Read Online Third Degree by Julie Cross - Free Book Online Page B

Perfect practice makes perfect .”
    I stand there for a long moment, still not sure how to change the course of my actions and create the results I want. Marshall lifts my hand again, aiming the dart. “Close your eyes.” I follow directions and squeeze my eyes shut. “Take a deep breath and release it slowly.”
    My lungs fill and then I let the air out, counting to five in my head. “Now open your eyes and aim.”
    His fingers are still wrapped around my wrist when the dart leaves my hand and zooms across the empty space, landing not squarely in the center of the bull’s-eye but still within the tiny middle ring.
    My entire body relaxes with relief as I gape at the red-winged dart, plopped into the exact place I’d wanted it to go. Finally, something has gone my way today. “That’s amazing. Thank you.”
    Marshall steps back and takes a seat on top of a table a few feet away from me. “You’re welcome.”
    I pluck the darts out of the board, leaving the winning one for last. “All right, what’s your question?”
    “You’re not the only one who observes people,” he says. “I’ve noticed several things about you in the last week, beginning with the fact that you really don’t seem to be enjoying all this making-up-for-lost-experiences stuff.”
    “That’s not a question.” I toss another round of darts, missing the bull’s-eye, but managing to land all but one right around the bull’s-eye.
    “Not bad,” Marshall says. “And I was getting to the question. I’m wondering what you’re really doing here. Obviously this isn’t for pleasure, since you seem completely miserable and unexcited by the whole experience. And we both know it’s not for academic gains …”
    Which should I answer? Why I came to NIU in the first place? Or why I’m here right now after deciding to call it quits mere hours ago?
    I sigh and turn to face him. “I didn’t get into a residency program. I flunked my emotional readiness test—it’s this stupid psych exam. And apparently I have the world’s worst bedside manner.”
    His forehead wrinkles. “Still not sure what that has to do with going to NIU and being a PE major when you’ve already got a biology degree and an engineering degree, not to mention the medical license.”
    “I can retest in six months, and the psychologist—who is not a real doctor, in case you were wondering …” I pause to see his reaction, but he simply waits for me to finish. “Anyway, Dr. Winifred James, Ph.D., thought that I might be using my career as an excuse to avoidimportant age-related milestones.” The look on Marshall’s face reflects all my fears. I’m not getting anywhere close to success in this area, and he knows it. I sink down onto a chair and scrub my hands over my face. “It’s hopeless, isn’t it? People can’t really change, can they?”
    “Maybe change isn’t the right word,” he says. “I think we just need to tap into an undiscovered part of you.”
    My eyebrows arch up. “ We ? You’ve more than surpassed your RA duties, Marshall. Plus, I’ve done college with babysitters before, so that’s not really a new experience for me.”
    He shakes his head. “Not RA duties. I was thinking more of an exchange. I have an anatomy and physiology class this semester that’s already giving me hell—”
    “I’m a terrible tutor,” I confess before this can go any further. “I’ve made little kids cry doing community service hours.”
    Marshall walks closer and grips my upper arms, giving me a little shake. “Stop arguing with everything I suggest. I don’t care if you’re a mean tutor. I neeeeed your braaaaaiiiins.”
    I laugh and pull out of his grip. It feels good to laugh. It feels good to think about Marshall and his stupid anatomy class rather than my failing life and falling-apart family. “Okay, let’s have a trial run tonight. Tell me how to fix things with Kelsey.”
    A grin spreads across his face, and he nods toward the hallway leading