Page 115 of Wicked Serve

“So let’s go. It sounds fun, I’m all about helping more girls discover how cool volleyball is.” She draws a heart on my paper. I pull hers over and add a star. “And then you can come to spring league practice.”

“Torie—”

“Just saying.” She nudges my shoe with hers. “We all miss you.”

“Fine.” A guy turns around to shush us. I drop my voice to a whisper, even though it’s not like there’s anything fascinating to pay attention to. I’m not sure how this professor manages to make the drama of Greek mythology so boring. “Just one practice.”

“Hey,” I call as I enter the house. I toss my keys onto the table in the foyer, poking my head around the corner. “Nik? You here?”

He should be; he’s spent the better part of the week here. He hasn’t spent much time at his dorm at all, lately, which I selfishly love. I get to sleep beside him at night, but surrounded by my stuffed animals, with all of my hair products in the bathroom. We don’t have to deal with his dorm neighbors, and if Cooper has heard anything he doesn’t want to hear, he has the good sense not to bring it up. It’s perfection.

“Kitchen,” he calls.

I slip out of my shoes and jacket. At the doorway to the kitchen, I smile. He’s chopping bell peppers with careful concentration. Penny’s at the kitchen table, typing on her laptop, and Cooper’s standing by the stove, making a face at whatever is in the Dutch oven.

“I should have paid more attention when Sebastian made this,” he says. “How’s it going, Iz?”

I kiss Nik on the cheek, stealing a piece of pepper. “What are you making?”

“A Thai-style curry,” Nik says. He sets down the knife, putting his arm around my waist so he can give me a proper kiss. “Allegedly. I’m just playing sous-chef, so don’t blame me if it sucks.”

“They’ve been very involved,” Penny says, a touch dryly. “I was just on the phone with Mia, Iz, she’ll be sad she missed you.”

I grab a seltzer from the fridge and crack it open as I sit next to her at the table. “I’ll text her later.”

“How was the volunteer thing?” Nik asks. “You’re home late.”

I bring my knees to my chest, hugging them as I sip the seltzer. “It was actually really fun.” I snort as I remember Victoria’s dramatic speech to our team during the scrimmage; Ellie and Shona handled the other team. We pulled out the win, but it wasn’t very serious. “The kids were all into it. There were only a few, but still. The gym teacher loved us. We’re going back next week.”

“That’s great.”

“But, um... I’m later than I thought because I went to spring league practice after. Don’t say I told you so,” I warn when his eyes widen.

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” He passes Cooper the peppers, then starts in on the broccoli. “I’m happy to hear it, that’s all.”

“Same,” Penny says, smiling as she shuts her laptop and sets it aside. “It’s fun to teach, isn’t it?”

“It’s fun to be reminded that you’re actually good at something,” I admit.

It might be silly, but demonstrating skills, cheering from the sidelines—it was a confidence boost. Whenever I’ve thought about volleyball lately, it’s been wrapped in uncertainty, but this brought me all the way back to the basics. I spent a while teaching this one girl, Joana, how to serve the ball, and when she finally got the hang of it, we celebrated like she just won the lottery.

“I like passing on skills,” Penny says. “We all had to learn from someone, in the beginning.”

“Yeah,” I say, smiling at the memory of Joana hugging me before I left. “I’m glad I went.”

Cooper looks over his shoulder, a pair of tongs in hand. His shirt is covered in oil splatters. I wince, but don’t say anything about missing Sebastian’s cooking. Between the two of us, it’s a miracle we haven’t set the house on fire.

“And I’ll bet your teammates were happy to see you,” he says.

I smile. They embraced me the moment I walked through the doors with Victoria. I thought it would feel strange, but I fell back into the routine as easily as slipping into my favorite pair of pajamas.

“Don’t give me that look.”

“What look?” he says, glancing at Nik. They smile at each other.

“Both of you are doing it. Ugh.”

Nik comes around the island, flicking my cheek. I blush at the fondness in his expression.

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