CHAPTER 18 #2
I let the towel drop onto the bench beside me, sitting down so I was closer to her. “Maybe that’s why you’re brilliant, though. Because you care enough to keep chasing it.”
Her eyes flicked to mine, surprised. Then she let out a soft laugh, but it cracked just enough to betray something deeper. “You always know what to say, don’t you?”
“Not always. Just… when it’s you.”
That stilled her, her breath catching ever so slightly. I caught the faint hitch in her chest, the way her eyes lingered on mine, and for a heartbeat, it felt like neither of us could look away. My mind went a little haywire, which I’d never admit out loud. Don’t. Stare. Don’t make it obvious.
My eyes flicked down and I noticed a faint scrape on her knee, the skin raw and fresh.
I pointed. “Hey, what happened there?”
She followed my gaze, brushing it off with a small shrug. “Ah. Caught it during drills. My foot slipped on the baseline, nothing major.”
“Nothing major?” I frowned, shaking my head. “You know you don’t have to fight the surface every single time, right?”
Her lips quirked at the corner. “Sounds like someone’s been watching too much tape of me.”
I smirked, leaning in just enough for her to feel it. “Maybe I have.”
I pushed myself up, dripping onto the tiles, and grabbed my bag from the bench. “You forget who you’re talking to. I travel with my first aid kit like it’s my religion.”
She watched me, somewhere between amused and flustered, as I crouched in front of her with the waterproof band-aid and antiseptic wipes. I tilted my head at her. “Mind if I?”
For a heartbeat, she hesitated. Then, quietly, “Go on.”
I touched her knee gently, holding her steady as I cleaned the scrape.
My fingertips grazed her skin just enough to make my chest tighten, that small contact sending a ripple through me I wasn’t ready to name.
She shifted slightly under my hand, subtle but deliberate, but she tried to play it off, murmuring, “You do this often?”
“Only for people I like,” I said before I could stop myself.
Her eyes flicked up to mine at that, sharp and searching, as though she wasn’t sure if I meant it as a joke. I smoothed the band-aid over her skin, deliberately slow, then leaned back just enough to give her space.
“There,” I said, forcing a grin to cover the thundering in my chest. “Good as new. You’re officially cleared to terrorize tennis courts again.”
She huffed a laugh, but her gaze lingered on me, soft and unreadable. “Okay… thanks, doctor.”
I sat back on the bench beside her, towel still wrapped around me, our shoulders brushing. “Hey, I take my job as your unofficial medic very seriously.”
For a beat, it was quiet, the kind of quiet that felt heavy but alive. Then Olivia turned her head toward me, her voice low. “What are you doing, Alex?”
“What?”
Her lips pressed together, as though weighing whether to keep going.
Then, with a breath, she let it spill. “You’ve been…
nothing but good to me. Gentle, even when you tease.
Caring in ways you don’t show anyone else.
You let me see this side of you, the real one, that you don’t give to the world.
” Her eyes softened, almost vulnerable. “Why?”
My chest tightened. The question hit deeper than she knew. I dropped my gaze to the damp towel clutched in my hands, then forced myself to look back at her.
“Because I knew you before all this,” I admitted, voice rough. “Before the headlines, before the noise. And I respect you, for who you are, not just for the tennis.”
The words felt too loud, but once they were out, there was no taking them back.
“Since the day you got me down from that tree. That stuck with me. And then I just… kept noticing you.”
Her eyebrows lifted, and heat rushed up my neck.
“What I mean is… you’ve always had this…
thing about you. Like you don’t even know how much space you take up.
And I guess I, I just want to know more of that.
The stuff only a few people ever get to see.
Because you make me want to... You make me want to risk it.
Just for the chance to be close to you.”
For a moment, Olivia didn’t move. The only sound was the faint ripple of water against the tiles and the steady thud of my heart in my ears.
