Chapter 9 #2
Deuce was already packed with people when they arrived.
The tables were gone and a small band played in the corner, leaving the large room open for mingling and dancing.
Jack immediately stalked off to the bar, but Indy scanned the crowd, recognizing some of the best young athletes from around the world, their coaches at their sides.
She’d been there for five seconds and this was easily the best party she’d ever been to.
Jasmine Randazzo was at the opposite end of the dance floor with her parents.
She wore a bright pink strapless dress cinched in at the waist and flowing down to just above her knees.
Harold Hodges chatted with Mr. Randazzo while his daughter, looking incredibly bored, crossed her arms over her chest. A few feet away, Alex Russell was surrounded by a crowd of girls.
Looking closer, Indy saw Caroline beside him, hand resting on his arm, dominating the conversation.
The other girls looked happy enough to simply stand near him, ignoring Dom’s edict to stay away while he was at OBX.
Then her coach made a beeline for the group and several of the girls scattered, including Caroline, who sidestepped him lightly and disappeared into the crowd.
Indy laughed and looked to Penny, hoping she’d seen it as well. Her eyes were still trained in that direction, but they were wide and her hand shot out and gripped Indy’s wrist tightly. “Do not leave me.”
Indy looked back and saw Alex stalking across the dance floor straight for them, a tumbler of amber liquid in his hand.
“Ladies,” he said, but he never even looked at Indiana. He wore a black suit that hung perfectly on his tall frame, probably made for him, but no tie, and the top button of his sky-blue dress shirt was undone. His ever-present five-o’clock shadow was gone in favor of a close shave.
After Penny stared at him in silence, he finally glanced at Indy. “That’s a beautiful dress, darling,” he said, smiling at her, though it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I think I’ve seen it before. It has a tricky little clasp at the back, if I recall.”
Finally, Penny let go of Indy’s arm, though her nails had left half-moon-shaped marks in her skin. “Alex, don’t do this, okay?”
His eyes softened at her voice and he swayed in place, the glass in his hand clearly not his first. “You sure about that?” he said, taking a large sip and swallowing it cleanly.
Penny narrowed her eyes, taking a step closer and inhaling softly. She wrinkled her nose. “Positive.”
“Shame,” he said with a casual shrug of his shoulders, but one look into his eyes and Indy knew that the rejection stung.
Penny shook her head and turned to Indy. “Let’s go.”
“So when you said you wore this dress in Australia, you meant the night you two…” Indy whispered as they walked away.
She glanced back over her shoulder, but Alex was gone.
It didn’t take a genius to figure out that the only way he’d know about the hidden clasp at the top of the dress’s zipper was if he’d undone it himself, but Indy wasn’t going to push, not with the way the color had drained out of Penny’s face.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have let you wear it. Just trust me. It wasn’t about you, okay? You look great.”
“Okay,” Indy said, wanting to say more but having no idea where to even start.
“Indiana!” a voice said over the crowd. Across the room she spotted Caroline, who, now that she was no longer talking to Alex, was with an older man in a finely tailored suit.
The agent, wearing a pale pink sheath dress fixed at the waist with a large black patent-leather belt, waved her over with a flick of her fingers.
“I’m being summoned,” Indy said, rolling her eyes at Penny, who smiled. “Even though she’s not actually my agent.” In fact, Indy thought she’d made it pretty clear to Caroline that she wasn’t interested after ignoring every call and text she’d sent over the last few days.
Penny snorted. “Looks like she thinks she is.”
Indy turned and saw Caroline stalking toward them, the man matching her stride. She groaned.
“Indiana.” Caroline air-kissed her cheeks when they arrived, totally ignoring Penny, then gestured to the man. “I’d like you to meet Mr. Edward Franklin. He’s from Solaris Beachwear.”
“I’ll leave you guys to it, then,” Penny said, nodding to Mr. Franklin. She looked straight past Caroline and then grinned a farewell to Indy.
“It’s very nice to meet you,” Indy said. “Call me Indy.”
Mr. Franklin drew his eyes away from Penny’s retreating back and shook Indy’s hand. “I’m really looking forward to watching you play this week.”
“Thank you.”
“Caroline was telling me about the feature Athlete Weekly is doing on you.”
Indy felt her face flush a little. “Well, it is on a few of us…”
“Modest, too. Here’s my card.” The man passed it over to her. “Good luck in the tournament, Indiana. Caroline, I look forward to hearing from you.”
