Rafe
The wedding is for publicity.
Alex
It still matters. We’re already competing for who’ll be West’s.
Rafe
I’ll have three groomsmen, no best man.
James
That’s a cop-out.
West
How’s the new wife? Has she stabbed you in your sleep yet? Blink twice if you need help.
Rafe
I’m keeping my bedroom door locked. But she’s doing her damned best to be as annoying as she possibly can.
Alex
I hate to say it, but I like that for you.
James
Looking forward to meeting her.
CHAPTER 19
PAIGE
I wake up early the next morning with a wine-induced headache and sunshine streaming in through the windows. When I push them open, the air smells softly of the jasmine that grows on the villa’s façade.
I lean out against the wrought iron of my French balcony.
There’s no tiring of this view. The gardens spread out beneath the villa like a green sprawl, tall spiral cypresses and old knotted olive trees contrasting with neat hedge rows and overflowing lavender. And the lake, always the lake, glittering beneath the sun. It’s not the ocean. The part of me raised in a seaside town wants to argue it’s not as nice, but I’d be lying. This has a charm all its own.
There’s a rhythmic thud in the distance. It rings out over the still gardens.Thud. Thud. Thud.It’s a sound I know as well as my own heartbeat.
Someone’s playing tennis.
Rafe has a court, and of course he would be up early playing despite the copious amounts of wine we had last night. I don’t think. I just change into workout clothes instead and stick my feet into a pair of trainers.
He was right yesterday when he revealed just how much he’s learned about me.
I rarely play anymore.
After losing my parents, getting out of bed was hard. But I had to keep playing to keep my scholarship. So I played every single game in front of an audience, with the pressure of having to perform.
An audience of strangers, but never my parents, the ones who had taught me how to play and loved cheering me on.
It turned my love of the game sour. And after college, there were so many other things to do. My weekly games became monthly. Sometimes quarterly.
I head downstairs and walk through the gardens.
