Page 128 of Double Fault

After all these years, one would think I’d be sick of the constant training. But as Fisher and I set up at our reserved training court, a wave of determination washes over me. I lovethe sport. I don’t know who I am without it. I don’t think I’d feel like me if I weren’t playing. Obviously, I can’t do this forever, but for now, I can’t allow myself to think about what my life will look like after I retire.

I’m readying to serve to Fisher, racket in one hand and bouncing the ball with the other, when thoughts of Sabrina round with my child bombard me. The image is jolting enough to disturb my rhythm and cause the ball to roll away.

Shaking my head, I jog after it and swipe it from the ground.

Where the hell did those thoughts come from?

I take a deep breath and blow it out. The last thing I need to be thinking about is my daughter’s nanny carrying my child.

With one more cleansing breath, I serve, hitting the ball with a grunt and sending it flying over the net toward Fisher. He returns it, and I run to my right, splaying my arm out in front of me in order to make contact.

When the ball bounces on his side of the court, he chases after it with a laugh.

Playing like this, with my friend rather than my coach, always lifts my spirits.

We’ve been playing for close to an hour when Maddie and Sabrina appear.

“Daddy!” Maddie shouts, her little feet pounding on the court as she barrels toward me.

I toss my racket down and scoop her up. Sure enough, she’s got a stuffed animal I’ve never seen before dangling from her hand. One I’m fairly certain is either a potato or a bean.

“How’d you guys know we were here?” I ask.

“Fisher.” Sabrina crosses her ankles and drops to the court behind me. She’s wearing some sort of pink athletic dress with gold stitching in a celestial pattern, along with her favorite boots.

“Giving away my location?” I holler across the court.

With a chuckle, my best friend bounces the tennis ball up into the air with his racket over and over. “Yep.”

I set Maddie on her feet, then turn to face Sabrina. “Play with me?”

She purses her full lips and looks from me to Fisher and back again. “I don’t know how to play.”

“All you need to do is hit the ball.”

For now, that’s enough.

With a sigh, she picks up a stray ball and tosses it into the air, then catches it. “You think you have the guts to take all this on?” She gestures to herself.

There’s no stopping my smile as I hold my hands out in front of me like I’m contemplating the size of them. “Yeah, I can handle it.”

Maddie giggles, garnering my attention. “Are you guys flirting?”

Sabrina makes a sound that has me worried she’s choking on air.

“Um…” I scratch the back of my head.

Behind me, Fisher bursts into laughter at the predicament I’ve landed myself in.

“Yeah,” I say, grimacing. “I guess we are.”

“Good.” She gives me a double thumbs-up. “I’m going to sit down.” With that, she skips over to the fence and sits next to Sabrina’s bag, where she digs through the tote until she finds her iPad.

Fisher, whose expression is full of too much amusement, lobs the ball he was using back over the net. “Let’s see what you’ve got, Sabrina.”

Cringing, she clambers to her feet. “Sports aren’t really my thing. I’m not very coordinated.”

I jog after the ball, and once I’ve scooped it up, I circle around to Sabrina. “Don’t worry, Curls. I’ll go easy on you.”

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