Chapter 18
eighteen
Coaches
Francesca
This came across my page. Very interesting. People seem to like you two together.
Alessio
Good. Maybe they’ll cheer for you during your matches.
People are so silly haha
Matteo
I don’t think they’re silly at all.
We’re all extra sore Thursday after the hellish workout Aleksandr put us through yesterday. Just walking around the track for my three miles today has every muscle in my body screaming for me to lie down. Going to physio might kill me, but at least we’re having movie night again tonight.
Matteo is stretching by the bleachers, his head down.
I may be a ways away, but I can tell he looks mouthwatering, even if he is only wearing a short gray T-shirt and black shorts.
Things have mostly gone back to normal between us, though we won’t practice together again until tomorrow’s match. Our last one before we leave.
When he reaches up, a strip of his stomach appears, and I almost joke with Nic that he’s wearing a slutty little T-shirt like the ones she hates to love on Aleksandr, but if I draw attention to the fact that I’ve been gawking, Sahar will tease me incessantly.
I’m too late though. I watch the moment Sahar sees him. She smiles in a way that tells me she’s about to do something I would not approve of, then yells, “Matteo! Over here!”
He scans the four of us walking side by side, his eyes landing on me for a few seconds. No response.
“Sahar,” I hiss. “Leave him alone.”
“What? I haven’t had many chances to talk to him, and if you like him as much as you said you did last week, we have to vet him.”
Nic mutters something about high schoolers, and Harper smiles kindly. “She’s right though. I would like to meet him, especially now that I know he’s not as scary as I thought.”
As we pass him, I wave him over. He jogs up beside us, Nic moving to my left so he can walk next to me on the right.
“Hi.” I smile at him, hoping to convey an apology for my friends and whatever they’re about to say.
“Hey,” he answers quietly.
“This is Harper,” I say, pointing. “And you’ve met Sahar and Nicola.” They each say their versions of hello. I glance at him. “I thought you liked to swim on your off days.”
“Too many people at the pool today,” he grumbles. “Which is frustrating since swimming works best for me when I’m this sore.” I can’t help but beam at him talking to my friends with more-than-a-few-word responses. He returns it on a micro scale.
“Right?” Sahar interjects. “What the hell is up Aleksandr’s ass?”
“He’s trying to get us ready for the season,” Harper responds.
Matteo’s shoulder rises. “Yeah, I don’t mind. I like being sore on off days.”
“Feels like the day off is deserved,” Nic mumbles, and Matteo nods in agreement.
We continue walking, debating the best conditioning drills until we near the end of our three miles. Right when I think I’m in the clear and that Matteo will get out of this unscathed, Sahar turns with that same smile from earlier.
“Del, did you invite him over tonight?”
He coughs, and I attempt a glare at my friend.
“Matteo, we’re having our weekly movie night at Delilah and Nic’s apartment. You should come! Austin and Noah will be there, if that entices you at all.” She pauses, then laughs. “And Delilah, obviously.”
Harper looks at me worriedly, like she thinks I’ll be upset. I’m more focused on Matteo though. I watch him out of the corner of my eye, but when that tells me nothing, I turn my head fully. He meets my gaze, as if awaiting my permission.
“It’s up to you. No pressure if you don’t feel like it, but we have fun.”
I can feel Nic about to say something admonishing about Matteo and fun. Just as she opens her mouth, I smack her arm, and she lets out a quiet chuckle.
“Only if you’re free!” Harper adds.
Matteo clears his throat. “Yeah, uh, yeah. I’m free. I’ll be there.”
Sahar pumps a fist in celebration, wiggling her eyebrows at me and mouthing a “you’re welcome.” When we finish a minute or so later, I tell the girls I’ll be right behind them and continue along the track with Matteo.
“There’s really no pressure if you don’t feel like coming. It maybe didn’t feel that way with four sets of eyes trained on you while you decided, but I totally understand if this is a lot.” I wave my hand around me, the words coming out of my mouth faster than I can think.
“Do you want me there?”
“Yes!” I say, perhaps a hair too emphatically.
The right corner of his mouth tips up. “Then I’ll be there. Should I bring something?”
“Nah. Harper handles snacks. She usually brings way too much, so there will be lots of options. If you don’t like typical movie night foods like organic candy and popcorn and whatever other healthy unhealthy food she might bring, then maybe bring something you do like?”
Matteo’s eyebrows pinch. “Are organic candy and popcorn standard movie food?”
