Chloe nodded once. “It can stay on court.”
“Exactly.” I looked back at my bracelet, feeling the corners of my mouth tug upward. Whatever this was, I wasn’t ready to name it, but I couldn’t let it go either.
She went back to her bracelet, but the tension lingered, an invisible thread tying us together in a way I wasn’t sure how to untangle.
The worst part was, I wasn’t sure I wanted to.
23
Inés
Edge of the Earth—The Beaches
“So, how was it?” Scottie hissed, leaning over the bench, her blue eyes stuck on me.
I blinked at her, thrown off by the question. “How was what?”
It was the opening day of the DC Open, and I was being interrogated in the changing room by my best friend.
“Training with the enemy. What else?” Dylan interrupted sharply, tossing her bag onto the bench.
Correction:bothbest friends were interrogating me.
“She’s not the enemy,” both Scottie and I said. Her blonde head whipped toward me in surprise, her eyes narrowing.
“You’ve certainly changed your tune,” Scottie said, her tone teetering between teasing and accusatory.
It had been a week and a half since I’d last seen them at the beach house. A week and a half since Chloe and I had agreed to work together as hitting partners. And now I was on the road, traveling and sleeping on her expense.
How was I supposed to explain what had changed in such a short time?
“I agreed with you,” I said lightly, keeping my focus as I pulled outmy outfit for the day: a bright pink dress with matching trainers. The bold color felt like armor against the sharp blue court.
“I know, that’s what’s weird,” Scottie said.
“What’s weird is why you agreed to it in the first place,” Dylan said. “Half these girls will cut your strings if they find out you’re helping Murphy.”
Dylan was always one of my tougher friends, a hard exterior, but once she saw you as a friend, she would rage to the end for you. While she didn’t know the full story with Chloe, she knew how much our professional rivalry had affected me.
“If it wasn’t me, it would’ve been somebody else,” I reasoned, taking a moment to look around the room. Familiar faces were everywhere, each player locked in match prep. Across the lockers, a flash of strawberry-blonde hair caught my eye. I sat up to get a better look, but Scottie’s voice pulled me back.
“Exactly. And in the meantime, it must be helping you out, right?” Scottie asked, her eyes on Dylan as if there was a silent warning between the women.
“Of course.” I slipped into the dress quickly, eager to move on to my pre-match ritual. “It’s fine. She’s different, off court. And on, she’s trying to be better.”
Scottie snorted. “We’re all different off court. Well, most of us.” Her sharp blue gaze darted to Dylan. Once upon a time, their rivalry had eclipsed even mine and Chloe’s. Only in the last year had they managed to find common ground.
“I have no idea what you mean,” Dylan replied coolly.
Scottie rolled her eyes. “I mean, we can all be a little difficult with each other when the competition heats up. Chloe is no different.”
“Exactly,” I said.
“So, it’s strictly professional between you two?” Dylan asked sharply.
I couldn’t help but think of the friendship bracelet around mywrist. How we’d sat together in the guesthouse, stringing them together until the power came back on. And then after, how we’d binged an entire season of a TV show in one night, only realizing we’d finished when we both were woken up by the credits, her head resting on my shoulder.
“Yeah. More or less,” I said, clearing my throat. “How are you feeling about the competition?”
