Page 84 of This Could be Love

Chapter 35

“So, I did a little homework. To win at tennis, I need to win two sets. A set has six games. To win aset…” Laurie paused. “To win a set I need to win at least four of those games.” A proud smile appeared on her face. “There’s also atiebreak, and that’s, um… Why are you smiling?”

“No reason.” I grinned. “It’s sweet that you googled all that.”

I was holding onto the net with my right hand and swinging my leg back and forth to activate my thighs.

“Hello? I’m not going to show up for my first tennis match without being prepared.”

“You know that today’s just training though, right? I’m not playing against anybody.”

She frowned. “I thought you played against your godmother.”

I repeated the movement with my other leg. “No, she just throws me the balls.”

I couldn’t tell if Laurie was confused or disappointed.

“Now and then I have matches against Malia, my sparring partner. But she’s not here today.”

I turned my upper body toward the net and did the same exercise with lateral leg movements. Laurie pulled out her phone and took a few pictures.

“I promised Vince.”

“A photo of me warming up?”

“A photo of you in your tennis skirt.” She winked. Her eyes skirted past me and grew a bit tense. “Hello, Mrs. Diamond,” she said politely.

I was sure that Kay would correct her, emphasizingMs. But she surprised me by not saying a thing and just nodding kindly. Kay was fine with Laurie watching. She’d only asked that she come in the afternoon, when most of my tasks would be behind me already. That was just as well, as we wanted to meet up with Vince and the others after training anyway.

“We ready to get going?” Kay asked once she’d put her bag down under the umbrella, next to the bench where Laurie was sitting, covered head to toe in sun cream.

I hopped up and down a few times and nodded.

Over the next hour we practiced slices from the baseline combined with aggressive attacks, which I was supposed to followup with volleys from close to the net. I was in a good mood and played powerfully and precisely. Every now and then, my eyes would flit over to Laurie, who was spellbound by what was happening out on the court. Once she even took a video of me; I wonder if she sent it to her brother.

I let my physiotherapy slide for a change, but I’d cleared that with Gabe beforehand too. Instead, I made sure to complete an extensive series of stretches and did a few exercises with the fascia roller.

Laurie and I took off around four. Vince had left us the Jeep and been picked up by Pili. During the ride, she really grilled me about tennis, and I had no doubt that she had enjoyed watching me.

“You think Chip will be there?” she asked when we were just about five minutes away, according to the GPS.

“You’re askingme?”

“I thought Vince might’ve mentioned something.”

“Why didn’t you just ask him?”

“Vince or Chip?”

“Vince.”

She wrinkled her brow. “I’m not going to ask my bro if his hot surfer friend is coming along. Especially since he’s already dropped such strange hints.”

“Hints?”

“Well, about Chip and me.”

“But there’s nothing going on there, right?” I shot her a questioning glance. “Right?”