Page 108 of Clean Point

She nodded. ‘I’m in therapy, I promise.’

I almost laughed then, realizing as I held it back that I barely recognized her. She was no longer an enemy, at least temporarily. Her hand stretched out and met mine, her warm touch against my ice-cold palm.

‘I want you to know that I’m sorry for treating you that way. I was hurt, but I believe you.’

I felt the world shift under my seat, like a new lens had taken everything blurry and made it clear enough to see again. I couldn’t keep the tears back, my eyes filling up. I took my other hand and wiped them away, but I kept my left on hers, the warmth of her hand grounding me in my body.

‘You can’t let him get away with this. Not again,’ she said, her voice firm. She’d always had more fight than I did, on and off the court. If anyone was going to fight their hardest until the very end, it was Dylan. All this time, I was pushing her away, but maybe she was exactly the person I’d needed all along on my team.

On a deep exhale, I broke again, my hand gripping hers. ‘He’s not going to stop … is he?’

She shook her head, her eyes not leaving mine. ‘But you can end it. There will be some evidence with the umpire, we can get them to investigate it. With both of our stories, and considering I have absolutely no reason to take your side other than I believe you, we will force them to act. At the very least, stop him from hurting anyone else.’

She read the hesitation on my face. ‘Or we can set Loverboy free from the bathroom and make him force them.’ Somehow, she forced a gasping laugh through the tears running down my cheeks, just as a voice rose from the bathroom.

‘Does that mean I can come out now?’

Dylan was quick with her simple retort. ‘No. I’m quite happy to keep pretending that I’m not sitting in some sex den.’ She forced yet another laugh from me. ‘I don’t want to think about what you two animals have been doing on,’ she pulled herself up from the chair, looking around suspiciously, ‘every surface in this room.’

The door to the bathroom cracked open, revealing Nico wrapped up in his own robe this time, his hair still curly and wet from the shower. His expression was serious, but I could see the pride in his eyes. It felt like hours had passed since we were in there together. So much had changed.

‘So, can we do this?’ Dylan asked, pulling my attention back to her.

My answer was two years in the making. I’d stopped running long enough to let Nico in, to let myself come back to the sport I’d loved. I’d convinced myself that this life had been taken from me, that there was no return, nothing but the remnants of an old existence that I’d scarcely survived.

Now, I knew I could still have it. I just had to be willing to fight to keep it. All I needed to do was be brave enough to tell the truth.

‘Let’s end him.’

46

Scottie

Karma – Taylor Swift

All my life had been leading to this single moment. A hot summer’s day in mid-July, Wimbledon’s Centre Court, the Mixed Doubles Final, and Nico Kotas’s soothing hand rubbing the tension from my upper back. We could hear the electric buzz of the crowd all the way from the locker room, and soon it would be time to head outside and meet our opponents.

‘You okay?’ Nico asked.

I let out a short laugh, looking across the room, searching for the nearest exit. ‘I think I’m going to throw up.’

‘Same.’ My gaze met his, and I found a small smile. ‘Maybe we can share a bin.’

‘How romantic,’ I teased. ‘I doubt we need any more team bonding.’

‘I’m sure we have time for one more quick practice session. I hear the cleaning closets here are pretty roomy.’

‘I’ll meet you there if we win.’

He stepped closer, his pull so magnetic I couldn’t help but step in closer, facing him head on as he spoke. ‘And if we lose?’

‘I’ll meet you at the bar first.’

‘A public place? I don’t think so. Make it your room, a bottle of tequila, and absolutely no clothes.’

I hummed with anticipation, memories of the last few days playing over in my mind. His room had been all but abandoned as we spent almost every waking moment together, either in practice preparing for doubles, on the court fighting our way to today’s final, or wrapped up in my bed sheets together.

A quick glance at the clock told me that we did not have time to sneak off to a supply closet.

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