Her eyes snapped open, narrowing. “Please don’t.”
“Then you’d better pray someone comes looking for you first.”
That earned the faintest laugh. We both fell quiet after that, the sounds of the party distant through the glass.
After a beat, she let out a breath and glanced at me. “Okay, but do you at least have your phone?”
I reached for the small clutch I’d left by the railing, pretending my fingers weren’t shaking. “Yeah... but don’t get your hopes up.” I showed her the screen. “No signal. This part of the venue’s a dead zone.”
She let her head fall back. “Of course it is.”
“I mean, it’s atmospheric,” I offered, tilting my head. “Very...two idiots trapped on a palace balconykind of vibe.”
Amusement flickered across her face. “Idiots, huh?” she said, arms crossing casually. “Interesting choice of words.”
“I—I meant it affectionately,” I managed, hoping the earth would open and swallow me before I rambled myself into a grave.
She huffed a soft laugh through her nose, the kind that somehow made me even more flustered.
“I only ever see this kind of thing in rom-coms. Two strangers accidentally locked out somewhere ridiculous, forced to talk.” She gave me a sideways look. “Didn’t expect it to happen to me. Definitely didn’t expect it to happen with another tennis player on tour.”
My brain short-circuited atrom-comandmebeing in the same sentence, but I swallowed and attempted to appear functional.
“So… you’re a rom-com person then?” I asked, while knowing full well I had absolutely no idea what counted as a rom-com.
Which was impressive, honestly, considering my brain was currently screamingOh god, Olivia Smythe is talking romcoms to me,anddon’t stare at her lips, don’t stare at her lips.
“Yes, sometimes. Depends on the mood.” She glanced at me, a teasing spark in her eyes. “And what about you… Are you a rom-com person too, or do you just judge them from afar?”
“Not really my thing,” I admitted. “I’ve never really watched any. Unless you count that one airplane movie where two people argue for two hours and then kiss because the plane hits turbulence. But that felt more like a safety hazard than romance.”
“So you’re telling me you’re giving rom-com reviews based on in-flight entertainment?” she asked, smiling.
“Yes,” I said, nodding firmly. “My expertise is very limited, but extremely confident. I rate that movie… three out of five oxygen masks.”
She actually laughed harder at that, leaning slightly toward me. The sound was warm, effortless, and my chest did that stupid, familiar flip-flop thing.
“Wow,” she said, still smiling. “That’s… creative.”
“Just doing my part to contribute absolutely nothing of cinematic value.” I said, shrugging.
She muttered something under her breath, then she remembered that we are supposed to be stuck here. “Okay.We cannot just stand here like idiots all night. I refuse to be rescued in heels like a helpless extra in a romcom.”
I met her gaze. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
She tilted her head, a teasing spark in her eyes. “You really don’t have any idea what happens in a rom-com movie, do you?”
“Uhmmm…” I faltered.
“You need to watch more of them. Maybe then you’d learn that getting trapped somewhere usually leads to some kind of grand romantic moment.”
“Right,” I said, slipping into dry humor because it was the only thing keeping me from combusting. “Well, if this were a rom-com, I’d probably… I don’t know… just jump off the balcony and get help. Save us some time, you know? Very efficient.”
Her eyes flicked over me then. “You’d make a terrible rom-com lead, Cadiz.”
For a split second, my brain tried to decipher every possible meaning behind that sentence. Was she teasing? Was that an insult? A compliment? A cosmic sign?Oh God, stop overthinking.
I shoved the thought aside. So I pulled out another joke before my heart could explode.
