Page 69 of The Heiress
That chill returned, making me shiver. I’d been thinking of every worse case scenario—and Phoenix had been with his best friend. Gah, how pathetic had I been?
“I think I might have jumped to conclusions,” I muttered in shame.
“So, there’s been a...misunderstanding?” Taylor asked.
“Maybe,” I said, my head whirling with the possibility that I’d gotten everything totally and utterly wrong.
“So, something did happen between the two of you?” Taylor prodded gently. “Because Max said Phoe was weird on Sunday, and he’s been a grump all week.”
“Maybe,” I said again, although this time I smiled.
Taylor had a plan, one which involved tennis and Phoenix. She took me to Mrs. Stephens’ office to sign up for the coaching clinic she was running with Phoenix’s assistance. And we sat out on the stands by the tennis courts where I told her about the night in the plunge pool. We giggled as I recalled Phoenix’s kisses under the stars, but you know what? It was the best thing—like, I’d been dying to tell someone about it. What’s a kiss if you can’t tell a friend about it, right?
Taylor was also very forward about her first kiss with Max, how it was unexpected, how it had been full of tennis puns—he’dacedthe kiss, but worried that she wouldn’treturn it,or that he might be atfault.
But there had been one thing that had been bugging me, and I seized the opportunity to ask Taylor. “Hey, was Max in the car accident with Phoenix and his mother?”
“No,” Taylor said, frowning as if it was an absurd remark.
“Oh. It’s just that Laura said that Max had stopped playing tennis and that you helped him get back into the game. I thought he might have been injured too.” Well, it had been the only assumption I’d come up with.
“Oh. No,” Taylor said, letting out a sigh. “What happened was Max felt guilty about the accident. Phoenix was supposed to ride to the tournament with Max that day, but Max was running late. He blamed himself for the accident and thought he’d be helping Phoenix by not playing again. But, of course, Phoenix didn’t want that.”
“No, of course not,” I said, shaken by this news, but not surprised. Phoenix’s heart was full of kindness, his spirit rare and exceptional.
A feeling of gratitude overwhelmed me. And even though I’d been surviving on eight minute showers this week, Beth and I were firm friends, banding together to win the quiz competition, and I’d joined with the dorm girls to complete a thousand piece jigsaw puzzle in two nights, and now, thanks to Taylor, I’d get to make up with Phoenix.
I was living that regular, ordinary life that Mom and Dad wanted for me—but it was okay, more than okay, because it was full of extraordinary people.
And one who was more extraordinary than most.
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Ididn’t get to hitmany balls because Phoenix spent most of his time helping Gregory with his forehand. Gregory was one of those kids who’d had one semester of coaching and thought he knew it all. Phoenix was extremely patient, correcting his grip and his stance—basically changing everything he’d been taught.
Taylor called us back to one court for a group game, and Gregory didn’t leave Phoenix’s side, giving me no chance to get him alone. Gee, I couldn’t get a word in.
At 5:20, Mrs. Stephens called for everyone to pitch in to gather the balls, baskets and rackets. She was driving the van back to school, dropping off the six of us who were from the boarding school.
Gregory followed Phoenix as he put his racket into his bag. “Is it better to stand back behind the baseline to receive the serve or closer to the service box? I think it’s better to stand up closer, otherwise they might serve a sneaky one over the net.”
“Yeah, they might,” Phoenix said. “But you have to learn to hit the ball back before you worry about that. You just concentrate on having a firm grip on your racket.”
“What kind of racket is best?” Gregory asked. “Should I buy one like yours? I don’t think these school ones are very good.”
“It’s fine for beginners,” Phoenix said, unperturbed by the constant questioning. “Why don’t you take it to Mrs. Stephens so she can pack it away?” He pointed to the other side of the court.
“Wow,” I said, smirking as I sidled up to him. “Looks like you’ve got a bit of a fan.”
“He’s keen to learn,” Phoenix said. “That’s a good thing.”
“I’m keen to learn, but I didn’t get as much one-on-one attention as he did,” I said, surprising myself by being so openly flirty. But hey, I’d been thinking about Phoenix practically 24/7 since he’d kissed me and knowing we’d been avoiding each other over a miscommunication meant a lot of time had to be made up.
Phoenix cast me a sideways glance, the corners of his mouth curling ever so slightly. “Are you looking for some private coaching?”
“Maybe,” I said. “Do you think I have potential?”
“Maybe,” Phoenix said, tilting his neck to the side, his eyes roaming across my face. It was the simplest, most ordinary thing—a boy looking at a girl—but the glint in his eye made my heart soar and my pulse flutter.
