What if she was already busy? Upstairs. Another girl. Once, I’d been that very girl.
I pushed away the intrusive thought as we reached the kitchen. Reminding myself who she was. What she meant. As quickly as I could, I grabbed two cold bottles from the fridge.
Calvin and I settled on a bench at the end of the garden, the ocean to our backs as we looked at the house.
“Okay, hit me,” I said.
“Inés.” Her name was sharp on his tongue, and for a second, panic wrapped around my throat.Had he read my mind?“I think she’d be good on our team,” he added. “As a hitting partner, that is.”
“Have you forgotten she’s my competition?”
He waved my concerns away. “She’s slowing, she’s on her way out competitively, but you seem to work well together. Inés pulled the best player out of you.”
“That’s not fair,” I snapped. “She’s had injuries, she’s fighting back.”
Calvin shot me a confused look. “You destroy her on the court. You’re faster, younger.”
“She’s still a brilliant player. Don’t count her out. A year ago, I was nothing. Things change.”
It was only when I finished speaking that I realized how much I might have revealed. Whenever Calvin and I sat down to discuss a player, I’d always been brash, cocky, the one who told him they wouldn’t be an issue.
But for the first time, Iwantedto have met my match, somebody who made it difficult. And Iwantedit to be her.
“Okay, sorry, didn’t realize I’d hit a nerve,” Calvin said, his hands raised defensively. “I think if you start working with her, she could bring a strong challenge outside of the tournaments. There’s a lot you could learn from her game. She was legendary for the control she had over the pace, the tactics she used.”
“You think she’d actually want to work with me?” I asked. “She hates me.”
The words hurt to admit. I knew I’d played my part in causing the rift between us, and as much progress as it felt like we’d made, I was still unsure it would last over state lines.
“She doesn’thateyou.” He nudged his shoulder into mine, trying to be reassuring. “And even if she does, so what? You’re professionals. And on court, she managed to calm you down.”
“So?”
“I’ve never once been able to get you to snap out of your rage. I think if you trained together, she could help you figure out how to refocus that intensity. And I’ve been doing my research. Do you know that ELITE dropped her for you?”
I felt sick. No wonder she’d been so mad the first few days.
“I didn’t.”
“She’s out of sponsors, and I bet she’s growing desperate. Playing at this level is far from cheap.” I had to take another sip of my beer to get rid of the bitter taste in my mouth. What the cost of my success had been. It would be silly to assume there was room for all of us, every player with a dream. But growing closer to her, I couldn’t help but feel the impact of my own career on hers. “We could offer her travel and accommodation. She could use some of our team, like the physio. And in return, you would train against her. Learn her methods, listen to her when she teaches you how to keep your cool.”
If she was running low on funds, that might be enough to entice her onto my team, a mutual benefit of working together. Inés was good, even if she wasn’t where she used to be, but I could see the potential bubbling underneath, a force not to be underestimated.
Maybe a partnership with me could bring out her best again, bring out the best in both of us.
“She’s never going to go for it,” I said. “And even if she does, she’ll think I’m trying to sabotage her.”
“You’re trying to win, but so is she. And that’s all that should matter,” Calvin reasoned. “If she’s smart, she’ll see that this could be the best option for her. We just need her to stick around until after the US Open.”
“Has Dad reached out to her team already?” My dad had always acted as my manager, taking charge in preparing almost everything about my life in tennis.
“He’s reaching out in the morning,” he answered. “I wanted to mention it to you before he does, so there’s still time to stop this if it isn’t what you want.”
“But you think it’s for the best?”
Calvin took a moment, an astonished smile growing across his lips. “I couldn’t believe it earlier today, when she calmed you down,” he stated, turning to face me, his eyes alight. “You bounced back andcame backstronger.I hate pointing it out, but when you react like that on court, normally you play like shit after.”
“Gee, thanks.”
