Chapter Forty-Nine Juliette
FORTY-NINE JULIETTE
Juliette has never been more grateful to be playing the first semifinal on Friday. Her nerves have been eating her alive for the whole day, and she knows she couldn’t have sat through Remi and Claudia’s semifinal without bouncing out of her skin.
The last time she played Luca, she felt a strange cocktail of smugness and excitement to crush Luca to bits.
But now, as she stands in the tunnel and shifts from foot to foot, she’s almost unable to contain her smile.
These nerves are from excitement. She’s ready to have fun .
To play the game she loves the most, with the person she loves the most.
She sneaks a look back at Luca, who bites her lip to hide her smile. It’s fun to hold on to a secret that no one knows and yet they all speculate about.
Her name is announced, and Juliette walks onto the court.
New York’s cooled rapidly, the late afternoon air carrying the scent of crisp autumn.
The warmth lingers, the kind of afternoon that bleeds into a perfectly cool night.
It’s the fall equinox, the sun’s rays equally balanced, not unlike the way Juliette and Luca have balanced out.
Juliette takes a deep breath and waves to the crowd as she heads to her bench. She slips easily into her usual routine—setting up her water bottles, tapping her strings to check the tension, unfolding her towel, and putting her watch away.
Juliette blinks and she’s at the coin toss.
The lights glitter above them, the sun dipped below the edge of Arthur Ashe Stadium.
It’s filled to the brim with screaming tennis fans who want them to rip each other’s throats out.
A thrill of exhilaration courses beneath Juliette’s skin, and she bounces on her toes.
Juliette wins the coin toss and elects to serve first. She catches Luca’s eye before they warm up, and despite her steely exterior, she can see that Luca’s excited and ready.
Their combined nervous energy leads to a very chaotic beginning.
The first four games are breaks, unlike their match in Australia, when they held throughout the first set.
Juliette’s backhand goes wildly out every time she doesn’t slice, and Luca has an unprecedented nine double faults by the end of her second service game.
It’s a slow grind to get into the groove, but Juliette finds hers first and finally manages to hold.
It becomes easier and easier to melt into the logistics and strategy of the match.
It’s unbelievably fun to fight against Luca, and the crowd is so into it.
They scream and yell, thoroughly enjoying this chaotic and wild match.
Juliette hangs on by the skin of her teeth to hold and stay in the set.
Much like their first match, their first set goes to a tiebreaker. It swings wildly in Juliette’s way in one point and then rapidly back to Luca.
And it’s a final stab volley from Juliette that gives her the tiebreaker and the set, 7–4.
The court is rendered in stark clarity. The absolute focus she’s exerting is sure to give her a headache later, but she’s never felt more in control of herself.
The second set is a fresh opportunity, and Luca is never one to back down.
It’s one of the many things she loves about her.
They wear each other out with long points, and the set drags into another tiebreaker.
But this time, Luca’s serve paints the lines so fast that Juliette is surprised there aren’t scorch marks on the ball.
She overcooks a forehand down the line to gift Luca the second set.
The third set is no less spectacular and demanding. The odds of who will win must be swinging rapidly between them.
Juliette tries to keep her focus, tries to keep her intensity, but mistakes slip through the cracks, and Luca pounces on each of them. She is fearless, she is ruthless, and this time, Juliette isn’t frustrated by it. She is playing well, but Luca is simply better today.
When Luca breaks to go up 5–3, Juliette knows she won’t stop fighting, but she also recognizes her chances have become slimmer than a sidewalk crack. Her muscles are burning, the cruelty of the last match finally taking its toll.
Luca catches her eye on the changeover before she serves for the match, and Juliette smiles. Whereas before she might have been sick with jealousy and anger, she feels light. They’ve played an incredible match, and this is the most fun she’s had in years. Even more fun than the Australian Open.
Luca’s shoulders relax from her ears, and she tips her head in acknowledgment, in understanding.
Juliette knows the crowd would love to see more of an emotional spectacle from both of them, but they’re past that now.
Luca serves two lightning strikes. Two aces, and she’s up 30–0.
Juliette steps in to crack Luca’s next first serve down the line because she has absolutely nothing to lose.
Luca claps her palm against her strings, and Juliette smiles.
Luca spins a serve out wide, and Juliette barely gets it back, launching them into a 30–shot rally that ends with Luca trying to slice a backhand that sinks into the net.
