Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
NAOMI
Sam:
You around for a practice session today?
I’ve already got a court booked. You can join, we’re there at 1.
Iwasn’t surprised that the day after Sam got knocked out in the third round, he was already looking to get back on the court.
I was, however, surprised when Alisha said she would come down and watch our training session.
Typically speaking, she wanted to keep the magic alive and pretend that what I produced on court just happened and wasn’t the result of hours on practice courts.
She’d set herself up on a random deck chair that she found in a cupboard at the side of the indoor court Mum had assigned us at S&S, despite there being a whole bench she could use.
“You know, if you sit there, I can’t help you if a ball comes flying your way,” I called to her from said bench as I tightened the laces on my trainers. They were new and felt a bit stiff, but I knew they would feel like a second skin before we got to Washington.
“Can’t you just stand on the other side of the court, and then I know I’ll be safe because you’ve got pretty good aim?” she asked as she untied her auburn curls and let them fall over one shoulder.
“Very bold of you to assume I’d be the safe one. Sam is much more likely to be cautious of not hitting you than I am,” I teased back.
Alisha stuck her tongue out. “I dunno, are you forgetting how your paths ended up crossing?”
“Yeah, you can’t catch for shit, and as a result, I had a perfectly good outfit ruined.”
“I think the words you’re looking for are ‘you’re welcome’.”
Suddenly, it became obvious why Alisha was here, and a part of me regretted ever telling her that I might be harbouring a small crush on Sam. She wanted a front-row seat to our interactions.
Before I could tell her to mind her business, Sam and his dad arrived.
Albie looked less than happy to be here, but Sam bounded over to where I was sitting on the bench with a bright smile on his face and his hair pushed back from his face with a backwards cap.
He hadn’t quite shed the Wimbledon whites yet.
“Hey,” he said as he dropped down next to me.
“Hey yourself.”
“You look a lot better.”
“There’s that love poetry again,” I teased. “But I feel better as well. It’s amazing the difference three days can make.”
There was a faint bloom of pink spreading along Sam’s neck and up towards his cheeks.
“Sorry, I meant to ask how you were feeling, but that isn’t what came out.”
I nudged his shoulder with mine, his arms solid against my skin. “It’s fine. I’m not offended. I looked terrible. I’m surprised you didn’t take today off.”
“Oh, hadn’t really occurred to me to do that. There’s always something to be working on, and I wanted to, um, see—train with you. I like it.” His voice was low, and the pink was deepening along his cheeks. I was grateful the warmth spreading through my body was less obvious on the outside.
Wyatt approached where we were sitting, his eyes narrowed because he definitely noticed. “You both need to get better at the net, so that’s what we’re doing today.”
Sam’s eyebrows drew together. “And my dad’s okay with that?” He sounded both shocked and sceptical.
My brother lifted a shoulder. “Didn’t really suggest it so much as told him that is what we’re focusing on.
We probably should’ve focused on it before because it’s key for doubles, but you, Mimi, had other things to work on that took priority.
The two tours are in the same place next, so we might as well make the most of it and work on the thing you work on least.”
Sam still didn’t look like he believed Wyatt, but I knew my brother.
He wasn’t going to have me running along the baseline practising power when I was still feeling fragile, and he wasn’t going to have Sam doing that either, as he played for four hours yesterday on one of the hottest days of the year so far.
And if Albie tried to stop that, then we’d just leave.
Although I didn’t think that would save Sam.
“You’ve just decided that so there’s less chance of balls flying at Leesh.”
The corner of Wyatt’s mouth tipped up. “I can’t deal with our parents asking why I didn’t try to stop my oldest sister from attacking the middle child. You ready to start?”
With dual nods from Sam and me, we took to the court.
“How are you disguising that drop shot so well?” Sam asked as he leaned against the tape of the net.
“It’s all in the grip,” I said as I spun my racquet in my hand and joined him at the net.
“Right, sure. That’s it.”
“It is.” My fingers gently took his wrist before I even thought about it. His skin was slightly damp and warm to the touch. I moved my fingers down to his palm, and he let me move his hand around. I shifted his grip until it was as close to mine as I could get it.
“Try that,” I said quietly as I let go, watching goosebumps rise up his arms. I followed them up under his sleeve and then brought my focus to his face. He’d never quite lost the red flush, and now his eyes were darker.
