I laugh. “No it’s not. I saw you on the court tonight.”
“You were watching?”
“I—no. I just happened to notice you didn’t look like you were about to pass a kidney stone.”
“Hey!” Garrett appears next to us, throwing an arm over Calder’s shoulders. “Looks like you two are talking about something juicy.”
I sigh. “Just waiting for Sam.” She still hasn’t left the restroom, and I’m starting to worry she got stuck in a stall with no toilet paper.
“Did you get to play together?” Garrett asks.
Calder shakes his head, and I say, “Didn’t make it to the winner’s court.”
Garrett laughs. “Yep, that’s where he was parked all night. Mostly because of Megan, though, right?”
I bristle, then remind myself I literally started this sport a week ago. Of course Megan’s better than I am. It was a miracle I could play at all.
“You made it to the middle court, though.” Garrett smiles and shoves his paddle in his bag.
I sigh. “I did. And then made you lose.”
Garrett chuckles. “They were using some off-brand balls. If we had Franklin, we would’ve been fine.”
Calder’s jaw tenses, and he mutters. “It’s never the balls.”
“What?” Garrett grins.
“Ah, nothing.”
“Thanks for waiting.” Sam nudges my side and hands me my elastic. I slip it over my wrist.
I grin, the world settling back into equilibrium now that she’s here. “Shall we?”
“Please.”
I turn back to Calder and Garrett. “This was fun.”
Garrett nods in agreement. “Have a great weekend.”
“Will do!” I link arms with Sam and we walk to the exit.
“He complimented you,” Sam hisses as we step out to the street.
“What?”
“Garrett. I heard him when I walked up. He said you made it to the middle court, and it was the ball’s fault.”
I bark a laugh. “That’s not a compliment.”
“Absolutely was. He could’ve said it was all your fault you lost, but he didn’t. First of all, he claimed you as a team member by using ‘we,’ then insinuated he made mistakes too, which means, by default, that you didn’t make all the mistakes and must’ve done some things right. So. A compliment.”
I’m grinning at her. “You’re my favorite person.”
We debrief on the drive home, and by the time I drop Sam off at her apartment, I’m wiping tears from my cheeks, I’m laughing so hard.
“Maybe a little shaming is good for us?” I call out the window.
“Speak for yourself!” She flips me the bird, as she should, and walks into her building. Apparently, while I was playing with Garrett, she’d tripped over her own feet and done a half somersault in front of Josh and one of Megan’s friends on the design team. I didn’t see it, but my mind is more than making up the difference. My version is definitely the best version.
