Chapter 32
Chapter Thirty-Two
SAM
New York, US – August
US Open
Walking out of the apartment building we were staying at for the US Open, so we could go to lunch, was like walking into an arrivals gate at the airport.
Alisha made the first sound of surprise and then threw herself at her dad, who accepted her hug easily. Wyatt was wrapped up in a hug with his mum, and then I noticed Naomi.
It shouldn’t have surprised me that Naomi’s friend, who helped me find a therapist, was actually Isaac.
It was even less of a surprise that he was the kind of person who wanted to talk over the phone because he’d be able to give a better recommendation if he could understand my vibe, which isn’t always possible over text.
I understood the logic, but seeing a current-day Isaac, even through a screen, felt like an unexpected blow. It almost made me feel a bit pathetic that I thought she would be flirting with me when he existed.
The video call had made it clear that he was attractive, but what it hadn’t shown was just how big he actually was.
Tall, muscular, covered in tattoos. He easily stood firm as Naomi wrapped her legs around his waist, and he held her with one arm.
I was pretty sure she was crying. It was a touching reunion.
One I was so focused on that I hadn’t noticed two other people were waiting.
“Sasquatch,” Hannah said quietly, making my head whip around almost too quickly, where I saw not one, but both of my sisters.
“Fuck! What are you two doing here?”
“Thought we’d surprise you. Wyatt got in touch and asked if we wanted to fly over with their lot for this week, and I told him we wouldn’t miss it,” Hannah answered.
I hoped my face didn’t react outwardly to ‘their lot’.
“Consider me surprised,” I said as I pulled them both in for a hug. “How’s Dad?” I asked quietly. We still hadn’t spoken to each other.
“He plays golf now and has golf buddies. He’s okay. I think he misses you, but is also still kind of angry at you. But give him some time, and I think you’ll both be just fine,” Charlie answered with a sad smile.
“Lois and Pete are already at the restaurant. We’d better get moving,” Wyatt called, cutting the reunions short.
Naomi was back on solid ground and was wiping under her eyes as her dad pressed a kiss to her temple. Isaac now had Alisha hanging off his arm, and they were laughing about something. My sisters were already following Wyatt and his mum as they led the way.
Before I could join the pack, Naomi fell into step beside me.
New York looked good on Naomi. Her hair had a bouncy volume to it, and the summer sun highlighted the natural blonde in it.
Her tan had been steadily developing and was practically glowing as it absorbed the sun’s rays.
There was a relaxed energy about her that was almost infectious if I wasn’t currently being poisoned by underlying jealousy that I needed to nip in the bud immediately.
“Did I hear someone call you Sasquatch?” she asked brightly.
I laughed despite myself. “How did you even hear that?”
“I’m the oldest child. I had to be the ears when we were up to shit and didn’t want our parents to find out. So I did hear it right?”
“I was a big kid. All limbs and gangly. You know how siblings are.”
She placed a hand over her eyes to shield them from the sun, and I felt them drag up and down my body.
“Suppose it didn’t help that you ended up a big guy as an adult, too.
Never escaping the Sasquatch rumours.” There was something teasing in her tone, but before I could mistake it for flirting, I looked ahead of us at Isaac’s broad, retreating back.
I forced a smile. “I guess not.”
Nothing compared to walking out onto Arthur Ashe.
It was the loudest crowd we experienced all year, and usually an inspiring atmosphere to step into.
Today, it felt more intimidating than inspiring.
I wasn’t quite mentally prepared to play my first match with Naomi in front of so many people.
Especially after another early exit in Ohio for me, while she continued to move from strength to strength.
The opening match of the mixed doubles tournament was not helping my nerves.
As we dropped our bags by our seats, Naomi pulled the ends of her braids out of her T-shirt and let them fall down her back.
She seemed much more relaxed than she usually was when she arrived on court.
Instead of her usual racerback dress, she was wearing an outfit that looked more like what she wore during practice.
A black oversized T-shirt and a pair of shorts.
I looked around and found my sisters in the crowd easily, just to the left of the coach’s box.
Naomi’s siblings looked the picture of cool, sunglasses and US Open hats—that Naomi had bought them as a joke—on.
The rest of her family was somewhere in the crowd.
It was hopeless to even attempt to find them, and suddenly, I was struck by the thought that maybe Naomi was on to something.
By burying the people she loves in the masses, she couldn’t be distracted by them.
Because my dad was my coach, I thought I didn’t care about those things, but without him there, I was learning that maybe I did.
I tried to focus on the now, which was being on court with one of the best athletes in the sport. It helped, but not much, because Naomi continued to look way more relaxed than I felt.
There was a looseness to her shoulders as she walked over to the net, hitting her racquet against the heel of her hand twice.
The umpire gave their usual spiel, but watching Naomi get into the zone was doing nothing for my nerves because I wasn’t in match mode.
Naomi called the toss, and we lost. Our opponents elected to receive first, and I could feel my shoulders tense.
“You gotta breathe, Sam,” Naomi said lightly as she accepted three balls on her racquet.
I went to reach for one, but she flicked her wrist to put them just out of reach.
“Seriously, I need to see you take a breath.”
I breathed in deeply through my nose and slowly exhaled through my mouth. That seemed to satisfy her because she flicked a ball in my direction, and we began our warm-up.