As Sydney arrived at the hotel, with enough time to take a shower before meeting the crew for dinner, with a huge next step of her professional career looming before her, all she could think about was what Reese was doing and whether she was thinking of Sydney, too.
“Tell me everything. Don’t leave a single bit out,” Reese said as the video call connected, her soft face coming into view.
Sydney had just closed her hotel room door behind her. She threw her leftovers on the desk near the television and slid her shoes off. “There’s not that much to tell.”
Reese let out an adorably indignant huff that Sydney found downright charming. “I don’t believe that for a second. You were back at a pro tournament. Around friends and foes alike. Working in a completely new role.”
“What colorful commentary, babe. Maybe you should have been the one on screen?”
“Seriously, Sydney. I want to know,” Reese said, her voice softening and cutting through all of Sydney’s defenses.
Sydney plopped down in a chair next to the window, holding her phone a few feet away from her face. “Honestly, I’ve been so busy that I haven’t really digested or processed a lot of it yet. And we’re only on the first day of live matches, so I’m trying to temper making any judgments about the commentator aspect of it.”
She had six more days of live commentary to provide, leading through the final matches happening on Sunday. It was unclear yet if she’d be tapped to commentate at the finals, but she had to be on standby through the weekend regardless.
Reese nodded along, her back resting against the headboard in Sydney’s hotel room at The Stone’s Throw. “That’s fair. How do youfeel, then? Take the big-brain thinking out of it.”
“I feel…” Sydney sat with the question for a moment, tapping into her senses. “My body is tired. It’s a whole different type of exhaustion to have to be ‘on’ for so long at a time. And I like getting dolled up as much as the next person, but hair and makeup is not a gentle process.”
Reese laughed then, and Sydney loved how she slid a little farther down into the bed, burrowing into the covers they hadn’t shared in far too long. “Okay, that all makes sense. Did it feel good to be back at a tournament?”
“I feel like you’re gentle-parenting me,” Sydney said lightly as she kicked her legs up on the coffee table, only a little embarrassed by the situation.
“Is it working?” Reese asked, flashing Sydney a grin.
“I miss you.” Sydney said the words before she’d articulated them in her mind. “That’s how I feel.”
“I miss you, too.” The way Reese said it made Sydney’s insides go all mushy, and she wondered how she was still retaining her body’s shape.
“And it’s hard to fully experience something with that always in the back of my mind.”
Hesitation was etched across Reese’s face when she said, “Should we talk less? To give you more time to focus.”
Sydney shook her head resolutely. “That’s absolutely not what I want. I’m just being honest. I think I’m homesick… for Stoneport.”
She saw how Reese’s cheeks turned pink, and it looked like the phone shook gently, cradled in Reese’s hands. “Stoneport misses you, too.”
But she’d promised that she was going to give the commentary position a chance, at Reese’s insistence even.
So she thought about the positives. It had felt good to be praised by Gary, considering she’d never done something like this before. And parts of itwerefun. Analyzing the players from a few levels removed, instead of her mind and body adapting in real time, making what felt like a million decisions a second during a match.
But there was something lurking at the back of her mind, something that hadn’t taken shape yet in a way that made sense to her.
So she did what she did best and decided to distract herself. “Have you heard anything from Brynn?”
Reese groaned, sinking into the bed even farther. “I haven’t. When I left yesterday morning, she told me I’d given her a lot to think about.”
“Her life, her choices, I guess.” Though Sydney couldn’t imagine being able to sit quietly with that information and do nothing, she didn’t know what kind of mettle Brynn was really made of, when it came down to it.
“I’m sure if word gets back to Grant, I’ll be the first to hear about it.”
“And your mom?” Sydney asked. “Any update on that front?”
“I dropped her off at home a bit ago. She seems really clearheaded about the whole situation. I wonder if I’m waiting for her to hit a wall when all of this becomes real.”
“Well, if she does, we’ll be there for her,” Sydney said, meaning it. Nothing mattered more to her than making sure Reese, and by extension, Sharon, felt supported.
“I know.” Reese’s smile, like she really did feel as supported as Sydney hoped she did, gave Sydney that feeling of connection she’d been experiencing more and more, like she couldfeelReese from thousands of miles away.
