Page 95 of Off Court Fix

I tick my mouth side to side as I wait for her to respond, but by the time she does, I’m following the crowd of my colleagues to our locker rooms because I don’t have an excuse to wait longer.

Sorry, cooling down on bike. Jumping in tub then need to shower and head to dinner. Call you when I’m back at the hotel.

That was a rhetorical question.

I ignore the bubbles from her coming message and drop my phone into the small duffle bag I’ve stored in the locker.

“Gentlemen.” I bid adieu to my colleagues with a wave over my shoulder as I enter the hallway, and I leave a trail of polite nods to tournament staff with every few steps I take down the corridor, exiting the way I normally would.

Until I hang a left at a quiet service entrance where a few workers are smoking cigarettes. “Forgot my phone,” I mumble as I pass by them. “Hope you don’t mind me taking a shortcut.”

No one minds at the door, and no one minds inside either, given my uniform. I come to an intersection. To my left, a passage that would take me back to the hallway I originally came from, the one leading to the umpire lounge and the shared training room that has doors to the locker rooms.

And to my right, the way to the player locker rooms themselves. I wait until it’s quiet. I take three steps before I pull open the door withDRAPERwritten across it and step inside.

It’s quiet apart from the sound of running water coming from the bathroom and mumbles I can’t quite hear on the other side of the door leading to the training room. I lock both doors, frowning because Maxine already should have, and take a seat on the bench in the middle of the room, inhaling the soapy steam coming from the shower stall.

She’s humming, which makes me smile, and I play whatever broken tune she’s spitting out on repeat in my mind. I don’t realize the shower has stopped running until Maxine has come out of it, nearly shrieking when she sees me.

“Jesus!” Maxine reaches for a towel, wrapping it around herself as her head turns to both doors. “Crosby, what are you doing—”

I stand with such force she backs away, slumping against the doorway leading to the showers.

“I told you,” I say, placing a hand above Maxine’s head against the frame. Her clean skin is beaded with drops, her dark hair heavy with water. Tilting her chin up, I swipe at the damp skin. “It was a rhetorical question.”

“You shouldn’t be in here.”

“I’m aware.”

Maxine’s eyes quickly dart to the door I came through. “Someone could’ve seen you.”

“Does it look like I care?” I should care, forhersake more than my own. It’s a stupid, selfish quest of mine—to be with her after such a win—but with each passing day or week, I’m finding it harder to wait. “I just wanted to say congratulations.”

Maxine leans her head against the frame. “I’ll give you this,” she whispers. “But I need you to care a little more.”

I flex my finger beneath Maxine’s chin as I drop my face closer, seeing the freckles come into better view against her sunburned cheeks. “Congratulations.” I press my lips to hers. “To say I’m proud of you is an understatement.”

This makes her melt a little deeper against me, and I grin against her mouth.

“It’s not over,” I say, pulling back.

“No, it’s not.”

It’s then I notice Maxine is still leaning into me, which I don’t mind, even if she’s dampening my clothes. But it’showshe’s standing against me—on one foot, her good foot—that makes me uneasy.

I point down. “That okay?”

Maxine straightens, now standing onalmosttwo feet, the weight she bears on her bad one all at the ball of her foot as she keeps her heel still slightly off the ground.

“Sore,” she tells me. “But that’s normal. It wasn’t exactly an easy win.”

Studying her face, I can tell she’s uncomfortable, but I also know she’s right. “Wins with no effort are meaningless.” I take her hand in mine. “Rest it tonight.”

Maxine nods, tucking dark hair behind her ear. “I will in the room.”

The room... at the torturous hotel where we’re separated by just a few floors and many, many rules.

To keep the scowl from showing, I have to gnaw on the flesh on the inside of my cheek.

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