Owen had taught me more than just the mechanics of the game. He’d shown me how to pick up on my opponent’s tells and go-to shots and how to best counter them. Neither one of us got stressed as Wes and Claudia pulled ahead.
After they scored another point, Owen walked over to me, spinning his paddle in his hand, his tell for venting frustration. “Your returns are great, but let his big shots go out. Remember to watch his swing; that’ll tell you what’s coming. Don’t be a hero and jump to try to steal them out of the air. Just let them sail by, okay? I know that goes against every instinct, but trust me.”
I nodded and palmed the damp tendrils off my forehead. “He’s got no finesse,” I muttered.
“Exactly,” Owen agreed. “And that’s how we win.”
After all our time working together, it felt like our game was psychic. A simple nod or grunt from Owen and I knew what I was supposed to do. And he gave me the space to make choices on my own rather than doubting me and cutting me off.
I watched Owen start returning shots that required Wes to either use his dicey backhand, or run around the ball awkwardly to try to hit it forehand, or miss it completely. I followed suit and frustrated the hell out of my brother.
Claudia did her best to emulate Wes, probably because he’d taught her to play. Her shots didn’t have the same zippiness, which allowed me to counter with the drop shots Owen hadtaught me. I loved Wes’s groans of frustration as he raced to the kitchen to try to return my balls, only to watch it bounce, bounce, bounce before he could reach it.
“What the hell, Brooke?” Wes complained as I fired my own banger down the middle after a series of dinks. “You’re on fire.”
I shrugged a shoulder, trying to play it off like it was no big deal, and turned to Owen for confirmation.
He winked at me and held his paddle out to tap mine. “Nice.”
No surprise, we won the first three games. By the last one, Wes finally put his analytical skills to work and abandoned his strategy of “all bangers all the time.” He and Claudia opted to hang out at the kitchen line, and we started having long dink rallies, which, given we’d been at it over an hour and a half, was a welcome break.
It was as if Owen and I had wordlessly agreed to take it easy on them, to end on a high note. It was a squeaker—we technically could’ve crushed them—but Wes and Claudia won the final game.
The four of us met at the net to touch paddles.
“Whoareyou?” Wes asked me in amazement as he wiped sweat from his forehead with the hem of his T-shirt. “You’re so goddamned good!” He turned to Owen. “What did you do to her?”
We all paused to glance at Owen, and I felt a little itchy about how he might answer the question. Owen had definitely done something to me; I just couldn’t figure out what.
Our eyes met, and suddenly it was just the two of us.
“I didn’tdoanything,” he answered, still locked on me. “I just helped Brooke see what was always there.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
Claudia joined me at the mirror in the locker room as I put away my hair dryer, already looking flawless despite being barefaced and with her hair still wrapped up in a towel.
“I like him. Owen,” she said as she dabbed moisturizer on her perfect face. “Are you guys a thing or...?”
I tried to keep my expression neutral despite her picking up on something I still couldn’t wrap my brain around. “Did it seem like we’re a thing?”
I glanced around the locker room and was relieved to see that we were now alone, since everyone at CPA knew Owen.
Claudia paused with her finger hovering in front of her cheek, meeting my eyes in the mirror’s reflection. “I couldn’t tell exactly, but I sensed something...” She flickered her fingertips as she searched for the word. “Unresolved, I guess.”
To me, nothing that had happened during the games was out of the ordinary, other than me kicking so much ass. Owen and I had interacted the way we always did on the court. No outward flirting, just sincere appreciation and respect for each other.
Okay, maybe I was a little uptight about keeping things civil between us, but you’d think that would make our relationshipseem strained. What was it that Claudia picked up on that was quiet enough for us to be oblivious, but loud enough for her to notice?
“Honestly, I don’t know what we are,” I finally admitted softly.
When I looked at my reflection, I was frowning.
I trusted Claudia, and since my brother loved her, I already did as well. But I didn’t want to dive into the near misses Owen and I had lived through before a long night out together.
“Okay.” Claudia nodded as she leaned closer to the mirror and resumed lotioning. “So I wasn’t wrong. Is it awkward for you that he’s coming tonight? I take the blame for inviting him.”
“Not at all,” I said quickly as I pulled out my small makeup kit. “We could use a... a reset.”
