Page 18 of Courting Trouble
‘I was weirdly looking forward to getting annihilated today,’ Delilah said, after a beat.
Cassie took a sip of her coffee. ‘You weren’t going to get annihilated.’
‘Please. I’m still very much at the annihilation stage of my tennis journey.’
‘Maybe. Maybe not.’
Delilah blinked. ‘Wait, was that a compliment?’
Cassie shrugged. ‘You’re not as shocking as you were.’
Delilah grinned. ‘Wow. You reallyarewarming to me.’
Cassie looked at her over the rim of her cup. ‘Don’t push it.’
But her eyes weren’t cold. And the silence that followed wasn’t awkward. Just new. Like a hallway neither of them had walked down before.
Delilah stirred her drink unnecessarily. ‘Can I ask you something?’
Cassie gave a small nod.
‘You ever get bored of it? Tennis, I mean. Coaching?’
Cassie was quiet for a beat too long. Then she said, ‘You’re not the first person to ask me that.’
‘And?’
‘Yes.’ She paused. ‘You spend enough time coaching the same type of person, it flattens out.’
‘What kind of people do you coach?’
‘Middle-aged people who use me like your average personal trainer. People who don’t really give a fuck about tennis.’
Delilah felt mild horror. ‘Why don’t you train real players? I mean, surely youcould.’
‘Maybe.’ Cassie took a long sip.
‘You’re not going to answer that question, are you?’
‘No,’ Cassie said pleasantly.
Delilah tilted her head. ‘So if most of your clients don’t care about tennis, why do you do it?’
Cassie set her cup down with care, as if weighing her words. ‘It pays the bills,’ she said simply.
‘That’s it?’ Delilah pressed. ‘You could be… anywhere else.’
Cassie’s eyes flicked up. ‘Not anywhere,’ she said evenly.
Delilah realised what she’d said. ‘Well… No. Sorry.’
‘It’s an old wound,’ Cassie assured her. Delilah felt she meant that in all senses.
‘So, how does it compare? Teaching me versus your usual people?’ Delilah asked. She knew she was fishing, but she couldn’t help it. How many opportunities like this would there be?
Cassie almost, but not quite, laughed. ‘You’re learning fast,’ she said.
‘Am I?’ Delilah leaned forward. ‘Because it feels like I’m still terrible.’
