She shrugged. “Believe what you like.”
“I get it. You’re hacked off at me. You’ve been hacked off at me for months, since that night at the Aussie.”
Penny blinked at him in disbelief. “Seriously? You really think now is the time to talk about this?”
“I meant to the day I arrived, but you radiate a sort of force field, so I put it off, and then the other night I worked up some courage.”
“You mean you drank until you weren’t scared of me anymore.”
“Right, that. But you shot me down.”
“You were drunk and you didn’tjustwant to talk.”
She arched an eyebrow at him and he shrugged unapologetically.
“I’m not drunk now, and while I’d much rathernot talk, I think maybe we should.”
“We can’t. We have a training session. Dom’ll be here in…” Her phone buzzed in her pocket, cutting her off. Alex’s phone buzzed as well.
Only one person would be texting them at the same time.
“Dom’s not coming,” he said, reading off his screen. “He’s got press to do with Jasmine and Indiana for the final tomorrow.”
“Of course he does. I’m out of here.”
In two strides he leapt out in front of her, blocking her path. “Oy, where are you going? We’ve got to train.”
Penny looked up at the sky, a dusky blue color, as a few dark, wispy clouds gathered high in the heavens. Maybe if she were really lucky, lightning would strike and put her out of her misery. “First you want to talk, and now you want to train?”
“We can’t do both?”
“Train first,” she said, “then talk.” Of course she had no intention of sticking around once they finished their session. He’d have to get over it.
They stretched out on their practice court in silence, like they had every day since he arrived, but even without words, the connection between them was practically tangible. Every time he shifted, her body wanted to mimic the motion. She fought it, trying desperately to focus on her own stretching regime.
What was it about him? Aside from the mind-blowing sex, of course. It was getting harder and harder to brush aside the memories. Every night he invaded her dreams and every day he was there, waiting on the court, their training sessions almost as arousing as her memories. She’d never experiencedanything like it. Their bodies were made for each other, and though her mind was set against him, her body refused to let her forget. And as for her heart… she tried not to think about that.
“Okay?” he asked, pulling her from her thoughts, but not enough to make her forget the last time he’d asked that question, leaning over her, one hand gripping her thigh, the other holding himself up against the mattress, his body cradled by her hips, slick with sweat, straining with the effort of holding back, waiting for her permission.
“Penny?” She pushed herself out of the fog of the past and stood, brushing the clay from her shorts.
“Let’s just do a short warm-up,” she suggested, hoping he’d agree.
“Yeah,” he said, a wicked grin blooming across his face. “Then let’s play.”
A few practice serves, forehands, backhands, and some net work later and they were both geared up for a set.
“Go on, then,” Alex said, “let’s see what you got.” He chucked a ball at her from across the net and she plucked it neatly out of the air.
After bouncing it a few times at her feet, Penny let her weight fall back and then explode forward through the ball, sending a flat BB down the center of the court. He blocked it back, but she raced forward, putting away a short volley totally out of his reach.
“Fifteen–love.”
And so, on and on it went, trading point after point, breaking serve, breaking back, forcing deuce, and losing at love, their level of play rising with every stroke of the racketfor nearly an hour. They stopped keeping score early in, recognizing the need to justplay.
“Next point wins,” Alex called out finally as they caught their breath between points.
“Tired?” she challenged.