I slowly walked backwards and pushed the ball out of my leggings.
He mirrored me, and when we were both at the baseline, he dropped into his stance, and I served the ball.
The return came back clean, and in just the right place for me to hit it back.
The grip I shifted his hand to hadn’t changed, but I could read it on his face that he was about to try to hit a disguised drop shot.
It came across beautifully and died on the court, which would’ve made it impossible for anybody to return.
As he watched the ball, his face lit up in a way I’d never seen before, even when he’d won a match. It was breathtaking.
“On that note, we’re done for the day.” Wyatt’s voice dragged me back to reality, and then out of nowhere, Logan trotted onto the court and picked up the ball from where it lay.
Once he had it in his mouth, he came over to me and nudged my leg to encourage me to give him a head rub.
He didn’t stay long before he walked to the other side of the court and demanded attention from Sam.
His racquet dropped to the floor, and Sam followed, squatting down and letting Logan step between his legs to make a fuss of him.
“Hello again, you,” Sam said, not changing his voice to talk to the dog, causing a more vigorous tail wag. Logan had taken quite a liking to Sam when we were in Eastbourne, and he seemed happy to be in his orbit again. I could kind of relate.
In less than a minute, Logan had decided he’d had enough of being fawned over and flopped onto the floor, letting the ball finally slip from his mouth and watching it roll away. Sam started stroking along Logan’s back and looked up at me with a smile on his face.
“It’s funny, because if I was presented with a lineup of dogs and asked which I think belongs to the Sullivans, I would pick this one every single time.”
I snorted. “Why?”
“Other than the fact that he’s a giant?” That elicited another snort from me. Logan really had ended up bigger than we expected, and he wasn’t even done growing yet.
“Yes, other than that?”
“He’ll show you he loves you and can turn the energy on when he needs to, and then he’ll just chill. How many dogs can exist on court, where balls are flying everywhere, and not be fussed?”
As if to prove Sam’s point, Logan sighed and seemed to fall asleep.
“Oh, you saw him get here then?”
“Yeah, that ball you hit right at my racquet that I completely ignored? It’s because I was distracted by his arrival.
You were too in the zone to look behind you, it was…
” He trailed off and flicked his eyes away from me.
I wanted to press him to continue before he second-guessed himself, but his dad cleared his throat, and Sam sprang back to his feet and picked up his discarded racquet.
Logan didn’t move, but his eyes did open for a moment to see why his back scratches had stopped.
“If we’re done here, Sam and I can head to the gym.”
Wyatt and I shared a look. The kind that encompassed an entire conversation in less than five seconds. Neither of us really thought Sam should even be on a court today, let alone spending an hour running around and then moving on to what I imagined was going to be strength training. He needed rest.
When I looked back at Sam, he looked resigned, and the excitement that had taken over his body had evaporated.
“Actually, once we’ve cooled down, Sam is due to show up at a coaching session my mum is running with the kids, so he can’t hit the gym just yet,” Wyatt said, not looking at Albie. Because he was lying.
Sam wasn’t due to show up for that coaching session, but Mum wasn’t going to turn him away. Sam’s shoulders fell away from his ears.
“I wasn’t aware you had any commitments today,” Albie said, his voice tight.
“Yeah, it must’ve slipped my mind to mention it. I was so focused on my matches, there wasn’t any space for me to think of anything else,” Sam said, jumping onto Wyatt’s lie with ease.
“In that case, I’ll see you later, Sam.” Albie didn’t wait for a response and walked off the court.
“Thanks,” Sam said to my brother.
“Don’t worry about it.” Wyatt whistled a long note, and Logan got up to follow him towards the gym. Sam was close behind.
“How hot and bothered are you right now?” Alisha’s teasing voice came from over my shoulder. I turned my head to look at her, my eyes narrowing.
“I regret telling you anything. Ever.”
Her head fell back on a laugh. “Mimi, even if you hadn’t told me. I would’ve fucking noticed something was up today.”
“You’re only here because you know, and you wanted to see it in reality,” I pointed out.
She clutched her chest in mock shock. “What, I can’t want to spend time with my family?”
“We already see entirely too much of each other, so no. This had an ulterior motive written all over it.”
“The demonstration of the grip change was my personal highlight.”
I rolled my eyes and walked away, the sound of Alisha’s laugh soundtracking my exit.