Chapter 12
Over the coming days, I continued my intensive training program.
Serves, ground strokes, volleys, smashes, serves, ground strokes, volleys, smashes.
And again from the top. I trained my legs by jumping rope, doing knee bends with medicine balls, and sidesteps with loop and resistance bands.
I trained my arms, chest, and back on the cable machine, lifted weights, and did pull-ups.
I went hard, sometimes even exhausting myself.
One day I even dozed off on the treatment table and only woke up once Gabe had begun working the fascia in my calves.
On one of my morning runs along the beach, I ran into Vince.
I was already on my way back, and he had just come out of the water, surfboard casually tucked beneath his arm.
He noticed me the moment he untied the leash from his ankle and nodded.
I didn’t expect him to say anything, so I kept on jogging.
But then he called my name. My heart skipped a beat.
I stopped and glanced over my shoulder to make sure I hadn’t misheard, and he took advantage of my two-second confusion to close the distance between us.
He stopped a couple of feet away, dug his board into the sand, and held onto it with one hand.
For some reason, only now did I realize that he was wearing a wet suit.
Black, with an unfamiliar logo on the chest. The material clung to his body like a second skin, emphasizing every muscle.
“Jellyfish.”
I raised my head.
“The wet suit.” He pulled at it, and once again I caught a glimpse of the tattoo on his wrist. “After the full moon, there are jellyfish.”
I was pretty sure he was messing with me and made a doubtful face. He laughed.
“I’m not fucking with you,” he said a bit more seriously, though with a smile. “It’s got something to do with the light. And breeding.”
My already red cheeks grew even warmer.
“So,” he began and ran a hand through his wet hair. “I wanted to thank you.”
I looked at him in surprise. That was the last thing I’d expected to hear him say.
“I imagine it’s thanks to you that your godmother withdrew her complaint.”
“She did?”
He nodded.
“Oh,” I said in astonishment. Kay hadn’t mentioned a thing. “That’s good. I mean, that’s…a first step.”
He tilted his head and said cautiously, “We’ll see.”
A strange quiet settled between us. I lowered my eyes and wiggled my toes to get rid of some of the sand.
“Yeah, well… I don’t mean to keep you.”
You’re not, I wanted to say. But that would’ve been a lie. In less than an hour I had to be out on the court. Serves, ground strokes, volleys, smashes, serves, ground strokes, volleys, smashes.
He raised his hand. “Later!”
When? a voice whispered in my head. Irritated with myself, all I managed was a weak “Yeah, see you later.”
His surfboard under his arm, he walked off, and I couldn’t help but notice that his back formed an almost perfect V and merged into a pretty tight butt. As soon as I caught myself thinking about it, I became embarrassed. And so, I quickly looked away, turned around, and jogged back to the house.