Losing at Love (24 page)

He pulled away and leaned his forehead against hers. “Non mi aspettavo,” he said, trailing off. “I didn’t expect to feel this way for you.”

“No? What did you expect?”

“A pretty girl to flirt with while Alex trails after Penny like a little puppy.”

“He’s whipped, isn’t he?”

“Whipped?” He chuckled. “Yes, but I am beginning to understand the appeal.”

“Really?” she said, letting her hands play with the dark curls at the back of his neck, the silky strands, still a little sweaty from their practice session, sliding through her fingers.

He didn’t answer, simply let his mouth fall to hers again, picking up where they left off, the hot slide of two mouths coming together and slowly breaking apart, the kisses shallow, but intense.

“You two might want to not do this in public. Never know who might be watching.”

Jasmine broke away and turned to the fence where Teddy was standing, elbows resting at the top of the chain link barrier. His face was blank and unreadable.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, feeling Paolo step away from her.

“Someone woke me up at a ridiculous hour, so I figured I’d come down and see what all the fuss was about. Looks like I’m right on time to catch the show.”

“Teddy,” she began, but Paolo cut her off.

“Do you have a problem with this?”

Teddy stood up straight and looked at the other man dead in the eye. “What if I do?”

“Then you must get over it,” Paolo said. “I think she has made her preferences clear. She doesn’t need jealous little boys following her around after they’ve been rejected.”

Jasmine let the words sink in to her mind and watched as they hit Teddy. Is that what was happening? Teddy was jealous. The idea seemed ridiculous. Teddy didn’t want her, at least not the way she wanted him and he’d made that perfectly clear, but apparently, he didn’t want anyone else to have her either. Looking up at Paolo, she realized that it didn’t matter. She’d moved on and he was going to have to get used to the idea.

The fence rattled and for a half a second she thought he’d leapt over it, just like he did every day back at OBX whenever there was one in his way. Instead, she looked up to see his back to them, walking away, again, just like he had the other night after dinner.

“I’m sorry I said that to him. I know he’s your friend, but I…”

“No,” she interrupted. “No, you were right and it’s good that you said it to him. If he’s going to be this way, maybe he’s not really my friend after all.”

~

There were more people than usual for a junior match. The sun had finally burned off the clouds that had hovered for most of the first week, but the weather wasn’t really what drew the crowd. It was the match-up. The number one junior player in the world and one of the favorites to win the tournament against the daughter of tennis royalty. As far as Jasmine was concerned, this would be the last time people showed up to watch her because of her parents. After today, everyone would see what she was bringing to the table, that her game was world class and that she was ready for the big time.

Glancing up to the stands, she saw Dom chatting with Paolo, who didn’t have a match of his own until later that night. Behind them, Jack and, to her surprise, Indy sat, but then again, that made sense. Indy was scheduled to play the winner of this match and she’d never seen Brennan play before. It was a scouting trip, nothing more than that, though odds are Indy was rooting for her to win. She probably thought it would be easier to face her than Adelaide Brennan in the next round. Jasmine had faced Brennan before though, two years ago at the OBX Classic and she knew her game pretty well. The only difference now was that she’d added some velocity to her serve that made it tough for most other junior players to return, a lot like the game Indy played, the same type of player she’d been training with for months now.

All she had to do was to stick with the general game plan, block back the serve and run down everything Brennan sent back across the court. The other girl was bigger and broader and thus slower. Jasmine smiled, thinking about how her new backhand would probably be too much for her to track down on a cross-court shot. It wasn’t going to be easy, but she knew she could do it and she knew that later today, she’d snuff out one of her options and go after what she really wanted.

~

The computer bleeped and the screen filled up with her parents’ smiling faces.

“Ah, mija,” her mother said, “we are so proud of you! What a victory!”

“Great job out there today, kiddo,” her dad echoed almost over her mom. “That backhand was fantastic! Why haven’t you ever used it before? What a weapon!”

Her mom immediately raised her voice and kept talking. “Why are you not out celebrating? Are you okay? I thought I saw you favoring your right leg a little bit?”

