Page 10 of Ace My Heart

“Trying to save a bit of time by undressing on the way to the bathroom?” Joel leered down at me.

In my groggy state I’d forgotten that I’d slept naked. I couldn’t even bring myself to care.

“Please get out of my way,” I sighed. Joel stood to one side of the doorway, naked himself except for the towel wrapped around his waist. I had to squeeze past him to get into the room.

“You know, Mel, you look very nice naked. Maybe I could join you in the shower? Help you wash off the stink of Eau de Bigfoot?” he murmured.

“You could try,” I retorted. “Depends on how attached to your testicles you are. And keep it down will you – your dad doesnotneed to know about last night.”

As I closed the bathroom door, I heard him reply in an undertone, “I think he’s already figured it out.”

I tried not to think about that as I tied my hair back and showered hurriedly. Rubbing sunscreen into my face, I winced at the dark circles under my eyes. Oh well, nothing I could do about it now. Hopefully some coffee and breakfast would perk me up.

I tucked one foot under me as I sat down in front of a bowl of Weetbix and fruit.

“Sit straight Mel! You don’t want to twist your back like that!” Steve snapped. I complied obediently, chewing on a fingernail. Joel gave me a sharp look. I stopped chewing and focussed on eating my breakfast.

I was overtired, disgusted with myself, and now Steve was mad at me. Could this day have started any worse?

After breakfast, I tied the laces on my tennis shoes and adjusted my boobs in my training singlet. If I thought I’d been shaking in my shoes before the quarter-final, I was having my own personal earthquake today.

“Deep breaths, Stink,” Joel reminded me from the table. Hepeered at me over the top of Buff magazine, reaching out to squeeze me on the arm. “You’ll be fine, don’t work yourself up into a lather.”

“Careful Joel, if you keep it up like that, I’ll start thinking that you actually care.” I was proud that my voice didn’t tremble.

“Hey, I’m your personal trainer now. I’m all about ensuring not just your physical fitness, but your emotional wellbeing too.” He grinned lopsidedly at me before burying his nose back in his magazine.

To distract myself from the nerves, I walked over behind him and read over his shoulder.

“Wow,‘Butt Clenches for Every Situation’sounds really … deep.” I commented wryly.

Joel turned to me and winked. “Good to see you can still read, Mel – I’ve heard that one-night stands with overly hairy men can cause blindness, you know.”

Steve walked back down the hallway, scowling. Sweat broke out all over me, trickling between my shoulder blades. I reached down and pinched Joel hard on the arm, feeling a sick satisfaction when he flinched. He’d snitched. I was sure of it.

“Ready?” Steve asked in a clipped tone. I nodded and walked to the door, picking up my racquet bag. Steve shouldered the rest of the gear.

“I’ll see you over there. Good luck, Stink!” Joel called out.

I nodded and headed out to the lift. Steve followed in silence.

Neither of us spoke until we were almost at the Park.

“Mel, you know I’ve never tried to tell you how to live your life outside of tennis, and I know it isn’t really any of my business, but couldn’t you have waited until the Open was over before leaping into bed with Pete Levine?” Steve finally asked.

Fuck you, Joel, I thought. He must have gone straight to his father and dobbed me in last night.

“You’re right, Steve, it’snotany of your business,” I growled. Steve’s teeth clacked together. He always did that when he was furious about something.

“If you fuck this up today because you were too busy spreadingyour legs last night …” His angry tone became pleading, “Mel, you’ve worked so hard to get to where you are. Don’t let yourself down because of a man.”

I knew that everything he was saying was true, and that just made me even angrier. And since I didn’t want to be angry with the person I really should be – myself – I settled for being angry with Steve.

“Get fucked, Steve. Ihaveworked hard, and I really don’t think that a little bit of sex is going to spoil things.”

Steve grunted. “Well, all I can say is I hope it was worth it.”

The car pulled up at the player’s entrance. I leapt out. A small crowd of people were milling, looking equal parts embarrassed and starstruck as they held out phones for selfies. I posed stiffly for a few photos as Steve unpacked the gear from the hire car. My mood was foul, which wasn’t going to help my game, but I just couldn’t drag myself out of it.

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