Page 40 of Ace My Heart

“You look like you’ve moved in here, Mel – your stuff’s everywhere,” she commented lightly, sitting down on the edge of the bed. I avoided her gaze.

“Yeah, I’ve been staying here lately. It’s just easier, with training and all, to be close to Joel. And you have no idea how hard it was to be alone in my apartment after …”

“Smell, you don’t have to justify it to me – I can’t even imagine … But tell me, is there something going on between you and Joel?”

I glared at her. “Joel’s my trainer, and I guess sometimes I would call him a friend. But no, just,no! I couldn’t go there!”

“Couldn’t, or wouldn’t?” she asked quietly, not looking away from Connor.

I grabbed my socks, ankle brace and shoes. “Wouldn’t. End of conversation.”

She shrugged and put Connor back down on the bed. He yowled once and pranced up to my pillow, settling down for the night.

Back out on the deck I tugged the brace onto my ankle. Joel knelt, his big hands sweeping over my ankle to check the brace position.

“Don’t overdo it, Stink,” he muttered.

“I won’t,” I promised him as I tied my shoes.

“And go easy on Ben, okay? He’s your warm-up tonight. You’ll need it.” He smirked. Yep, he had some agenda he wasn’t telling me about. I scowled at him.

“You’re so cute when you’re annoyed, Stinky,” he teased, tweaking my nose, which only frustrated me more.

“Hey, we might go,” Brad said, as Amanda and Thomas gathered their things.

“No, it’s okay, it’s just a friendly match, you’re welcome to stay and watch,” I replied, standing up and stretching. Brad shook his head.

“That’s okay – you’ll want to get a good night’s sleep before you leave tomorrow.” Brad kissed me on the cheek. I flung my arms around his neck and hugged him tight.

“Good luck in Dubai, Smellie. Knock ’em dead!” he whispered into my ear, his arms circling my waist.

“Thanks Brad. I’ll call you when I get there.”

“Promise?” he asked, leaning back and holding his pinkie finger up to me. I clasped it with my own.

“Promise.”

I hugged Amanda goodbye too and Thomas stepped forward, offering a timid hand for me to shake.

I grinned. “Hopefully I’ll get to see you again when I’m back in the country,” I said, gripping his hand.

“I … I’m around as long as Amanda will have me,” he stammered. Aw, he really was adorable!

Ben, Joel and I made our way down to the court. Joel flicked a switch, flooding the court with bright white light. I picked up my practice racquet from where I had left it that morning, and Benpicked up the other one. Joel tossed a ball in my direction. I caught it on my racquet, and taking Joel’s advice, I served the ball slowly to Ben.

He missed. Not only did he miss, he tripped over in the process of missing. Joel snorted quietly. I gave him a sharp glance, and he passed me another ball.

Ben missed every serve, so I offered him the ball to serve.

He served it into the net. Seven times in a row. The eighth time he actually got it over the net and into the service box. I returned it and he hit the ground with the racquet. It ricocheted up into his face, slicing him above the eye.

As he slumped off the court, pressing the heel of his hand to the cut on his forehead, I couldn’t even really call it a game. I wasn’t sure what to call it.

“Sorry, Mel. That wasn’t a good practise for you. I told you I missed the sport gene.” Ben shrugged, still managing a grin even with a bleeding head. He dropped the racquet and walked back into the house to seek out a first-aid kit.

Joel looked so self-satisfied I wanted to slap him.

“You knew he couldn’t play, you let him make a fool of himself!” I accused. Joel laughed, reaching out and picking up the racquet that Ben had relinquished.

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