Chapter 22
twenty-two
An hour or so later, Aleks finds me again.
In a turn of highly uncharacteristic events, we’ve been sneaking touches as we mingle: his palm brushing against my back as he passes me with Noah, Austin, and Matteo; our fingers kissing when a large group of us head to the edge of the terrace to watch the city come alive.
I came into this evening sure that what we were doing was wrong, but his words scrambled my head so badly that the only thing my brain is telling me is to give in to him.
After Delilah makes a joke that leaves the group—my friends, Karolína, Pen, and a couple of reps—laughing, Aleks sidles up beside me, his eyes a warm, dark blue.
He nudges me. “Look at you having fun.”
“I’ve decided it’s okay that I’m not great at talking to people. I can enjoy being here without stressing about performing.”
“Yeah, you can.” Aleks releases a soft breath, his hand slipping into mine, squeezing, and letting go. “I’m so proud of you.”
“And I haven’t had a single thought about needing to leave early to hit the gym either. I’m practically a new woman.”
“Nah. You always had this in you. Just needed a little direction.”
A few minutes later, Harper, Sahar, Austin, and Noah say their goodbyes. The former three have matches tomorrow. Thankfully, due to our rankings, Delilah, Matteo, and I have byes the first round.
“Kick butt!” Delilah calls as they head to the elevator.
“We’ll see you tomorrow, I’m sure!” Harper yells over her shoulder. “And thank you Pen and Nic and Strato for the best tourist bucket list night!”
We laugh and they disappear. Delilah sets her head on my shoulder.
“Tired?” I ask. “We can leave too, if you want.”
“No, no.” She nods to where Matteo and Aleks are chatting across the tiny cocktail table from us. “He’s having a good time. I’m sure he’ll be ready soon, but until then, I’m happy here.”
Delilah’s hair drops like a waterfall over her shoulders, where her lavender linen dress straps turn into a bow on either side.
“I know Pen put this together, but thank you too. If you weren’t the superstar you are, we’d never get to do things like this.
I mean, none of the things on my and Harper’s list compare to this view of the city.
” She moans. “And the food is to die for.”
Though I had little to do with it, I smile, content to have these small moments with my best friend.
I took for granted the time we spent together last season—laughter in hotel rooms, dinners with our teams, flights together.
And though that time has shrunk, getting to be part of their outings and witnessing the joy my friends derive from events like this lead me to feel some semblance of that same joy.
Like I was so caught up in tennis and all that it entails that I couldn’t appreciate the things that were in front of me until I was forced to open my eyes.
“I’m sorry,” I blurt out. Another uncharacteristic moment. The night appears to be full of them. Delilah eyes me uncertainly.
“Huh?”
Clearing my throat, I lean my side against the table, facing her.
“Del, I’m sorry I’m so prickly. That when I first came to the academy, I tried so hard to push you away before you had the chance to leave.
Even though that was never your intent. Thank you for including me in all of your touristy things and movie nights and game nights.
Getting me out of my shell. I’m so lucky to have found a friend I love as much as you. ”
Her mouth drops open, and it’s proof I don’t say things like this enough.
“Nic, I have a lot of friends, but none who are so exactly my opposite and who fit in my life so perfectly. It’s been a privilege getting to force my friendship on you.
” She grins. “My two closest friends are the grumpiest people in the world, and I love it.” She knocks her hip against mine, facing the boys. “And speaking of fun…”
I follow her gaze to Aleks. “What about it?”
“Oh, please! You haven’t been having any fun since he joined your team?” Delilah wiggles her light eyebrows suggestively, and I hide a smile in my glass.
“Not sure what you’re talking about. Though I will admit he’s made training feel less like a punishment.”
“Right. ‘Training.’” She puts the word in finger quotes.
“All I’m saying is, if something’s going on, I’m happy for you.
You probably won’t want to talk about it, and you were nice to not push me about Matteo when we were first being idiots, but…
” She shrugs, tossing her hair back. “I’m here. Whenever you need me.”
And because it’s a night of me acting strangely, I throw my arms around her and hug her tight.
In the few hours we’ve spent together since the season started, our dynamic has been the way it’s always been.
Maybe I’m not her number one anymore, and maybe I never was, but a part of me believes she will make sure we’re friends until we’re in the ground.
A different kind of soulmate than her and Matteo.
The four of us say our own goodbyes soon after, when an influencer Pen invited to “create a crowd” tosses a glass over the side of the barrier, then screams. All at once, Matteo and I were done with the evening and we converged, heading toward the elevators.
We arrive back at our own hotel, and Delilah and Matteo step out of the car holding hands.
“We’re going for a walk,” my friend says on a happy exhale, and Matteo nods at Aleks and me before he leads her toward Fuente de Neptuno, where the Madrid evening folds over the square, casting shadows across stone facades and black wrought-iron balconies.
