I try not to be jealous, but I’m not that much of a saint.
“Doubles?” Reed asks, turning to me with enough of a smirk that he knows exactly what I’m thinking.
“Count me out,” Darcy says, pushing her empty cup away from her. “You’re both too competitive. But I will referee. I don’t trust either of you to not cheat.” She ignores our mutual sounds of protest. “And I, for one, do not want to scare Ivy off so soon.”
From the look on Ivy’s face, I rather think it would have the opposite effect, but it makes me happy to hear Darcy so openly welcome her.
“Felicity?” Ivy asks. “Want to be my partner?”
“Tennis partner,” I correct, not caring how nonsensical it sounds. There’s no one in this room who would need the clarification, but it makes Ivy’s cheeks flush any time I assert my claim on her, so I’ll keep doing it.
Reed rolls his eyes while Darcy laughs at me, and for the first time in possibly my whole life, I’m glad to be here.
Proof positive that Ivy makes everything better.
“Sorry, but I don’t play,” Felicity says. “Haven’t since I tore my rotator cuff in college.”
“Not to worry,” Reed says, standing. “We can rotate game play. Lincoln will likely need to rest his aching feet after one game.”
“Speak for yourself, old man. It’s not a competition,” I say. “But if it was, you would lose.”
Darcy brushes invisible crumbles off her skirt as she stands. “I hope you know what you signed up for, Ivy. A lifetime of this.”
I curl my hand around Ivy’s, knowing a single lifetime with her won’t be enough, but I’ll take it anyway.
What’s the harm in a friendly match?
Darcy would argue — and does — that there should be a ban on my family in particular being allowed to host games of any sort. We’ve never been polite enough to each other to manage losing very well.
Or winning, for that matter.
Reed — always the organizer — has everything set up for us. The first issue comes when we’re deciding who will play first. “Take a seat,” he says. “First round is on me.”
I should perhaps analyze why Ivy’s calculating smile turns me on quite this much, but I’m also worried Reed won’t go easy on her — I haven’t forgotten how quickly he blamed her when there was little reason — so I step in. “No. You’re against me. Ivy will play the winner.”
He tips his head in silent agreement, but Ivy isn’t as easy to convince, taking the racket from my hands and pointing it at the loungers, where Darcy and Felicity are spectating. “You, sit.” She swings the racket to Reed. “You, serve.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he says, doing as instructed.
It’s been years since I’ve seen Reed play, and while he’s a little rusty, he’s precise enough with every hit that I suspect he’s taking it easy on her. Against anyone else, he’d win easily.
But Ivy is a rocket on the court, moving faster than Reed’s expecting (faster than I’m expecting, honestly), sprinting like a squirrel to parry every backhand with one of her own.
Right around the time she’s leading three-one, the moment is interrupted by the walking shitstain that is my cousin. “Does everyone get a round with Ivy?” Kyle leers as he strides over. “Count me in next.”
I stalk toward him, my fists clenched, but Reed is over like a shot, his racket held to my chest, like that’s going to hold me back. “If you’re in such a hurry to lose,” Reed says, “then we play doubles. Ivy and me versus you and Lincoln.”
Kyle beams a winner’s smile at me as he jogs backward to the baseline, and it prickles under my skin.You haven’t won anything yet, dickhead.
As Reed and Kyle stare each other down from opposite ends of the court, I pull Ivy aside.
“Don’t worry. I’ll go easy on you,” Ivy says, bouncing on the balls of her feet. She’s practically giddy. But we both know that’s not why I came over.
“Are you sure?”
Her whole face softens with fond concern, then the spark is back. She playfully pats my hip with her racket. “Please. Ruin a millionaire’s day? Sounds like a wish come true,” she says, winking at me before turning to call out to Kyle. “Are we doing this or what?”
I’d rather invite Boris Johnson over for a sex party than be stuck within fifty meters of Kyle on any given day, and right now, I’m as close to bludgeoning him with this racket as I’ve ever been.