Then, slowly, the corners of her mouth curved, not quite a smile, not quite unreadable either. She tilted her head, studying me like she was trying to decide if I was serious or just hopelessly ridiculous.
“So you have a crush on me?”
I let out a nervous laugh, scratching the back of my neck. “I mean… yeah. Unless there’s like a cooler, less middle-school word for it. Strongly impressed? Deeply smitten? Completely doomed?”
“You really are bad at this,” she said softly, the tiniest laugh escaping her.
I groaned, dragging a hand down my face. “See? Knew it. Worst confession in the history of confessions.”
But when I risked a glance at her, she wasn’t mocking me. Her eyes were warm, softer than I’d ever seen them. She nudged my arm with her shoulder. “It wasn’t… bad.”
“You literally just said—”
“I meant the delivery,” she interrupted, her voice lighter now. “But the words…” Her gaze lingered, holding mine just a moment too long before she looked away. “The words weren’t bad at all.”
I gave a half-shrug, trying to cover how my chest was on fire. “So… not terrible, then?”
Her lips curved again, a whisper of a smile. “Not terrible,” she echoed.
I blew out a laugh, rubbing the back of my neck. “Okay, but, be honest. Is this the part where you politely turn me down? Or, I don’t know, hit me with the friendzone special?”
Her brows lifted, amused. “That’s what you’re worried about?”
“I mean, you could at least cushion the blow. A gentle ‘sorry, mate’ or, like, a voucher for free coffee.” I said, too quickly, which made her laugh.
She shook her head, smiling at me in that maddening way. Then her tone softened. “Alex… I’m just here trying to fix my form. That’s all I’ve got space for right now, it’s tennis. It’s where all my focus has to be.”
I caught the flicker in her eyes, the hesitation, the slight tightness in her jaw and for a split second, I saw it: confusion, maybe even fear, tangled up with something she didn’t dare say.
“I’ve worked too hard to get here after everything I’ve been through. And the truth is, I don’t have the luxury of letting my focus waver. I can’t afford distractions… not even the ones that feel good.” Her gaze dropped briefly to the rippling water.
Her words weren’t sharp, though they were wrapped in care, almost protective.
“You’ve been nothing but kind to me, and I don’t want you to think I don’t see that.
I do. But right now, all I can give everything I am, is going into tennis.
I’m not in the place to give anything more, not properly, not the way you’d deserve. ”
Her words should’ve stung, but they didn’t, not entirely. Because she didn’t move away. Because her shoulder was still warm against mine.
I let out a slow breath and nodded. “Yeah. I get it. You don’t have to explain it. You’ve got bigger things on the line, and I’d hate to be the reason you lost sight of that.”
Her mouth twitched at that, and the tiny smile gave me enough courage to keep going. “For what it’s worth, I really am rooting for you. Always have been. And hey, if that means my role is just sitting on the bench and being your personal cheerleader, I’ll take it.”
She huffed a laugh. “Of course, my personal bench cheerleader.”
I spread my hands dramatically. “Pom-poms, glitter, the works. I’d rock it, don’t even try to deny it.”
That finally got her to laugh, properly this time, the sound echoing in the quiet poolside. And for me, that was enough.
“Come on. It’s already late at night and you need to shower and change, you’ll catch cold sitting around like that.” She pushed herself up from the bench, brushing invisible water droplets from her arms.
I stood too, towel still draped around my shoulders, she gave me the faintest smile before turning away, her footsteps echoing across the tiles.
I just stood there, watching her go, feeling like I’d both won and lost something all at once.
Inside, my chest was a mess, equal parts nerves, hope, and the sharp edge of knowing she wasn’t ready. Not yet. Maybe not ever. But still… she hadn’t pulled away. She hadn’t shut me out.
So if all I could be right now was the idiot on the bench cheering her on, then fine. I’d do it gladly. Because the truth was, I’d been watching Olivia Smythe from the sidelines long before she ever noticed me. And maybe, one day she’d look back and finally see me too.