Everything started to fall into place. “Oh my god, that’s why you brought Marti with you. You don’t have your paddle, and you’re wearing slides and socks. You never intended to play with me.”
“Bingo.”
“But... you’re my coach,” I sputtered, spinning my hands in the air.
“And good coaches give their athletes wings,” he replied.
I smiled involuntarily at being called an athlete even though I didn’t like where the conversation was headed.
Owen paused and turned to me. “I wanted to show you that you’re basically where you need to be. You played on your own today and killed it. I think you’re ready to fly solo.”
My mouth dropped open. Was Owenfiringme?
“Hold on a sec. You want me to sign up for that tournament thing—”
“Only ifyouwant to,” he interrupted. “I said I think it’s worthwhile to have another goal besides... Kai.”
“Okay, so I agree. I want to sign up.”
My stomach roiled at the thought of it, but in the moment, it felt like the only way I could get Owen to keep working with me. I knew we’d have to part ways eventually, but notnow. Our mornings together were one of the few times I could stop stressing about my life and just focus on the joy of the moment.
“Seriously?” Owen asked. “You want to do the tournament?”
I nodded my head vigorously to convince both of us that it was true.
We set off down the sidewalk again while Marti scanned the pee mail. “That changes things. If you want to compete, then we definitely need to polish you up a bit. I mean, you were fucking amazing out there, but I saw a few snags. Little tweaks we could work on.”
“Exactly,” I agreed quickly. “Are you okay to keep things the way they’ve been?”
Working with Owen had become an important part of myweek, despite the fact that it always took me a couple of hours before I could stop thinking about my technique and focus on writing. Orghostwriting, because my archer story was now a faucet I couldn’t turn off.
“Yeah, meeting with you in the morning before we open is fine. I basically live at CPA anyway.”
Based on the little I’d learned about Owen, it tracked. I couldn’t resist prying.
“Wheredoyou live?” I asked.
He paused to let Marti squat. “It’s walking distance from the club. I have the perfect commute.”
He didn’t even give up the cross streets. The dude was Fort Knox. Or an undercover spy.
“So Chelsea?” I pushed.
“Basically. Anyway, let’s talk schedule since we have limited hours for the holiday weekend, and we’re closed on the Fourth,” he added. “I could still meet you if you want to come in, though.”
I frowned. “No, I’ll be in the Hamptons for the weekend. Meredith forced me into it.”
Which wasn’t entirely true.
“Nice.” Owen nodded and encouraged Marti to move on from a pile someone had neglected to clean up. “I got a couple of invitations to head out there. Lots of CPA members go, but I’m not sure what I want to do.”
“There’s a chance Kai is going to the party we’re invited to,” I blurted out. It felt weird bringing him up in the moment even though Kai was the reason for everything we were doing together.
I saw Owen’s jaw flex.
“Wow, so maybe this whole scheme was pointless?” Helooked at me out of the corner of his eye. “If you guys run in the same circles, you don’t actually need a pickleball connection.”
It really felt like he was trying to cut me loose in the gentlest possible way. “Owen, no, not at all. I mean, sure, that was my initial reason to start playing, but I’ve grown to love it.” I forced myself to keep talking, because he needed to know what he’d done for me. “You sort of rerouted my synapses. You made me like asport. My brother’s going to pass out when he visits.”