“Mom, I’m fine,” she said. “I wasn’t limping and we’re not going out until later because Paolo has a match in a couple of hours and we’re going to stay and watch him.”

“Paolo?” her dad asked, his dark brows furrowing at the mention of a male name. Typical.

“Paolo Macchia. He’s staying with Alex too.”

“That’s nice, Jasmine. You said this was urgent though, mija. What did you want to speak about?” her mom asked, her concern easily read in her tone, even if her face was calm.

“You guys know Jack,” she said, grabbing him by his wrist from where he was hovering off to the side and dragging him into view of the webcam. “Now before you say anything, no it’s not what you’re thinking. He and Indy are still you know, he and Indy.”

Her dad blew out a breath of relief, but she knew her next words would probably fire him up again.

Jasmine sat up straight, lifting her chin, and felt the confidence flow through her, the same confidence that spurred her on to the 6-2, 6-1 victory over the number one ranked junior player in the world just about an hour earlier. “This morning, I asked Jack to be my agent and he agreed. He’s putting together the paperwork now and we’re going to sign everything tonight. I just wanted to let you guys know before we put out the press release tomorrow morning. I wanted you to hear it from me.”

Silence. Two people who really never ran out of things to say were completely silent and as the seconds ticked by, Jasmine started to squirm in her seat.

“Harrison,” her dad finally said. “You approached my daughter about this?”

“No, sir,” Jack said. “She approached me.”

Jasmine nodded. “And Jack wanted to make sure we talked it all out with you guys before we signed.”

“Fine. Will you excuse us for a moment? We need to talk to Jasmine alone.”

Jack nodded and patted her softly on the shoulder before he left the room.

As the door clicked shut behind him, her mother shook her head. “I thought we spoke about this, mija, about keeping your options open, about being ready.”

“I don’t want options,” Jasmine said. “I know what I want. This is what I want. It’s what I’ve always wanted. Everyone else, they want options because they think — you think — that I can’t do this. But I went out there today and I proved that I could. I’m going to be a professional tennis player and maybe I won’t be number one in the world and maybe I won’t win Grand Slams, but I’m going to try and if it doesn’t work out, you guys can say you told me so.”

“Jasmine, it’s not about being right or wrong or telling you we told you so. It’s about what’s best for you.”

“And I know what’s best for me. I won’t be happy at college playing girls like Amy Fitzpatrick and dreaming about being on tour while Indy and Penny are living my dream. I want this and I want to sign with Jack. He’s done great things for Penny and I think he can do the same things for me.”

“Jasmine…” her dad began.

“John, she says she’s thought about this. Have you? Have you really?”

“It’s the only thing I think about and I know I can do it.”

Her mom nodded. “Then go for it, mija. We will not stand in the way of your dreams.”

June 28
^th

Penny’s eyes flew open and she had to bite her lip to keep from screaming. Alex, in his sleep, had kicked out his foot and hit her ankle, sending an explosion of pain through her entire leg. She squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her teeth, trying to fight back the pain, inhaling and exhaling quickly through her nose. On the other side of the bed, she heard the buzz of his phone, an alarm they’d set the night before sending it vibrating across his nightstand.

“Pen, you awake?” he rumbled from the other side of the bed.

“Yeah,” she managed to squeak out. “You grab the shower first. I’m going to get a few more minutes.”

As soon as the bathroom door closed behind him, she slid her legs from under the covers and sat up. She stared at her ankle in the dim lighting fighting its way into the room through the closed blinds. It was swollen, like it had been recently, but not too bad. Still, it ached. Gingerly, she put her feet on the ground and again, the pain, agonizing and overwhelming shot through her leg, spreading quickly through her whole body.

“Fuck,” she muttered. She didn’t know how long she sat there trying to will the pain away, but Alex eventually came out of the shower and dressed. “Meet you downstairs in a bit.”

“Yeah, you want a banana for the car?”

“Yes, thanks.”

He was gone and she had to get up and get moving. She had a match today.

~

Less than a week. That’s how long the relief from the cortisone shot lasted, through a second and third round match that she probably would have won even if she only had one foot to play on. Now the pain was back, even worse than it was on that court in Paris and as the trainer wrapped the swollen joint and eyed her warily, she just gritted her teeth and kept silent until he left the room.

