Page 135 of Drop Shot
“No.” He laughs but there’s a seriousness to his gaze. “For trusting me.”
My heart dips at the earnestness in his expression. “I know you’ll always be careful with me.”
He presses a tender kiss to my neck. “Always.”
CHAPTER 44
ELIAS
“Wimbledon was brutal to you, huh?”Noah asks, a slight jest in his tone.
I wipe sweat from my face with the towel. We’ve been practicing for our US Open doubles match. We’d planned to play together at the Cincinnati Open, but luckily for me Noah agreed a break would be good for both of us ahead of the US Open.
“Fucking Trager,” I mutter. “And hey, it wasn’t too nice to you either,” I jest. Noah did at least make it to the quarter-finals, so much better than my pathetic short-lived run.
“You can’t win them all.” He reaches for his water bottle with a groan. “I’m getting too old for this.”
My eyes threaten to bug out in shock. “You’re not old, dude. Don’t even joke about that. Besides, Christensen is almost forty and still going,” I say, referring to a Danish player.
“It’s a lot on our bodies,” he says softly, and I fear he might seriously be considering retiring soon.
“It is,” I agree. “But we love it.”
“Yeah,” he muses. “I guess I’ve just been thinking a lot lately—about the future. There … uh …” He clears his throat. “There was a moment there where we thought Sabrina might be pregnant and I guess it just got me thinking when I have another kid what do I want? With Maddie I was still so young and wanted to pursue my career, but adding to the family … I don’t know. I kind of just want to bethere, you know? Not traveling. Not prioritizing tennis. Just being a dad.”
“You seriously think you might retire?”
He shrugs. “Like I said, it was a scare and it got me thinking. We’ve talked about it and we really don’t want to have a baby until after we’ve been married at least a year, but you never know.”
With a sigh, I lean my head back. “If you retire who the hell am I supposed to poke fun at?”
“Yourself?” he suggests unhelpfully.
“Fuck you,” I laugh, lightly punching his shoulder.
Fisher comes over, a small smile playing on his lips. “You guys were good today.”
“A compliment.” I press a hand over my heart. “Does it come with a sticker?”
Fisher chuckles and scoops a water bottle out of the cooler for himself. “Ask Maddie—she probably has one.”
Maddie, Noah’s daughter, likes to give him stickers when he wins and loses.
When Fisher’s walked off to chat with the rest of our coaching team, Noah asks, “How are things with you and Whimsy? Have you told her how you feel yet?”
“It’s real. Very real.” I take a long sip of water. “And it’s better than I could’ve imagined.”
He claps me on the back. “I’m happy for you.”
“Thanks.” I can’t help the smile I always sport when I think of Whimsy. “She’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
Noah’s smile matches mine. “These women really know how to become our whole world, don’t they?”
I chuckle. “Yeah. They sure do.”
“We need to get everyone together for dinner soon,” he suggests, reaching down into his bag for a towel. “It’s been too long since we’ve all done anything—Ebba included.”
“It’s hard when we’re so busy.”
