Page 74 of Ace My Heart

“Oh, me too, Stink.” He replied thickly. Something in his voice made me glance curiously at him, but he was looking straight ahead, his face unreadable.

We reached the car. I waited until Joel had started the engine before I asked my next question.

“Are you going to spend the night with Amazon woman?”

Joel looked at me out of the corner of his eye. “You mean Georgie? Why? You’re not …jealous, are you Stinky?”

I was. And I hated it.

I didn’t reply, and for once Joel didn’t push me. We made the journey back to his house in silence. I changed into my tennis gear, ready for whatever training Joel had in store for me.

He seemed preoccupied when I went out onto the tennis court. He’d set up the drills he wanted me to do and I started immediately, pushing myself harder than usual, hoping that I could sweat out the swooping sensation that plagued my stomach when I looked at him.

Drills complete, Joel packed everything away, returning with racquets and balls.

“You look tense, Stink. Take it out on the ball.”

He served it to me, and I smashed it back at him with as much force as I could muster. It hit him on the shoulder. I saw him wince.

That afternoon I found a way to make myself feel better that Joel would be out with Amazon tonight, while I sat at home and triednotto think about what they were doing …

Fuck.

Joel would have a lot of bruises. Maybe he’d be too sore to screw the Amazon. I grinned at that thought and lobbed another ball at him.

He called it quits when I managed to hit him on the upper thigh – too close to his favourite body part for comfort, I guessed.

“You’re annoyed at me,” he said, a tone of wonder in his voice. “You’rereallyannoyed at me this time, not just play annoyed.”

I refused to meet his eyes. “So what if I am?” I asked.

“Youarejealous!” he crowed.

I ignored him to start my cool down, paying particular attention to the stretches the physio had given me for my back. Joel didn’t like being ignored. He knelt in front of me, touching two fingers under my chin, pulling it up until our eyes met.

“Stink, I won’t go out with her, if that’s what’s upsetting you.” He sounded surprisingly genuine, which freaked me out more. I shook my head, breaking Joel’s hold on me.

“No, don’t spoil your night onmyaccount. I mean, you must be about to explode – you haven’t spent the night with a girl for how many days now? Is it into the weeks yet?” I teased, but my voice was strained.

Joel pulled his phone out. “I’m calling Georgie and telling her that I can’t make it.”

I started to protest, but he leaned over me, clapping a hand over my mouth. I was trapped. I squeezed my eyes tight shut and screamed in my head as he spoke into the phone; I so didn’t want to hear his conversation.

He took his hand off my mouth, and I sat up. “What did you dothatfor?” I demanded. “I said it was fine!”

He stared at me and I fell silent.

“You’d better be nice to me tonight, Stink. I have some very good memories with Georgie I could be reliving this evening.”

I groaned. “Call her back and tell her you can make it after all,” I begged. “I don’t know if I have enough energy in me to be nice to you.”

Joel cracked a massive smile then. “It’s okay, Stinky. It’s worth it to know that you’re jealous.”

I bit my lip to keep from screaming incoherently in my frustration. Iwasjealous. But it wasn’t because I wanted Joel. I didn’t. Idefinitelydidn’t.

I just wasn’t sure exactly what the reason was.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

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