Page 46 of Rookie Move
“Fair enough. Is Coach going to play you tomorrow?”
“I wish I knew.”
“Good luck!”
“Thanks.”
They hung up, and Leo was even grumpier than he’d been before. So he gave up on resting and put on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. The hotel undoubtedly had a gym. He would find it, maybe run a couple of miles on the treadmill. Obviously, he needed to burn off some of the shit swirling around in his head.
But when he left his room, he saw Georgia step into an elevator, wearing tennis clothes and carrying her racket case over her shoulder. Before he could get there, its doors closed.
It was almost like seeing a ghost.
He waited for another elevator, and when one arrived, Silas was on it, wearing workout clothes, too. “Hey, man! Coming to the gym?”
Leo hesitated. “I have a sudden urge to play tennis. You think there’s a court?”
Silas shrugged. “Dunno. Ask the concierge. You know we’re doing Thai food later, right?”
“Sure. I saw it on the schedule.” Leo chuckled.
“Well, bring your gold card. It’s the first restaurant meal on the road. O’Doul’s gonna order every expensive thing on the menu and leave you with the bill. Rookie dinner. It’s a tradition.”
Ah, of course it was. “Good to know.” The elevators parted in the lobby. “Catch you later? Come hungry, I guess.”
“Sure thing.”
Leo sought out the concierge desk. “Hey there. I heard there was somewhere to play tennis nearby?”
“Right next door—it’s a good club. They take walk-ins.” The woman in the gold blazer smiled at him.
“Great.” He smiled back at her. “My next question is whether you have any rackets back there for idiots who forgot theirs.”
“Of course we do.”
***
Five minutes later he was armed with a cheap racket and directions to the tennis club in the next building over. He found Georgia warming up opposite a preppy young man in tennis whites, who was blatantly staring at her chest. “So what do you want to practice?” the guy asked her, his eyes like lasers on her cleavage. “Have you worked on your slice yet?”
A flash of barely concealed amusement flashed through Georgia’s eyes. Leo could almost see her wheels turning. Her gaze said,I’ll school you on your slice...
That would have been worth watching, too. Except that Leo’s inner caveman couldn’t stand by and let another man practice with Georgia if he was available. “Hey there,” he heard himself say. “Can I play, too?”
Both Georgia and her ogler turned at the same time. “Private lesson,” Preppy Dude said dismissively.
Georgia raised an eyebrow at him, as if to ask,What are you doing here?
“That’s a shame,” Leo said. “Because now I won’t know if I can still beat her in straight sets.”
“What?” Georgia yelped. “That is not how I remember it.” She crossed her arms under her sports bra, and Leo had to look away to avoid becoming an ogler of her cleavage, too.
“I won sometimes,” he insisted. “I’m pretty sure.”
She rolled her eyes. “Get over here. Somebody needs a spanking.”
Holy hell. She didn’t mean it like it sounded, but he liked hearing it anyway.
Leo moseyed over to the opposite side of the court, and the tennis pro reluctantly stepped back. “All right, guys. Let’s see how well you’re matched,” he said.
