Chapter 6
Six
Cassie sat on the wooden bench beside the courts. She cradled her racket loosely in one hand, the worn grip rough against her fingers, her mind looping over the spat in the car park.
She’d gone too far. No two ways about it. Yelling like that at someone who, frankly, hadn’t done anything wrong—just a small bump on a car—had been shitty enough on its own. But who the bumper had turned out to be was the icing on the cake.
Should she say sorry? Or should she just grit her teeth and move on? Pretend the whole thing never happened?
Her thoughts broke when the door to the changing rooms creaked open, and Delilah appeared, hesitating in the doorway.
Small and vulnerable in her oversized tracksuit, with wide, expressive eyes, a smattering of freckles across her nose, and soft, chestnut hair tucked into a half-up ponytail, she looked like a mouse waiting to get eaten by a vicious cat. And Cassie was the cat.
‘I’m sorry again,’ Delilah said quietly, eyes flickering up to meet hers. ‘About the car. I shouldn’t have left it so close.’
The apology made Cassie feel even more like an arsehole.
Cassie forced a tight, awkward smile, the edges of her mouth twitching. ‘It’s alright,’ she said gruffly. ‘Hard to say whose fault it was, anyway.’ She slapped her knees lightly and stood. ‘Come on, let’s get going.’
It was a dreadful start.