Page 1 of Off Court Fix

“Hold still.”

I don’t need to open my eyes to know the tweezer is a millimeter away, ready to pulverize my eyeball.

Alyssa huffs, holding the top of my head to keep me in place while she tortures me. “I said don’t move, Max! You can breathe, though. Your mouth is turning blue under the lipstick.”

She releases my head, and I let out a breath and open my eyes, blinking to clear my vision and to also make sure the eyelashes Alyssa glued are secure and not dangling funny. The last time she subjected me to this, one loosened, making my eye twitch and had me thinking I was mid-stroke.

Alyssa leaves the tweezer on the vanity and folds her hands like she’s about to pray but rubs her palms together instead, looking at me like I’m a prize she won at some carnival game. “Gor-geous.” She pops her lips, dancing in place.

I turn my head to the mirror, wondering if I do look like something that belongs at a carnival, but I’m pleasantly surprised that I agree with her, to some extent at least. She could’ve gone easier on the lashes and settled for one application of blush, but I do look good. And then I remember I rolled up with not a stitch of makeup and my hair on top of my head. It would be kind to say it resembled a bird’s nest, far from the long, loose waves I now run my fingers through.

“Here,” Alyssa says, tilting my chin up. “Just one more dab of gloss. Pucker up.”

I look back at the mirror after she’s done.

“Aren’t you going to say anything, slayer?”

Scoffing at the nickname, I pluck a clean spoolie from a cup on the vanity and run the bristles through my dark eyebrows—the one thing Alyssa deemed on my face not in need of enhancements.

Alyssa slides over to stand behind me, fluffing my hair as she reaches for the hairspray, spritzing the ends before turning the can on herself even though those perfectly coiffed, champagne-colored locks wouldn’t move if a tornado blew through this SoHo studio.

I smile because it reminds me exactly of how we met—in the bathroom of a bar where we were both drunkenly waving our hands in front of a faulty paper towel dispenser as if we could will it to work. Alyssa was complaining to another friend that it was too hot and she wished she had a hair tie. When I slipped one off my wrist, you would’ve thought I handed her a golden ticket to Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. Somewhere between securing the second and third loop in her ponytail, she invited me to her wedding—only Alyssa wasn’t engaged. She didn’t even have a boyfriend. But we both gained a best friend that night, and it doesn’t hurt that she’s an incredible hair and makeup artist.

And while a lot has changed in my life since then—including how I no longer drink—I’m thankful my friendship with Alyssa hasn’t.

“How long are you in town for?”

I blow a raspberry. “Heading back to Florida later tonight.”

Alyssa’s eyes widen. “What, you came up for twelve hours?”

“Fourteen and a half,” I correct her, as if it makes a difference.

Alyssa reaches for a fluffy face brush from her kit, dusting it over her cheeks. “Good. I only need you for a few of them.”

The look on her face tells me I’m about to miss my flight tonight.

“I’m tired. And I need to be at the airport at—”

“And you haven’t seen your best friend in like two months. Can’t you fly down tomorrow morning?” She drops the brush and stands. “You have your hair and makeup done already. Go on and tell me you have nothing to wear in your hotel room, and I’ll remind you we’re on the set of a photoshoot—”

“ForIn Sportsmagazine.” I laugh. “Does your night out involve a sports bra?”

Alyssa rolls her eyes at me. “Whatever. Go buy something. Short. Sexy. Let’s hit the town.”

I roll my very tired eyes.

“Come on,” Alyssa whines. “When was the last time you let loose?”

“More than three years ago.”

“Max—”

I shake my head, interrupting, “It’s Mason’s birthday today.”

A wave of sympathy rolls over Alyssa—her eyes, mouth, and shoulders softening. “Oh... Max—”

I stop her. “It’s okay. But I just don’t feel like going out, you know? And I’m hitting early tomorrow morning.”

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