Page 108 of In the Safety's Zone

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My hand went to my heart as I smiled again, thinking my name was going to be synonymous with tennis excellence.

“I’m just so grateful that this year has played out how I trained for it. My ability to work hard and stay positive even when things were getting a little tricky there. I…I’m honestly speechless right now.”

“You absolutely did. You got a second wind after going down in the second set. Where did it come from?”

“Faith. From the number of people I have in my corner who always believe in me. I didn’t lose faith and it was their voices that I heard in my head telling me to dig deep.”

Lord I knew he was the one who'd get that innuendo and I was trying my hardest to keep a straight face. Anthony’s favorite joke when I was tired and he watched me practice was to encourage me to dig deep the same way he did when he was in my pussy.

“Well, it seems you have some very loud fans that are cheering for you.”

“What do you mean?” I was about to take offense when the announcer, a man who had played the sport for years before me pointed to the stands.

It was there I saw all of my friends: Billy, Yzzy, Rye, Sterling, Carine, Lyric, Rachelle and her cousin Tiana were all there cheering. I didn’t bother trying to hide my excitement and I jumped up and down, waving at them and pumping my racket in the air. I was crying harder now watching these women celebrate with me. It was crazy but I didn’t even look for my parents in the crowd. These women were my friends, my family and their support meant the world to me.

When I finally turned back to the camera I was sure I looked a mess and I didn’t care at all.

“Apparently, you’ve got an entire NFL team behind you too. We have our cameras at an undisclosed hotel in the city. We were told there is a US Open watch party happening with theDesperadosas they’re set to play the New York Sentinels tomorrow.”

“Are you serious?”

I barely choked out the words before he pointed to the big screen and watched the replay of match point being shown in a ballroom. Dozens of players who should be worried about their own game tomorrow were watching and I saw Anthony and Antwan jumping and cheering loudly as I fell to my knees. Anthony was grinning broadly as Antwan shook his shoulders in congratulations and I felt the tears fall, seeing that I had such a huge group of people supporting me in their own way.

“How about that?” The mic was back in my face and I wasn’t going to give him the sound bite he was looking for right now.

“Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever had an entire team behind me before. Feels kind of cool.”

“Just cool?” His brows were raised and he was trying to get a headline before theDesperados’first game but I wasn’t going to give it to him.

“I mean I have to be respectful of everyone else and not feel myself too much, you know.” I shrugged and smiled just wanting to enjoy this moment so I could get off the court and get some fluid in me before I passed out. My adrenaline was going to tank any second and passing out on national TV and making Anthony worry would’ve been a terrible way to end today.

“Well, this is your home area, your home court and now it seems like you have the entire sport of tennis in the palm of your hands. Can you tell us how it feels to win here and make history here?”

“Honestly, amazing. The making history part was never my goal. I wanted only to compete with the best and beat the best. I’m proud to say that I’ve been able to accomplish that so far this year. My name might be the one to go down in the record books, but there are so many people that worked so hard to get me to this point. My loved ones, my friends who came to see me — they all kept me focused on my goals so that I could stay disciplined and never falter. A special thanks to Marion Lacy and Dr. Richard Morrison and theDesperadosfor all their help in overseeing my rehab so I could be out here tonight performing at such a high level.”

The reporter grinned and I knew he was setting me up for one last question. “Anyone else you want to thank?”

I smiled coyly and looked into the camera. “Not particularly. But I wanted to say this: it’s your turn, Bam. Let’s get it!”

CHAPTER TWELVE

Game Day

APHRODITE

I KNEW HE was nervous.

Hell, he’d thrown up this morning during our video call. I’d called him when I finally made it back to my room after the multiple rounds of interviews. He’d asked me to just stay on the phone until he fell asleep and I knew I'd knocked out before he did. It was one thing to be on the scout team but being on the roster carried a lot more weight. More people with their eyes on you meant that they were waiting on you to fail. He didn’t want that. I was worried that he was going to get in his own head and that would cause a self-fulfilling prophecy.

I’d been too anxious to stay in my hotel for long but like he’d predicted, I had press obligations I had to meet before I could think about getting to the game. I told Bobby my hard cutoff time was 2:00 so that I had time to get dressed and make it to the stadium. Anthony tried to convince me to come and see him before the game and I refused. I missed him but I knew that if he needed to freak out, he should probably do that alone. Or he would try not to freak out and appear put together in front of me, which would make things that much worse. He needed to feel whatever was going through his mind and come to terms with it so that he could focus on what he needed to do today. I was so proud of him that I felt like I would burst. I knew what it felt like to want something so badly. My first televised tournament, I threw up right before the match and almost lost it because I didn’t have any energy since my nourishment was in the toilet. Literally. Anthony needed to have his mind on his performance and put me to the back.

“You think this looks okay?”

I looked at the black leather paper bag shorts Sterling was wearing, the black jersey and the blue ankle boots that set it off. She had on some skin tone colored fishnets that gave the whole look a really sexy vibe but was still classy. She had a giant necklace on her neck that anyone would be familiar with if they watched theDesperadosplay. It was diamonds and platinum and it said Fast$Money on the front. How these two thought they weren’t going to cause an uproar with her wearing his chain was beyond me but I would let them be delusional if they wanted to be.

“You look more than okay, girl; you're about to shut down the entire suite.”

She lowered her eyes and I really wished I could punch whoever made her feel like she wasn’t beautiful. Sterling was the type of girl who had a sweet look about her. From her deep skin that was melanin-rich, to her style and expressive brown eyes she was stunning to look at. Her curly brown hair, which looked like her mama had never permed it, was lush and hanging down her back like a cape.