AN: I've decided to give Pitch fic a try. I haven't written anything in months and Bawson has sort of brought me back to writing. I hope you all enjoy. Story not beta'd. Apologies for any errors.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pitch or its characters.

It's no question that Ginny Baker is a beautiful woman. A blind man could see that. In her uniform with her curly hair pulled back and nothing on her face but sweat and a look of determination, or in her workout clothes, she would always be an attractive woman. On Jimmy Kimmel, she glowed in a modest pink dress with tamed curls. But tonight, she's breathtaking.

Unruly curls pinned up to show off her elegant neck. Light makeup enhancing her beauty and a light gloss on her full pouty lips. And the dress.

That dress.

She was a siren in red.

Mike willed himself not to ogle her, and he was sure he'd managed to do that... at least he hoped. His teammate had just walked into the room and commanded the attention of everyone present with little effort. She'd just landed a huge endorsement deal with Nike, and tonight's big event was a kickoff to their promotional push featuring her.

Only two months had passed since Ginny's debut in the big leagues and not only had she found steady footing among the team in the clubhouse (and survived the trading deadline), she already knew how to work a room full of media types and big wigs. If only she'd work her way to his side of the ballroom. Mike felt as if Ginny had been avoiding him for the past couple weeks. Maybe avoiding wasn't the right word. They still worked out together (For the most part, if Duarte or Blip wasn't there). Still had their late night phone calls (Which seemed to end earlier and most of the time left him cold).

Nothing had changed, but it felt different. It felt as if she was slowly distancing herself from him, putting up a wall, brick by brick.

They still joked around, but her laughter felt forced. Her smiles lately, were not as genuine– only one dimple instead of the two. And her eyes, usually warm and inviting, were mostly cool and distant. The same look was in her eyes tonight as he approached her, not even realizing that he was headed her way until he was close enough to smell her perfume.

Light and floral with a touch of citrus.

"Hey Rookie, you clean up nice. Glad you didn't show up in tights and a sports bra," he teased, making an incredible effort to keep his eyes on hers and not on the generous amount of cleavage on display due to the cut of her dress.

"I'd say the same for you, Old Man, but I see the furry animal living on your face continues to make an appearance," she shot back with a smirk.

"You love the beard."

She laughs and he thinks it's genuine. Maybe it's all in his head. Nothing's changed.

"So I hear more congratulations are in order."

"About..." she looks at him, questioning.

"The Cover Girl deal," he answers with a grin. "Come on, Baker, let me get you a drink." He reaches for her to guide her to the bar, but she steps back slightly.

"That hasn't been announced yet... how'd you know about– oh...right." Her face seems to fall a bit before she shakes her head and smiles, brightly insincere, and it doesn't meet her eyes. She looks around and spots Evelyn and Blip waving her over. "I see they've got a table already. I'm gonna give my feet a break in these heels. Can I take a rain check on that drink?"

"You calling me off again, Baker?" He lets it slide, wanting to confront her about her behavior, but not here. Tonight was her night and it could wait. "Yeah, Rook. Go rest your feet. I'll bring ya a beer later."

If she had on sneakers, he was sure her departure would have been even more abrupt as she tossed a careless "Thanks" over her shoulder while heading in the opposite direction.

They'd talk later, he decided. Obviously, she wanted space and he'd give her that. They would hash this out and get back on track. However, he couldn't quell this feeling of unease. He couldn't shake the feeling that things had shifted and it was gonna take a long time to get back where they were.

"Thanks for the save," Ginny muttered to Evelyn as she takes a seat at the table.

"No problem. But I think you should just talk about it instead of this going through this whole passive aggressive, avoidance plan you're going with. It's not gonna work."

"What?!" Ginny lowers her voice after noticing a few eyes drawn to her. "I'm not being passive aggressive. I just need a little space to deal with it and get over it."

"Like with your mom?" she asked, looking at Ginny pointedly. "Just talk to them both and tell them how you really feel about it and be done with it." Evelyn manages to pluck two flutes of champagne from a tray carried by a passing waiter and gives one to Ginny. "Here, drink this. You look way too tense right now Gin. Is that mystery man of yours coming?" she asked, changing the subject to the benefit of them both.

Ginny is thankful for the switch of topic, although not so appreciative of the words before it. She knows she needs to talk to Amelia and Mike about it and let them know how she feels, but right now she doesn't want to think about that. She doesn't want to think about her trust in them being broken because they thought she couldn't handle them being... whatever it was they were. Dating, fuck buddies, whatever. She wasn't a child.

The idea of the two of them together having pillow talk with her as a topic of discussion... She takes a sip of champagne to ward off those thoughts. Did it irritate her? Yes, but she would have gotten over it... eventually. As a matter of fact, she had been in the process of getting over it for a while now.

She takes another sip, enjoying the feel of the cool bubbles on her tongue. She wasn't necessarily a fan of champagne, she had always been more of a margarita girl– a taste she'd acquired during her stint in Texas– but this would have to do for now. She wants something stronger, but doesn't want to use alcohol as a distraction. But speaking of distractions...

"He sent me a text. Said he's stuck in traffic and he'd be here soon." She shook her head and grinned as what Evelyn said finally registered. "And he's not a mystery man. I told you his name is Jordan and I've known him for a long time."

"Well, until I see this guy in the flesh and he's able to pass the vetting process with me and Blip, he's "Mystery Guy" to me." Evelyn shot back with a grin.

Ginny rolled her eyes and smiled before finishing the rest of her champagne in one huge gulp.