“He’s making enough of a fool of himself all on his own. Maybe he would have played better if he wasn’t so busy making goo-goo eyes at you.”
My head snapped towards Joel, who was moving around to the other side of the net, picking up a couple of balls.
“Is that jealousy I hear in your voice?” I asked him sharply.
He pouted at me. “You’d like it to be, wouldn’t you, Stink?”
I grumbled under my breath, but I took my position on the base line. Joel served hard, and all the frustrated thoughts left my mind – I had to concentrate to make sure I didn’t miss the ball.
Joel didn’t hold back on me. I realised that he always had in the past – he’d never played me this hard before. He’d never played me to beat me.
And that’s exactly what he did.
I was puffing by the time he let up.
“How’s your ankle?” he asked as he collected the balls and took my racquet from me.
“Tender,” I admitted. “Apart from that I feel okay, except for my wounded pride.”
He huffed out a laugh. “You did really well, Stink. I thought I’d own you, with your ankle and all. But you held your own.”
I snorted in disbelief – if he called that holding my own, I would hate to see what he would call me having a bad game. I walked back into the house and sat down on the weights bench, pulling my shoes and socks off. Joel put away our stuff and came to inspect my ankle.
“Hmm, it’s a little swollen. Maybe we’ll ice it for ten minutes or so.” He went to the freezer in the bar at the other end of the enormous rumpus room, and pulled out an ice pack, returning and strapping it to my ankle. He looked up at me from his position crouched on the floor.
“I wasn’t going too hard, was I?” he asked worriedly.
I smiled. “No, Joel. It was actually good – I needed to test myself out before Dubai.”
He grinned crookedly at me. “I know. That’s why I had to give you a go; Ben wasn’t any help at all.”
I shook my head at him. “Why did you let him do it? Were you trying to make a fool out of him?”
Joel chuckled. “No. Well, maybe. He just really wanted to play you, who am I to discourage him?”
He stood up and hauled me off the seat. He gripped my elbow as we mounted the stairs, but I shrugged him off – I didn’t need any help.
“I’m going to shower,” Joel said, “When I’m done, we’ll take that off and look at it again. Are you all packed?”
I nodded as he headed up towards his bedroom.
I went out to sit on the deck, propping my leg up on a chair, and staring out at the night lights of Sydney. I wouldn’t see them now for a fortnight, and then I’d be back for only a week before I headed to Indian Wells.
Ben came and sat down beside me. As if he could read my thoughts, he murmured, “It’s a beautiful city, isn’t it?”
I nodded, feeling like no words could really describe just how beautiful it was to me.
“I’ve travelled a lot in the last ten years, Mel, and I’ve seen some pretty amazing places in that time. But nothing compares to Sydney. No matter how long I stay away, it’s always home to me.”
“I’m hearing you,” I replied, taking a sip from the bottle of water that Joel had left on the table at dinner.
“I love Dubai – I love that every day I wake up and there’s something new being built. It’s a place of great opportunity for someone like me. But when I find the right woman, and I settle down and start a family, I can’t think of anywhere but here that I would raise them.”
“So, you’re flying tomorrow?” I asked, changing the subject. Ben’s conversation topic was becoming a little too strange for me.
He nodded. “Early flight. What time does yours leave?”
“Ten thirty.”