“They are for her, and I can’t complain. They’re not terrible.”
“Hmm. ‘Not terrible.’ Not sure how I feel about that, but I’ll bring my organic trail mix in case.”
I laugh. “You’ll fit right in.”
It’s time to go, to say my goodbyes, but as we grow closer to the start of the tour and to weeks spent apart, I find myself wanting to linger, to squeeze out every last drop of our time together so I miss him less. At least that’s what I hope will happen.
“Everything okay with your siblings? And the bank?” We haven’t talked about what happened at dinner a couple of days ago, focused on tennis the few times we’ve spoken.
My shoulder rises. “I’m torn about them getting jobs, Chase in particular.
It could be a good idea, for him at least, but then I think about the fact that I was the only one who got our parents’ good years.
That they should get as much of a childhood as they can while I’m able to pay for things for them.
” That same skepticism from Tuesday flashes across his face. This time, I ask, “What?”
“I don’t know. Not my place.”
“Speak your piece,” I say with two hand flourishes.
His eyes cut to mine. “I know people like Chase. I was like Chase. Getting a job is absolutely the kind of responsibility he needs. And the twins, well, they’re going to do what they want soon, if they haven’t already.”
I wince. “Maybe.”
His hand brushes mine as we curve around a bend.
“You know, them making money doesn’t equate to you being dispensable.
Even if, somehow, they manage to make enough with their part-time jobs to pay for the house and car and other things, you’re still their sister.
You’re still the person they can turn to when they need a listening ear or a shoulder to cry on. ”
“Do you really think that?” I ask quietly. “That they would look to me for emotional support if I stopped paying for things? That I would still be…needed?”
This time, his fingers slip between mine, briefly squeezing before they’re gone. “How could they not?”
“It’s not a role I’ve had for a long while now.”
“So it might take some getting used to. But you’ve got years and years for that. And with them all in or about to be in college, there will be lots for them to tell you.”
Bumping his shoulder with mine, I smile once more. “Hey, you’re not so bad at this. I could see you being a motivational speaker or a life coach.”
“That would go poorly.”
“It absolutely would.”
I notice the girls waiting outside the gate, so I say my goodbyes, thinking of all the things I’ll need to clean before he comes over.
Trying not to think about the last time he was in my apartment.
Shots Fired
Austin added Matteo to the chat.
Austin
I’m told The Menace is joining us tonight, so it’s only right he’s included in the group chat
The Menace? You’re one to talk
Harper
Hi Matteo!
Noah
Matteo! Glad we’ll have more guys tonight
Sahar
Oh please
Matteo
Hello. Are you sure I can’t bring anything?
Just yourself!
Austin
If it helps, they never want me to bring anything either
Noah
Oh brother
Sahar
Enchiladas do not constitute good movie food, Austin
Choosing a movie is proving far too difficult a challenge.
Austin and Nic want an action movie, Harper and I want a romcom, and Sahar and Noah want horror.
I can’t imagine what Matteo will want when he shows up, but we’ve been scrolling through every streaming platform imaginable for what feels like hours, though it’s probably only been half of one.
Our apartment is small, but I love hosting.
I made up the blue L-shaped couch with cozy blankets and pillows.
Noah, Sahar, and Harper sit on it now, since they were the first to arrive, and in front of them is the wooden coffee table.
To the left and right, I built mini forts for Nic and me respectively, with lots more pillows and blankets.
Austin lies on his deconstructed fort at my and Nic’s feet, right in front of the coffee table.
Scattered about the room are bags of organic candy, healthy chips, popcorn, and cans of flavored water and a prebiotic drink Harper is a huge fan of.
She also brought boxes of strawberries and blueberries that we washed and have been passing around in big ceramic bowls.
“Just pick something,” I groan at the same time Harper sighs, crossing her feet underneath her and setting her chin in her palm, her elbow resting on the arm of the couch. Her brown eyes close, and I bet she’ll be the first of us to pass out.
Nic gets comfortable in her fort, pulling a blanket over her head and another over her legs so she’s completely covered, laying a pillow against the foot of the couch and resting her head on it. I’m the only one standing because I’m too nervous about Matteo joining us to sit quite yet.
Noah grins. “Great, I’ll pick for us.”
Scoffing, Nic glances across the couch to where Noah is spread along the L, his head resting on Sahar’s hip. “I say we vote out having coaches here. It feels like my precious free time is being watched and reported on.”