He excused himself and Indy turned to Caroline with an eyebrow raised. “Solaris Beachwear?”
“It’s not Nike, but you haven’t actually won anything yet. Then again, neither has Penelope Harrison—a big tournament, yes, but certainly not a major. They’ll come calling eventually, but for now…”
“You think Nike is going to want me?”
“I speak as I find. You win something, Indiana, like this tournament, and Solaris Beachwear won’t be the only one knocking on our door.”
“We’ll see,” Indy said. “And anyway, you’re still not my agent.”
Caroline’s smile grew wide like she knew something Indy didn’t. There was meaning in that smile that didn’t sit quite right with her.
As Caroline started to speak again, Indy saw Teddy Harrison pushing through the crowd in her direction. Jacket and tie nowhere in sight, the sleeves of his burgundy dress shirt were already rolled up to his elbows.
“Sorry, Caroline, gotta go,” she said, and met him halfway. “Dance with me?”
“Do you really want to dance or did you just want to get away from her?” Teddy asked, laughing, as they moved through the dancing couples, the band playing a slow jazz tune.
“Sorry,” she said, shrugging. “I know I need an agent, but there’s something about her. She’s…”
“She’s a shark, at least that’s what Jack says, and he’s usually right.”
“Is he?” Indy said, the memory of Jack’s touch still at the center of her back, but Teddy didn’t answer as she wrapped her arm around his neck and looked out over his shoulder.
In the corner of the room, Jasmine, Lara, and Addison were twittering away and staring at them, not even pretending they weren’t.
“We have an audience,” Indy whispered.
Teddy’s shoulders tensed under her hands. “Do you mind if I…” He nodded in that direction.
Indy glanced back at the girls, and the daggers flying out of Jasmine’s eyes could’ve shredded her to ribbons. “Go,” she said, and Teddy offered her a tight smile before leaving her on the dance floor and walking over to Jasmine.
Indy watched as he stuffed his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his feet. He nodded out to the dance floor, but Jasmine simply marched away, the others trailing behind her.
She made sure to stay clear of their path as she made her way to the bar. She had enough enemies at OBX, mostly because of things totally out of her control. She didn’t need to earn any more by going after Jasmine’s best friend.
“Seltzer and lime, please,” she asked the bartender, leaning back against the bar to observe the party while she waited.
“Jack and Coke,” a voice next to her ordered, and she glanced sideways to see Jack Harrison. Earlier, she’d been so focused on the feel of his hands against her skin, there hadn’t been enough time to admire how well he filled out his navy-blue suit.
The bartender placed her drink on the bar, which was the perfect distraction from staring at Jack just a little too long.
“You haven’t seen my sister anywhere, have you?” he asked her by way of greeting.
“Oh, um, she’s…” She nodded to the other end of the bar, where Penny’s eyes were glued to the television mounted high on the wall: A replay of a match in Rome was airing. Zina Lutrova was soundly beating the world’s number three player, Jin Jun Huang.
“Great, torturing herself.”
“I don’t know. If I were an agent, I’d be thrilled if my client wanted to win as much as she does.”
“As an agent, I am thrilled. As a brother, sometimes I wish she could relax a little bit. I wasn’t like that when I played.”
“No? What were you like?” she asked, relieved he was as willing as she was to push past any lingering awkwardness from that moment in Penny’s room.
Jack huffed out a short laugh. “Relaxed. Tennis was something I did for fun.”
“At Harvard, right?” He tilted his head, leaving the question unasked. “The day we met you were wearing a Harvard tennis shirt,” she explained, leaving out the part that she googled him and found an old Harvard roster from four years before with his name on it.
“Right, well yeah, four years at Harvard, before law school.”
“Law school? Impressive.”
He laughed again, his eyes crinkling as he did. “What? Not, ‘Why didn’t you go pro, Jack?’”
Indy smiled and shrugged. “I assume you weren’t good enough.”
Jaw dropping, but the smile not leaving his eyes, he nodded.
“You’re right. I wasn’t.” Then slowly his laughter faded, and with it so did the ease surrounding them.
His shoulders straightened and his entire body stiffened as he looked past her.
Indy turned, but all she saw behind her was Teddy and a few other OBX guys.
When she faced him again, he said, “I… I better go. Good luck tomorrow. I know you’re going to do well. ”
“Thank you,” she whispered, off-balance again at his sudden but now predictable shutdown.
He finished his drink and placed the glass back down on the bar. Then he leaned down and brushed a kiss against her cheek. “Good night.”