Page 34 of The Incredible Ordinary

“Time to kick back.” Jordan nods toward the seats, and we go and sit down, while Chloe is pulled into a conversation with a couple other people.

Jordan and I choose seats for ourselves and watch the kids gather around the coach.

There’s a part of me that expects Rory not to cooperate, but when they start to warm up, he does too. He makes sure to stand a bit farther away from the others, crosses his arms over his chest whenever he gets a chance, and eyes everybody with distinct disdain, but he follows all the orders, so after a little while, I start to relax.

The boys are doing some kind of slalom between cones that have plastic sticks sticking out from the top, kicking a soccer ball in front of them.

I lean back in my seat. Fall is in the air, but it’s sunny today, so I close my eyes and enjoy the warmth for a minute before I peer at Jordan out of the corner of my eye. He sits leaning forward, elbows on his knees, eyeing the field.

“Did you ever play?” I ask.

“Of course. Football, baseball, basketball, volleyball. If there was a ball involved, I played it. Mostly football, though. My mother was born and raised in Argentina. Footba—soccer,” he corrects himself with a quick, self-deprecating smile before he squints at the field. “It’s difficult to explain. It’s almost like a spiritual thing down there. It’s not just entertainment, right? And Mom was an Argentine first and foremost, so even though we lived in New York, she taught me to play and appreciate the game because it was part of her heritage. I’m not as invested in football as I used to be, but when there are big tournaments like Copa America, I keep an eye on it for sure. What about you?”

I shake my head. “I’ve never been a team player.”

“You’ve never played doubles?”

“I have. And if you were ever to ask any of those partners, they’d tell you I’m not a team player.”

He hums thoughtfully. “How’d you get into tennis? Because of your father?”

I eye the field in front of me, pulled back to the past I’ve been avoiding revisiting for a long time now.

“At first.” I frown, absently twisting and untwisting the cap of the water bottle. I used to idolize Gerard once upon a time, and at the grand old age of four, there was already a part of me that figured if I did well in tennis, he might finally notice I existed.

“And then?” Jordan prompts.

“Then I played out of spite.” I open the water bottle, lift it to my lips, and empty it. “There are players who are simply fun to watch. Players who make every tennis match feel exciting. They love the game. It radiates from their every move and makes them a joy to watch. It’s what makes players fan favorites, and combined with talent, it turns them into legends. My father was that kind of player.” I glance at Jordan. “Nobody has ever described my playing as fun to watch.”

He eyes me, the small smirk still in place at the corner of his lips. “How do they describe you, then?”

I think about it for a bit. “Unfulfilled potential gets mentioned regularly.”

“Do you agree with that?”

“It’s subjective, isn’t it? No matter how well you do, there will always be somebody who says you could’ve done better.”

He nods.

“So,” I say, thoroughly ready to move on from the career I had in my previous life. “You were the jock in high school?”

He doesn’t look taken aback by the sudden change of topic.

“I only went for my freshman year, and I don’t think that’s enough time to carve out any kind of identity.” He glances toward the field thoughtfully. “Well, no, I did have an identity. I was the kid with a kid. I dropped out when Theo was born, so it was short lived, but it had a lasting effect. I hear they took sex education way more seriously after that.”

“That’s not a bad legacy.”

“Are tennis players considered jocks?” he asks with a grin.

“Barely.”

He narrows his eyes like he’s assessing me. “You don’t give off jock vibes, anyway.”

“What vibes do I give?”

“Without prior knowledge, I would guess a brooding artist.”

“I tried my best, but I wasn’t hot back then, so the brooding didn’t hit quite the way it does for attractive people.”