Page 109 of This Could be Love

“Um…I think I’d rather just order room service.”

He frowned. “Don’t you want to celebrate your win a little?”

“Well, hopefully it won’t be the only one.”

“Even so, you were fantastic today,” my mother said.

Dad agreed. “That was some fantastic tennis indeed.”

I smiled before my eyes darted back to my phone. Vince wasn’t online anymore. I began to type anyway. Aheythat I immediately erased. Athanksthat I furnished with a smiling emoji—and erased.

“Bad news?” my mother asked.

“No, just…unexpected.”

I hadn’t heard anything from Vince since leaving Hawaii. I’d texted with Laurie a few times, but we’d managed to avoid the topic.

“Unexpected…good?”

I stared at my phone indecisively. “I don’t know.”

A part of me was overjoyed by his message, wanted to printit out and frame it. Another part of me knew how risky it was. Because it stood for the past. And I had to concentrate fully and completely on the future. All of a sudden it was like my fingers took on a life of their own. They began to hurry across the keys.

I miss you

But I didn’t hit “send.” And yet, I didn’t delete it either. And when I simply dropped my phone into my lap and stared out the window, things became twice as hard.

* * *

Fairy-tale comeback continues

NEWYORK—Louisa Herzog-Riggs moves up to the third round of the US Open. Facing off against England’s Danielle Smith, the 22-year-old didn’t just need three sets, but a whole lot of fighting spirit. After an unsuccessful first set (1-6), she clearly won the second (6-2). In the third, things got tight again before she was able to wrap things up 7-5. “Of course I would have preferred ending things in just two sets, but she played excellently,” Herzog-Riggs, who is back on tour following a bad ankle injury, said.

Herzog-Riggs moves into the last 16—’Have fun andplay great tennis’

NEWYORK—What a match! In the duel of generations, 22-year-old Louisa Herzog-Riggs won against 34-year-old Dane Agnes Brisson, 7-5, 1-6, 6-4. Brisson, currently No. 9 in the world, had trouble with muscle cramps during the second set, but managed to fight her way back in the third. In the end, however, she just couldn’t defeat a strong Herzog-Riggs. In the Round of 16 the German will be facing off against Ana Bozovic. The Serbian defeated Switzerland’s Lara Gisin in two sets.

Herzog-Riggs said that she will be going into her match with Bozovic relaxed. “I’m simply really happy to be here again. All I want to do is have fun and play great tennis.”

Begin audio message

Hey. This is probably just another message I won’t send, but, in case I’m wrong, then I hope that you’ve at least put your phone on mute. It’s probably around…two a.m. your time, and I know how important your sleep is. On top of it, I don’t want you to oversleep your Round of 16 match because of the dude-who-can’t-stop-thinking-about-you keeping you up all night. Although your next match isn’t until the day after tomorrow. Or, well, I think it is. Or, wait, no, scratch that. I know when it is. All too well.

Delete audio message

Chapter 49

After reaching the Round of 16, I had the pleasure of a day off. I slept in, did some light training in the morning, and spent a few hours with my mother in the spa area of our hotel. We sweated it out in the bio sauna, treated ourselves to a massage, and dozed on the loungers in the relaxation room. In the evening, we met up with Dad at a Japanese restaurant in SoHo and ate sushi and ramen. We settled the bill before eight o’clock and took an Uber back to the hotel. I was in bed shortly after nine and went through my strategy for the Round of 16 in my head one last time. The game was scheduled for eleven o’clock. I would be playing against the No. 4 player in the world. Ana Bozovic of Serbia. My record against her was good. I had won five out of seven matches. But my time-out had reshuffled the cards. Anything was possible. Maybe I would storm into the quarterfinals tomorrow. Maybe I would beeliminated. I came to the strange realization that either way would be okay, as long as I played my best. As long as I was having fun.

My phone vibrated on my nightstand. I reached over and glanced at the display. It was a message from Kay.

Good luck tomorrow! Play aggressively and use every opportunity to get to the net. You have to force your game on her and dictate the match.

With a smile, I was about to put my phone to the side when I saw that another message had arrived. Half an hour ago as I was getting ready for bed. A selfie of Laurie and Brody. The two of them were sitting on a couch, holding up a sign that saidGO LOU!My heart swelled, even though she had already told me that they’d both been blown away by all my matches (and that Brody had fundamentally reconsidered his opinion of women’s tennis). I replied with a heart emoji and left the chat. For a moment my gaze lingered on an older chat. For a second or two my index finger hovered above his name. The five letters. At the last moment, I pulled it away, switched my phone to silent, and put it back on the nightstand.

Chapter 50

US Open