We are a perfect fit, if there’s such a thing. Well, we are perfectly imperfect, as we both know the challenges that lie ahead when we break the news to our families that we are more than good friends, but I’m actually looking forward to the day I tell the world of my love for her. I want to tell everyone soon, but Kate keeps urging me to wait until thetime is right for proper introductions. For me, it can’t come soon enough. And neither can tomorrow until I’m on that plane to see her.
‘You didn’t tell me you played tennis?’ I say to Kate when she presents me with a tennis racket on the second day of our long-anticipated weekend together. We’ve spent most of our time since I got here chilling out, in bed, eating takeaway food and hiding away from the outside world, but now it’s time to get up and get out of the apartment for a while and Kate’s idea of fun for today is – it seems – to play tennis.
She wears a tiny skirt that shows off her tanned legs from her recent holiday, and the sliver of the white scar that travels up the back of her calf and up the side of her thigh only makes her more breathtaking to me.
‘There’s a lot about me you still don’t know, David Campbell,’ she says, thrusting the racket into my hand. I put my hand on her waist and she runs her finger down my chest. ‘Are you any good?’
She bites her lip and does a thing where she looks up at me from beneath her eyelashes, and tilts her head to the side.
‘I’m pretty good, yeah,’ I tell her. ‘You?’
She shrugs. ‘I’m good.’
We stare for a moment, teasing and taunting in a game that has already begun.
‘OK, let’s do this,’ I tell her, leaving her thirsty for more. ‘I’ll give you a good run, that’s for sure.’
‘I bet you will,’ she says, and leads me out of the apartment and into her car, where we drive the five kilometres to a local tennis club, her tiny white skirt bouncing as she skips along in front of me, showing me the way.
Moments later we’re on the court and, after a few practice rallies, the competition heats up between us as our shots become harder, faster and trickier, and we sprint and chase until we are both breathless. Kate stands opposite me, our stances mirror-like with feet apart, hips bent forward as we wait for the ball to come our way.
‘Harder!’ she calls to me from the far side of the court. ‘Don’t be afraid of giving me your best shot, David! I can take it, you know!’
I shake my head.
‘It’s not the first time you’ve said that to me!’ I say as I stretch and serve with a bit more force this time. The shorts I brought with me for the weekend ride up my leg and I catch her staring in that direction several times.
In turn, the sight of her in her purple vest against the white of her skirt leaves my head spinning as much as the ball does as it hurtles towards me. I see a fiercely competitive glint in her eyes as we bat back and forth, game after game.
‘Faster this time!’ I shout to her as she bounces the ball, her eyes glancing my way with a light smile but a grittyexpression that shows she means business. ‘Get on top, Kate! I thought you were going to whip my ass!’
‘Oh, I can do that for sure!’ she calls in return.
I twirl the racket in my hands and sway from side to side, bent over as I await her next move, doing my best to focus on the game and not the anticipation it’s bringing our way.
The net and distance that divides us creates a barrier that only makes me want her more, yet represents so much that still sits between us. I know all about her mother’s past now, about how she was arrested and convicted for hiding arms intended for paramilitary use all those years ago, but those days are gone now, thank God. I know about her dad and how he drifts in and out of her life, yet she idolizes him and she lights up when she talks about him. Her family have been forced apart but are a tight unit, whereas mine are forced together but fragmented and weak in comparison, and while we’ve no doubt a battle ahead when we come out in public with our flourishing romance, I know every risk we take will be worth it.
‘Well done, Lieutenant!’ she says when I ram the ball a little too hard in her direction to take the final game, set and match. ‘To be honest this whole idea was just an excuse to get you hot and sweaty in a pair of shorts.’
We walk towards the net and shake hands, her eyes smouldering when she addresses me by a title I haven’t heard in a very long time. She pulls my arm over and tenderlykisses it where my own scars of that awful day riddle my skin.
‘Lieutenant?’ I repeat, and she gives me a sultry salute in return. ‘And what would your daddy say if he knew you were getting hot and sweaty with someone like me?’
I pull her gently towards me, our hands gripped together across the net; she is so close I feel her breath on my face. Her cheeks are pink and damp, I can feel a river of sweat on my back and the adrenaline of the physical activity on the court only heightens the desire we both feel when we’re together.
‘My daddy doesn’t need to know what we get up to,’ she whispers. ‘No one does. Now, let’s go home. I think we both need a long shower. Together.’
‘I think that’s a really good idea and very badly needed for sure,’ I respond, as our lips almost touch. There are people waiting to get onto our court and we have to step back from each other to contain ourselves. ‘Let’s go home and shower.’
But I seriously doubt we’ll make it past the bedroom.
15.
KATE
The summer rattles by in a flurry of day trips away with David, hotel stays on my days and nights off from work. As August rolls in, I’m excited to get to see some of the places David calls home when we make the trip to England together so he can take part in a charity rugby game in Bromley.
‘Good luck,’ I mouth to him from the stands when he steals a look my way as he runs onto the pitch. I bite my nails in anticipation as I watch him warm up on the sideline, his strong thighs on show; the way his blue and white jersey clings to his skin makes my own skin tingle.
