His sister who, only a few days ago, I’d made out with in a hotel room.
We’d been in Cincinnati for a few days now, the competition in full swing. Chloe and I had both won our opening matches, each of us watching in the stands while the other played.
Outside of a hotel room, we remained the same. Friendly banter, a healthy rivalry, a flirty smile behind our coaches’ backs here and there. Behind closed doors, however, it had become clear that things were very different.
From across the net, Chloe twirled her racket in her hands, the typical Murphy swagger in every movement.
“Is that your best shot, Costa?” she shouted, a grin spread wide across her lips.
“You wish.” I watched her as she paused on the baseline, bouncing the ball. I counted to six with her, another trick I’d learned she had.
On her wrist, her bracelet caught my eye. I loved seeing mine on her wrist while she played her matches. In its importance to her, it had grown on me too. I didn’t complain anymore when she stopped by the locker room before my own matches, offering up her bracelet.
At first, I’d rolled my eyes at her. Now I enjoyed our fleeting meetings.
Chloe stretched up, and I could’ve sworn she took her time to serve, letting my eyes linger on the long stretch of her body.If she thought that she could distract me with those tight shorts of hers, she was right.
She fired the ball over the net, and I leapt into action, swinging my racket backwards to return.
Strong and secure, the ball flew back over, meeting Chloe’s swift backhand. We both launched into a battle for the point, the hot sun beating down on us.
It was only supposed to be a warm-up match, with Chloe playing later in the day, but we got lost in the play, the competition between us just as sexy as the attraction.
She spiked the ball. It went high. An attack. I’d been unprepared for this before. But today, I moved back to get behind the ball, rushing to the very edge of the court and allowing it to drop.
One clean swing, and I was back on top, sending to the right. An overconfident Chloe was caught unawares, and she practically stumbled crosscourt, stretched out to try and catch the ball. My heart stuttered in my chest as she drew back, returning, but the ball slammed into the net.
15–15
A crowd outside the court cheered loudly at my winning the point, and I couldn’t help but do a tiny happy dance. Chloe crossed her arms, almost seeming mad, but then a grin broke out across her face.
“Guess we’ve got an audience on our hands,” Chloe said, her hand resting on her hip.
“What would you do without your little fan club?” I joked back, sparing them another glance.
In the last week, the small audience that watched our practice had nearly tripled in size. There had been a lot of media interest around our partnership, but most of it was speculation or complete lies, our time at the airport hotel twisted completely to make Chloe look like a villain.
Apparently, to them, it didn’t matter that she’d been working on improving her on-court behavior. They only cared about spinning headlines.
She shrugged. “Better give them a good show, don’t you think?”
“I think the only thing you two should be doing is warming up!” Calvin shouted from his place on the sideline. “Get your head in the game, Chloe. You need to be prepared.”
We continued, each of us scoring point after point. With every passing game, I couldn’t help but enjoy our competition. And the crowd clearly loved it too.
“Alright, let’s get out of here,” Calvin said, stopping the match as we tied.
“Are you denying me victory?” Chloe cried, only seeming half serious.
“He’s saving your ass from being embarrassed in front of your fans,” I muttered. She pulled out a spare ball, aiming it at me in retaliation. Calvin grabbed it mid-throw, chucking it into the ball cart next to him.
“No,” he said. “But I don’t like that the paparazzi have shown up. I think we should go and get ready for the match later.”
I looked back over at the fence. I had noticed the cheers getting louder with every passing point, but I hadn’t realized how large the crowd had gotten. A quick glance and I saw the people he was concerned about—only a couple, but I’d come to recognize their faces.
“Are we heading inside?” Chloe asked, turning to Calvin. “Let’s give the fans some time. They really enjoy it.”
Calvin shrugged. “If you think that’s a good idea. But be careful.”
