to her. He thought carefully of what he would say then wrote a note to go with it, “I can’t stop thinking about you. These earrings don’t come close to matching your beauty, but I hope you like them anyway. I’d really love to hear from you. Please give me a chance to prove myself—Dustin.”

He shipped them off and waited but still got no response. What could he possibly do next? After he knew for sure she’d gotten the package, he messaged her to ask if she had. No answer. He was starting to get frustrated. Finally, he decided to just take a chance.

He didn’t want to approach her at the training facility. Too much opportunity for someone to see or jump in to get in the way. So, he followed her home, being very careful not to be seen. She had to be going out tonight. It was the weekend.

He sat in a place he could see her house and car and waited. Hours later, she finally came out and got in her car, and he followed her again. She pulled up to a giant superstore. This would be perfect. Though he couldn’t believe that was all she had to do on a Friday night and she was going out in her workout clothes, this would lend itself perfectly to his plan.

He kept his distance, staying out of sight. This would never work if she had any clue he was there. He waited until she left the makeup aisle—where he had no reason to be—but when she went to get vitamins, he made his move.

“Oh, wow,” he said, turning to her. “I can’t believe of all the people to run into, I find the most beautiful woman in the world, right in the vitamin aisle.”

She rolled her eyes and turned away, back to the vitamin D. “Save it for someone who cares.”

“Vitamin D? Good stuff. You’re not feeling down, are you? A lot of doctors recommend that when you’re feeling down.”

She gave him an incredulous look. “What part of ‘don’t contact me’ and ‘stay away’ do you not understand?”

“I’m just concerned about your well-being. If you’re feeling down, I’d love to try to cheer you up.”

She crossed her arms and glared. “I’m not feeling down. It’s good for bones and the immune system. Now go away.”

“Brooklyn, please. Come on.” He followed her as she walked into the tampon aisle. She had to have done that on purpose, hoping he wouldn’t go there. “I’m trying my best to make it up to you. I feel terrible about what I did. I know someone like you can help me be a better man. Sometimes we just don’t get it. We can’t figure you women out. We don’t know what you want, and we mess up.”

“Why don’t you try asking what we want? It’s pretty simple.”

“Well, what do you want then? What can I do to make it up to you?”

“You can leave me alone. Don’t message me or contact me in any way, including sending flowers or showing up in the vitamin aisle. If I could get a restraining order on you, I would.”

“See, now what’s a guy supposed to do? I’m trying to fix this, and you won’t even let me.”

She growled and balled her hands into fists then turned to face him. “That’s what you don’t get. This is why you don’t understand women. You don’t listen to them. I want nothing to do with you. The only way you can prove yourself and fix this is by doing what I’m asking.”

“Okay, okay, I get it. You hate me. Fine. I’ve tried really hard to not be that guy you think I am, and all my efforts come off like I’m same crazy stalker guy. I’m not trying to be that. I only wanted the pleasure of getting to know you in hopes that maybe I could actually learn about women and see where I go wrong. I don’t want to be this way anymore, but I don’t know how to change. You’re the first person who’s been honest enough with me to tell me the truth about myself. I’m genuinely asking you for help, here. I don’t want to be that guy, but I don’t know how to be a better man. Please, Brooklyn. I’m not asking you to date me or anything. I get that that will never happen for us, as much as I wish it could. I’m only asking you to sit down and talk to me for a little while. A few hours of your time, over coffee, dinner, whatever you want. I want your advice, and I want you to show me what I need to do differently. But if you still want me to leave you alone, I will. I just thought maybe you were the one person who could actually help me.”

He turned and slowly walked away. If this didn’t work, he had no idea what he’d do. He kept walking, turning out of the aisle. She hadn’t stopped him or called after him. There was a slight chance she’d message him later after thinking it over, but that was a long shot. He looked over all the protein shakes, acting like he was genuinely interested in them, when he felt someone’s presence behind him. He didn’t want to assume, but he was hopeful. He kept doing what he’d been doing.

“Are you being honest?”

He turned to face her. “One-hundred percent.”

She narrowed her eyes at him and looked him up and down. “I will have coffee with you. I will give you one hour, and in that hour, I will tell you everything that’s wrong about you and men like you. I don’t know if I’ll be much help, but I can at least point out the problems I see.” She crossed her arms and waited.

“Really?” He softened his face to a surprised expression. “You’d seriously do that for me?”

“But the second you try to hit on me at all, I’m out of there. Got it? This is not a date.”

“No, no, I know that. I wouldn’t want it to be.”

“Fine.”

“So, tomorrow? At four? That’s a very non-date time.”

“Make it five. I have a class in the early afternoon.”

“Five it is. The coffee shop on Fourth?”

She nodded and turned to walk away.

When she was out of sight, he waited another minute, then pumped his fist in the air. He’d done it. Step one. Get her to go out with him. And she was. He didn’t care what she said. This was a date, and he would treat it as such. He didn’t need to hit on her because she was already out with him. Perfect.