Page 176 of Double Fault

“Maybe it’s Sabrina,” Maddie says, her face lighting up with hope.

“Mads, I’ve told you, Sabrina is in Texas. She’s got a job there now, and she’s set to start soon.”

At least, I think so. Every time we’ve talked over the last week, she’s been cagey. I can’t help but worry that she’s already decided this long-distance thing is too hard and is trying to figure out how to let me down gently. If that’s the case, I don’t know how I’ll move on from here. I can’t handle losing my girl and the Olympics all at once.

Fisher strides out the door, and my little girl scurries after him. It’s probably just Elias, come to annoy me to no end, especially now that we’re both injured. If I’m not careful, he’ll move his shit in so we can recover together.

Fuck. That’s my living nightmare.

With a groan, I sit and swing my legs over the side of the bed. As I’m flexing my ankle in front of me, Maddie shrieks, and I nearly jump out of my skin.

“Sabrina! It is you! Daddy said it couldn’t be, but I knew! I knew!”

What the fuck?

Heart in my throat, I ease myself to my feet, using the bedside table to steady myself. As I stand, I knock my phone from the edge of the table, and when it thumps against my uninjured foot, a curse flies out of my mouth.

From the other room, Maddie yells out, “You said a bad word! Pay up!”

Sabrina’s laughter fills the air, and hell if it isn’t the most beautiful sound. It’s embarrassing how easily I could fall to my knees right now.

She’s here.

She’s really fucking here.

I limp to the doorway, and when I see her, I grasp the frame to keep from stumbling.

Fuck, I’m going to cry.

Even though she’s only been gone weeks, I swear she looks slimmer, like she hasn’t been eating well. Her eyes are tired, too, but the smile on her face radiates pure happiness.

“Curls,” I murmur.

“Hey.”

It’s a simple one-syllable response, but it hits me straight in the solar plexus.

I gasp for air, rubbing at my chest. “What are you doing here?”

As she crosses the room, Fisher ushers Maddie out the door. My poor little girl doesn’t want to go, but thank fuck my best friend is giving me this moment with Sabrina.

The door clicks shut softly behind them.

“You see,” she says as she stops in front of me. “This big dumb tennis player I fell in love with went and got hurt.”

“But your job?”

She splays both hands on my chest, the heat of her soaking through the fabric of my t-shirt, then slides them up and around my neck. “I didn’t take the job.”

“Sabrina,” I groan, pinching my eyes shut. “If you turned down the job because I got hurt?—”

“I told her no days before your injury. It’s not about you. I’m a big girl. I can make my own decisions.”

I grip her hip and squeeze. “It’s what you always wanted.” I’m so happy she’s here, but I don’t want her to set aside her dreams for me.

She shrugs. “Not anymore. Not in that way. I don’t have to be in a classroom to teach.”

“What do you mean?” I study her face and adjust my hold on the doorframe, then brush my other hand up her arm.

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