The pain hadn’t lessened as the morning wore on. She walked down Alex’s stairs on her own so he wouldn’t see her limping but did catch the concern flashing over Ahmed’s face when she’d gritted her teeth in pain walking to the car. The damn thing hurt like a bitch, but it was the Wimbledon Round of 16, she was about to be announced to the Court 1 crowd. Withdrawing simply wasn’t an option.

“Game plan,” Dom said from the corner of the trainer’s room. He was clearly done arguing with her about it, but she almost wished he’d bring it up. If he asked her right now whether she wanted to play, she wasn’t sure what her answer would be. As that thought settled in her head, she felt her stomach twist.

She’d never withdrawn before, not for anything. She didn’t think she had it in her to just give up without even trying, but this pain, this was something she’d never felt before and it was really, really scary. She must have torn it worse, playing on it the way she had sooner than the doctors had suggested. But the pain had subsided long enough to trick her into thinking the worst was behind her, and this was the most important tournament of her life. Now, she didn’t know if she’d done the right thing. In fact, she was pretty sure she’d been wrong all along. Dom and the trainers and Alex and everyone else had been right. Her ankle throbbed again; apparently, it wanted to be included in there as well. It had tried to tell her. It had swelled and twinged, but she’d kept on playing anyway. What had Alex called her? A stubborn mule. That was her, a total ass.

“Keep her moving, vary up my serves and serve and volley, especially on her second serve.”

“Good,” he said. “You don’t have any new shots to tell me about, things you’ve been working on with Alex without informing me?”

Penny snorted. The miraculous appearance of Jasmine’s one-handed backhand was still rankling their coach days after she’d debuted it in the junior tournament.

“No surprises, I promise.”

“Good. I’ll see you out there.”

Her coach left, but just as he made it through the door, another familiar face peaked in. “Hello, mind if I join you for a bit?” Anna Russell said, slipping into the room after nodding a goodbye to Dom.

“Sure.”

“I just sent Alex off to his match, so I thought I’d come in and say good luck to you before yours.”

Penny stood up to give Alex’s mom a hug, but as she did, the pain shot up her leg and her entire body buckled. She blinked and a lump formed in her throat. It choked her for a moment and her eyes watered.

“Oh, sweetheart, what’s the matter?” Anna asked, rushing forward and taking Penny’s hands in hers, squeezing lightly. “Are you okay?”

Inhaling a shaky breath and letting the tears fall, she shook her head. “No, I don’t think I am.”

“What do you need? What can I do?”

“Nothing. You can’t do anything.” Penny felt something inside of her break. “I have to withdraw.”

~

The trip to the hospital was a quiet one. Instead of an ambulance, Penny insisted that their driver Ahmed bring her and so she sat at the back of the car while her phone blew up, blinging over and over again in her hand until she just couldn’t stand it anymore and she turned the damn thing off. Across the car, Anna Russell sat, her face carefully blank.

“Thank you for coming with me,” she whispered, even though she was facing the window, staring unseeingly out onto the London streets.

“Of course, sweetheart. Alex would want me here with you when he couldn’t be.”

Penny glanced back at her and tried to smile, but it was impossible.

She was hustled into the actual hospital to avoid any cameras spotting her, but the paparazzi were all still back at Wimbledon, watching the actual matches. There was a back up for scans and Dom showed up, slamming his way through the doors and rushing over to them, breathing heavily as if he’d run all the way from Wimbledon.

“Dom,” Penny said, but that damn lump reappeared, stopping her words. He had other places to be. Alex was playing right now on Centre Court; Indy and Jasmine were about to go head to head in the junior tournament. He didn’t need to sit here with her, waiting for a doctor to take a picture of her ankle and tell her what she already knew. She was hurt, maybe worse than she’d ever been in her life and it was all her fault.

“No arguing, okay?” Dom took a seat on her other side, sending a nod to Anna and out of the corner of her eye, Penny caught him mouthing, “thank you.” Her coach took her hand in his and squeeze. “You’re gonna be okay, Pen. I promise. Whatever it is. You’re going to be okay.”