“I still think they should take him for an eye exam,” she grumbled unhappily.
Calvin wrapped his arm around her shoulders, teasing, “Don’t worry, we will get you back to the world of Hawk-Eye soon.”
“Paradise,” she said sarcastically. “Anyway, I need to go shower. I’ll see you later.”
“Yeah, sounds good,” he said. “We still need to talk about how we agreed you weren’t going to play any tennis over this week.”
“It’s barely competitive.” Chloe waved him off.
“Nice to meet you, Inés,” he said, looking away from his sister and over to me.
“Likewise.” I smiled back.
“And Chloe,” he added. Chloe, who had already turned to leave, looked back over her shoulder at him, eyebrows raised in question. “I want my dog back.”
“Wilson is happier with me,” she said confidently.
His face fell into a pout. “But I miss her!”
She rolled her eyes, huffing. “You can see her later. We’re throwing the after-party.”
Calvin’s mouth transformed into a smile as he turned away. I followed Chloe, leaving the court behind us and heading towards the changing rooms.
“So, Wilson is his?” I asked as we walked through the busy country club corridor.
“She’s shared,” she said. “She stays with our parents while we’re away, but we all consider her ours.”
“Lucky dog.”
“Spoiled more like, but she’s very loved.” She smiled, pushing open the door to the locker room, letting me pass her. “I always miss her, so it was nice to steal her for the weekend.”
I nodded. It had been nice to have a dog around the beach house. I hadn’t had a pet of my own since childhood and had found myselfenjoying the company. Besides, a dog would be handy for tennis ball cleanup.
Opening my locker, I reached in and pulled out a fresh towel and a set of clothes to change into, before grabbing my bag, but I used the wrong hand and a hiss of pain escaped me.
“Are you okay?” Chloe asked, arranging her stuff in a locker beside mine.
I nodded, my other hand massaging my wrist with the technique I’d learned years ago.
“It’s barely a strain. I just get pain after playing for too long,” I answered. “Nothing an ice pack won’t solve.”
“That’s your injured wrist, right?” she asked, curiosity appearing across her features.
“They are both fucked,” I joked. “Welcome to professional tennis. It’s the wrists or the knees. Or both, if you’re extra lucky. They’ve gotten better since the surgery. It’s just when I play for a while, they start to ache and I need to take care.”
“Do you need some help?”
“No, I’m fine,” I said. “It’s my fault for overpacking.” I moved to pick the bag up again, the pain in my wrist still sharp, but Chloe beat me to it.
“Here, let me.” She smiled softly, and I couldn’t help but feel a buzz of frustration. This wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle. I’d spent years like this, sore and bruised. Scarred and healing. But there was a kindness in her action, and I forced the annoyance back down into its box.
“You’ll be okay showering?” she asked with concern, but my thoughts were far from innocent.
“Are you asking me if I want you to take my clothes off?” I couldn’t help the wide smirk across my lips, even less so when I watched a blush flush all the way down her neck to her collarbone.
“No... I didn’t mean...” she stuttered, looking more and more adorable. On court, she was a killer, terrifying even. But here, whenI pushed the right buttons, she was so easy to unravel. The contrast was addictive.
I stepped closer, deliberately slow, letting the air thicken between us. The corners of her mouth twitched like she clearly wanted to fire back, but she held it in. Her eyes flicked to mine, wide and unsure, and then I could’ve sworn they dipped momentarily to my chest. I pretended not to notice, but the tension between us was undeniable.