The fountain glistens in the warm amber glow of the streetlights, and taxis idle quietly near the roundabout, scooters humming past in short bursts of sound.
Aleks bows beside me, holding out his arm. “And you, madame? Would you like to go for a walk?”
I glance at his arm for a few seconds before I slip mine through it. “No, but after all that fried food, I need to hit the little shop next door for some yogurt or kefir.”
“I love the way you think.”
When we get inside, Aleks grabs a basket and leads me to the dairy section, where I pick up a small white tub. “What does this say?” I wonder to myself, cursing my mother for not teaching me her language.
“Let me see.” Aleks looks over my shoulder. “I don’t know why I thought I’d be able to do this. My elementary level Florida Spanish is no match for this.” He pulls his phone out.
“I guess I can get it and if it turns out to be cottage cheese, I can add it to my new things list.”
“Yeah?” he asks distractedly, using a translation app on his phone to scan the tub in my hand.
“I’m not sure you’d like the texture. It’s great for adding protein, but I don’t enjoy it.
” He holds his phone out for me to read.
It is, indeed, cottage cheese. Aleks picks up another tub with the word yogur on it, and I nod for him to add it to our basket as I put mine back.
He keeps his eyes on me as he does, a smile pulling at his lips.
“So you’ve been keeping up with the list? ”
“I can be a very good listener, Aleks.”
“Just not for me?”
I shrug.
“Ouch.” But he’s smiling as he slips his phone into his dress pants and walks us down the snack aisle.
He was joking, but still I say, “I don’t know why you like me. I’m not…” I search for the right word. Normal comes to mind but I settle on “nice.”
“So? I think we’ve established the depth of my love of your fiery ways.
Plus, who needs nice? You’re intelligent.
Driven beyond belief. The hardest worker I’ve ever met.
So incredibly talented. And a fucking smoke show.
There are a million other things, but we’ll fall asleep before I can list them all. ”
“It’s more than that, though.” I grab a bag of chips and turn it over to decipher what flavor they are.
They’re not typically something I allow myself to eat during the season, but what the hell?
I’ve been doing lots of things I don’t usually do.
“I’m brash. Angry all the time. There’s so much rage inside me and I lash out and I just… ”
“Are you fishing for compliments?” His eyes smile, bright like when he’s teasing me.
I roll mine. “No. I’m just saying. There’s a reason I make sure I never do more than hook up with guys.” Ignoring the domesticity of us right now, I finish, “It’s easier that way.”
“Easier how?” he asks gently.
Needing a moment to reorganize my thoughts, I toss the bag into the basket and check if anything else catches my eye.
“Easier than allowing them to see all of me, I suppose. The parts I’m reticent to share with people.
You know, the worst pieces of myself that nobody could like.
” They’d leave and take other pieces of me, maybe even the good pieces, with them.
“Honestly, no. I don’t know.”
“Come on, Aleks. If you saw every part of me, you’d run for the hills.”
“What I said at the party may have scared you, but let’s not pretend I didn’t admit I’ve thought about you and you alone for the last year and a half. I’m not going anywhere.”
Despite the warm flare in my chest, I don’t voice the belief that his words are just that. Words. I can’t fully trust them. We haven’t even been working together for an entire month. There’s still a chance he could see something in me and decide I’m not what he signed up for.
Going the safer route, I ask, “What about you? Why haven’t you settled down with a pretty model or athlete?”
As soon as the words are out of my mouth, I realize it’s not the safer route.
It’s the worst, most dangerous road in history, and not one I want to traverse.
Imagining him brushing hands with someone else at a party in Madrid, following them around the city or leading them through a grocery store makes me feel legitimately ill.
Aleks’ fingers find my wrist, and they pull gently until our bodies are flush in the snack aisle. Our eyes clash and hold. “Hadn’t found anyone worth settling down with,” he murmurs.
My heart beats a thunderous rhythm through my body. There’s something unsaid, something left on the table. He must feel the thrash of my pulse in my wrist, because he glances at where we’re joined and loosens his fingers.
“Does it bother you that I’ve stopped asking to touch you? Should I wait until you say yes next time?”
“No,” I breathe. “There are times where I don’t want to be touched, especially when I’m angry or overwhelmed and hot. But you do a good job of recognizing that.” And recognizing when I need it. “It’s getting easier to handle with the girls too.”
Aleks smiles like he won the lottery. “Good.” His gaze travels to my shoulders and the thin straps across them. “Now let’s get you out of this dress.”
“Aleks!” I say, shoving him.
He chuckles. “Mind out of the gutter, Vassilakis. I meant it’s bedtime.”
“Liar.”
As we walk to the checkout counter, I press my fingers into my cheeks. They’re warm and pulled taut with my smile.