Page 39 of A Follow-Through in Faking
“I’ll take pretty decent,” he says with a chuckle, and I feel his lips pressing against the crown of my head.
“Thank you for everything, Santi. I’m so happy right now,” I add, because I know tomorrow I can go back to being irritated with him.
For now, he’s done something so sweet, it feels wrong to let our past taint the moment.
“Happy birthday,mi mariquita.”
Chapter 17
Santiago
Catalinahuggedme.
For several minutes.
I smile every time I think about it.
Yes, she touched me before. She couldn’t stop touching my body in the park, but there is a difference between touching someone out of desire and touching them because you’re so overcome by emotion, the only thing you can do is hold onto them. To let them hold you in return and steady you while you work through the truckload of emotions hitting your chest.
That’s what that hug was yesterday, and fuck, I know it wasjust a hug, but it was one from Catalina. They’re as rare as seeing a shooting star in the night sky, and they feel as good as a warm bath after a physically exhausting day.
“Semi-finals, Santiago. I’m going to need you to stop thinking about Catalina long enough to win this match,” Papá says, dragging me out of my thoughts.
“I’m not thinking about her,” I lie, still stretching to warm up.
“And I don’t think about your mother twenty-three hours a day. We can lie to each other, but it won’t get us anywhere,” he replies, making me grin. God, that man is so wrapped around Mamá’s finger. It’s adorable.
“You think about her in your sleep?” I challenge, but he crosses his muscular arms over his chest and smirks at me.
“Naturally. She is the star of all my dreams. Isn’t Cata the star of yours?” I throw my towel at his head, but he catches it with a chuckle.
Manuela appears in my warm-up room, the dark circles underneath her eyes making my heart drop. She told me she was going to be here before my match, but she sounded okay over the phone. She didn’t sound like she looks.
Devastated.
“Manu,que pasó?” I ask, standing up and taking three quick strides toward her. My hands find her arms, and she lets me hold onto her as she tells me something that shatters my heart for her.
“She broke up with me,” she says, tears filling her already reddened eyes. Manu must have been crying a lot since it happened, and I feel even worse for not having been there for her.
“I’m so sorry,” I say and pull her into a hug. She lets it happen for several seconds before stepping back and letting out a breath.
“It doesn’t matter now. Go win your match. We can talk after.” I’m not happy with that at all, but Papá pulls Manu into a bear hug, offering her comfort. She starts sobbing into his chest, and I realize she doesn’t need me.
My sister needs her parents.
I shove all of that aside, no matter how much I don’t want to.
There is a match I have to win. Cata will be watching, too, which means I have to be even more impressive. We alreadypracticed early this morning, when she wore a shirt that read, “Women should rule the world.”
She seemed very content with my consistency. In turn, I was impressed with the drop shots, volleys, and overhead smashes she was hitting my way.
Her listening to my feedback and adjusting her game to take more risks, try out more things, is hopefully going to help her win her first Grand Slam this week.
She’s so close. Yet again, she’s only two matches from winning a title, and I want that for her. I want her to know what it feels like to soak in the glory of winning a tournament like this. Plus, it would help her immensely in getting closer to overtaking Layla as the number one female tennis player in the world.
My competition of the day is Winston Finnick. He’s number four in the world, and I’m a little more nervous this time than I was last time. My anxiety has my hands shaking and my heart racing, but I take several deep breaths, holding them for a few seconds, before releasing them again. The sight of Cata eases the feeling of panic even more, and I wish I knew why all it takes to settle me is that grumpy look on her face. She’s locked down her feelings once more, even after how much we bonded yesterday, but I don’t mind.
I know what happened between us.
