Chapter Fifteen
Isaac sat down to catch his breath, wiping sweat from his brow and away from his eyes. Training was still a little harder than he would have liked, but itwasgetting easier, and he was finally starting to feel as though he’d be in shape for the tournament.
It seemed a little more important now, knowing that Julian was going to be watching him. Knowing that…
Well, Isaac was hoping this would last at least as long as they’d already agreed it would, which was until after the tournament. Which meant he was going to have someone to winfor, even if Julian didn’t really care.
The thought made him feel like some kind of medieval knight, out to win his lady’s favor by knocking another knight off a horse. Or something. He wasn’t necessarily sure how that worked, but some part of him liked the mental image.
Not that he was expecting Julian to give him a handkerchief. Not that Julian was alady, for that matter.
Isaac had been expecting that to hit him all day. For the freaking out to start, for him to suddenly realize that he’d had sex with amanandliked itand that for whatever reason, that was bad.
It hadn’t. He was as happy with his decision in the cold light of day as he had been when he was overwhelmed by being so close to Julian. If anything, he felt even more at peace now than he had before it happened.
“Hey,” a familiar voice called out, making Isaac look up.
Adriana. He hesitated to smile, but only for a moment, until she smiled at him.
He just wasn’t sure if he wasallowedto smile at her anymore. Some of his past breakups had been messy, and theirs wasdefinitelyone of them.
Isaac planned to take everything he’d learned andnotend up doing the same with Julian. They were staying friends after this. Isaac couldn’t afford to lose him.
Besides, he’d managed to stay friends with a few exes. Sort of.
Shit. Maybe he hadn’t thought this through.
And there, right on time, was the freak out. Not about Julian being a man. But about now being at risk oflosingJulian, permanently. Losing him because, as usual, he couldn’t keep his dick in his pants.
“Hey,” Isaac said back, glad they were apparently on speaking terms again. He didn’tliketo fall out with his exes, and he’d rather have them willing to talk to them.
He was also surprised to see her here, since she was rarely in town these days, but now was a better time than most.
“Up for a couple of rounds?” she asked, twirling her racquet.
Isaac took stock of how he felt, and then nodded. It’d be good to have an opponent who could keep up with him.
Especially one who was probably still a little mad at him, and wouldn’t hold back. People who were trying to win against him wouldn’t hold back.
Besides, they’d always been competitive. About everything.
Which had been fun at times, but always meant they weren’t going to last long. Isaac had stopped dating other tennis players after Adriana.
Not that it’d stopped him making some spectacularly bad choices, but, well…
He sighed, heaving himself off the bench and throwing his towel down.
“You serve,” he said, tossing her a ball and getting into position.
He watched her move, graceful and powerful as ever, lunged to hit the ball back as it bounced on his side of the court, and…
Missed?
Isaac swallowed. Sweat in his eyes, probably. Plus, he was already a couple of hours in. He was tired.
None of these things were good excuses.
Adriana laughed, because of course she did. It wasn’tquitecruel, but it was the same mocking laughter he remembered every time she’d beaten him at something. It’d gotten old, fast.