Juliette’s lungs burn, and she wipes her face with her towel for a second of respite from the overstimulation of the moment.
Luca silences Juliette’s hope with a one-two punch, a serve down the T, and an inside-out forehand that Juliette barely tips with the end of her racket.
Match point.
Juliette watches Luca take her time getting to the baseline. She breathes in deeply, bouncing on her toes, and the nerves on her face smooth into complete calm.
There is no way Juliette could’ve ever dreamed of touching Luca’s final ace. It is perfect.
As it goes past Juliette, she waits for the shatter of her heart as she loses, but there is none. Disappointment curls in her stomach, but that is overwhelmed by a swell of pride for Luca. She slides her headband off, and despite her loss, she’s smiling.
She meets her soulmate at the net, but this time is different.
She knows Luca is hers. This time as their hands touch and gold sizzles through her veins, Juliette can’t imagine feeling happier.
Juliette pulls on Luca’s hand, dragging her in for a hug.
She tilts her head and whispers, “I love you so much, and I am so proud of you. Congratulations, you played incredibly.” She doesn’t care that the microphones will pick up on her words.
It won’t matter in a moment. She needs Luca to know that Juliette is burning with love and pride and everything in between.
I love you, Luca mouths, their foreheads pressed together. “Do you want to do this?”
“More than anything,” Juliette says, dropping her racket to wrap her arm around Luca and kiss her in the center of the largest tennis stadium in the world.
Everything vanishes apart from Luca. All Juliette focuses on is the familiar contour of Luca’s lips against hers.
Her racket bumps against Juliette’s back as her arm wraps around her, and the only space between them is the net.
Luca is sweaty and burning hot against her, tasting like salt and bananas, but Juliette loves it.
It lasts both a heartbeat and an eternity.
The world rushes back as they finally pull away from each other.
Luca grins, and Juliette laughs because it is pure insanity but there is no other way she would have done it.
Arthur Ashe Stadium is going absolutely wild.
She looks to the camera in front of them and pulls her wrist wrap free, showing off Luca’s name.
“Celebrate later, yeah?” Juliette asks as they finally head to the chair umpire.
“Yeah,” Luca says, breathless. Juliette can barely hear her over the chanting and the cheers and wild stomping of the crowd.
She shakes the umpire’s hand and heads to her bench to pack up her bags. She doesn’t think she’s ever smiled this much after a match before. Juliette waves to the crowd and then turns around and waves to Luca until she is swallowed by the cool darkness of the tunnel.
As soon as she’s in the locker room, she is tackled into hugs by Remi and Claudia. Her adrenaline is seeping away and she’s exhausted, but she clings to her sister and best friend to make sure they don’t all topple over.
“YOU’RE ABSOLUTELY INSANE!” Remi screams, shaking Juliette’s shoulders.
“I can’t believe you did that on ARTHUR FUCKING ASHE. You two are mad as hell but I love it!” Claudia says, kissing her cheeks.
Juliette laughs, a bit dizzy from the way they’re bouncing around her. “Sorry to outdo your boat party and Miami win,” Juliette says, and Remi tugs her into another hug.
“All right, I want to see her interview,” Juliette says to get Remi to release her.
Claudia bounces around in a circle with Remi while Juliette heads into the players’ lounge. Luca is standing at the microphone with Payton Calimeris, but the crowd is still going wild.
“Well, Luca, it might not be your first wild match against Juliette Ricci, but you two have certainly made sports history tonight,” Payton says. She looks so surprised but is beaming with pride.
Luca laughs, still smiling. “It was something,” she says, scratching the back of her neck.
Juliette gasps as she sees Luca’s wrap is gone, showing off her name on the pale skin of Luca’s inner wrist.
“I know we should talk about the match, but we’re all wondering. Did you two plan that?”
Luca shrugs. “We did. Figured we might as well take advantage of being on the biggest stage in the tennis world.”
“You have the crowd in a frenzy. First, the amazing tennis from the both of you, and then the kiss.” Payton shakes her head with a laugh.
“I guess you all have your answer to the rivalry question,” Luca says, radiating pure joy and happiness.
Giddy laughter bubbles up from Juliette’s stomach, and she can’t contain it. It is too insane to fathom that this is real. She loves her rival, and she doesn’t have to be shy about it. She wants to keep saying it. She wants to shout into the summer air that she loves Luca Kacic.
Love burns golden in her veins with every beat of Juliette’s heart.