Her offer took me by surprise, considering the argument that had gone on around us.
Cautiously, I said, “That’s rather fair of you.”
“We work together, it doesn’t have to be anything personal, so you don’t have to worry about getting along with me,” she said. I almost wanted to argue the point, but I caught myself. We had been growing closer these last few days. On court, we’d managed to come together and reach my first final in a long time.
Chloe continued, “We can get Selene and Calvin to work together to come up with a travel itinerary, and we can stay and prepare for the upcoming tournaments at my place. It’s nearby.”
“Your house?” I swallowed uncomfortably. All this training together, and now staying under the same roof—wouldn’t this be too much? Avoiding her around this place had been hard enough.
Chloe shook her head. “Don’t worry, there’s a guesthouse you can use. And it’s not like there’s a lot of time until the next competition begins.”
I nodded, but my worry was far from gone. What if we fell outagain?I guess that was the point of this agreement. We wouldn’t so much be working together asshewould be my boss. And that was a terrifying prospect.
“Do you want me to sign an NDA?” I asked, remembering the earlier remarks made by the lawyers.
Chloe only leaned forward. “Do you wantmeto sign an NDA?”
I grimaced. “I think it seems seedy,” I answered honestly. “I don’t know why we’d include that level of security. We need to trust each other, right?”
“I agree,” Chloe said. “Plus, I’m not sure who would want to knowwhatever dirt you’d be able to find. Surely nobody is interested in the fact I usually spend my free time in my pj’s, with my dog and a pint of protein ice cream.”
There was something about Chloe that easily disarmed me.
“A full pint?” I grinned. “The media will have a field day.”
“So do we have an agreement?” she asked hopefully. “You give me all the practice time with mygreatestrival—”
“Is the greatest rival in the room with us now?” I interrupted.
She laughed, trying to continue with her next words. “And you’ll teach me how to beat everyone else.”
Her words struck up a curiosity I kept trying my best to ignore. “That’s what you want from me? To teach you how to beat everyone else?”
“Yeah, why?”
I tried my best to put it into words, to try to get the truth out of her. “I don’t understand. Why me?”
“Maybe I don’t get along with anyone else?” she joked.
I motioned between us. “You realize this is the longest we’ve gone without an argument?”
“Exactly! It would be much shorter with anyone else.” She grinned playfully across the table, then rolled her shoulders back, the mood changing. “I know I can be...”
“A hothead? Temperamental? Frustrating?” I finished for her.
She paused, that smile growing brighter. “All of those are better than what I was going to go with.”
“Which was?”
“A bitch,” she answered cautiously.
I tilted my head, struck by the strength of that word. “You aren’t a bitch.”
“You’ve said it before,” Chloe replied, her tone softer than I’d expected.
“I know, I—”
“I believe the term you used wasmassivebitch,” she interrupted, grinning.
