Page 50 of Ace My Heart

“Hi, Brad. Yeah, she’s something else alright.”

“Are you upset?”

I shrugged. “A little bit. But I played hard, so it’s just a lesson learned. Joel’s going to try and get us an earlier flight so that he can spend some time with his mum before we leave for California.”

“Great, Mel! I miss you. I would say Amanda does too, but she’sbeen too busy with Thomas – it’s almost sickening how cute they are together.”

“Oh God, Brad, I forgot,” I gasped, “I promised to call you as soon as I arrived, and I didn’t and that was six days ago! I’m so sorry!”

Brad laughed lightly. “It’s okay, Smell. I figured you were busy: you’ve got enough to think about when you’re competing. Besides, I can live vicariously through Joel’s Instagram updates.”

“Joel’s Insta … is he postingmeon Instagram?”

“Honestly Mel, don’t you check your notifications? He tags you in everything.”

“I’ve banned myself from social media. I still have a sour taste from some of the shit people said about me.”

“Well, Joel definitely takes a lot of great shots of you.”

“I’m sorry I forgot to call. I’ll make it up to you – let’s catch up for dinner and drinks. You, me and Amanda, and Thomas too I guess, when I get home.”

“Sounds great, Mel. I’d better go, it’s late and I start clinical placement tomorrow.”

“Good luck!”

I hung up the phone feeling much calmer – Brad had that effect on me. I lay back on my bed and closed my eyes, working up the motivation to get back in the shower to condition my hair.

“Hey Stink, I’m sorry about before, okay? Are you –” Joel stopped short as he eyed me naked except for my towel that had fallen open. I leapt up, tightening it around me.

“Christ, Joel, don’t you know how to knock?!” I demanded. Then it sunk in. “Hold on, did you justapologiseto me?”

Joel choked out a cough and met my eyes, a hint of a smile on his face. “Yes, I did apologise. I guess I owe you another one – sorry for walking in on you in the middle of … going to town on yourself?”

I glowered through my blush. “I wasn’t ‘going to town’, thank you very much, and you shouldalwaysknock no matter how you expect to find someone, before you enter their room.”

He cocked a smile at me. “But then I’d never get to see you in all your beautiful nakedness!”

I nudged him back out the door. “I’m sure you’d cope.”

He braced his foot in the door to stop it from closing, and he stared right into my eyes.

“I am sorry about before. Ben asked me to tell you to shower and get dressed, because he’s taking us out for dinner tonight. And also, I’ve got us on a flight tomorrow.”

“Oh. Okay. Um, what’s the dress code for this dinner? Casual I hope …”

Joel’s brow furrowed. “Stink, when it comes to Ben, there’s no such thing as casual.” He took his foot out of the door and walked away. I watched his retreating back, an ominous tingle shooting up my spine.

No such thing as casual.

God, I prayed fervently as I conditioned my hair,please get me out of this mess without hurting Ben’s feelings, or making him mad at me.

I hurriedly dried my hair and threw clothes around the room in a desperate attempt to find something that would be suitable for a fancy restaurant. I hadn’t really packed anything appropriate. I travelled to play tennis, not socialise, so I rarely packed anything fancy, especially for the Middle East; where covered shoulders and knees was a dress code requirement in most places.

In the end I only really had one choice – a pair of fitted black pants and a cream blouse.

“Ugh!” I snarled as I tossed the items onto the bed.

There was a knock on the door. Obviously, Joel was learning. And good timing too – he had good fashion sense, and wouldn’t hold back if he thought I should start panicking about my attire. I opened the door.

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