Page 32 of Backhanded Compliments

Kacic drops her hand and doesn’t look at her as she moves to the baseline.

Juliette’s heart sinks and she’s so unfocused on the next point that she misses another volley into the net because she didn’t move in enough.

Remi aces Juliette to win their first game and she tries not to stomp over to the bench.

“I’ll serve first,” Kacic says as they stand at the bench and take quick sips of water.

“Fine,” Juliette grumbles, waiting for Remi and Nadia to pass them as they go to the opposite side of the court. Jealousy slinks in Juliette’s stomach as she watches them giggle together.

Juliette jogs toward their side of the net, spinning her racket in her hand.

“Hey!” Kacic says and Juliette looks up at her.

Kacic gestures to the ball kid for the balls. “Look, you’re good at the net, Juliette.” Juliette swallows, falling still as Kacic’s hazel eyes land on her. “Trust yourself. You know how to volley. You’ve practiced for this.”

Kacic’s gaze is sweetly earnest. She believes in Juliette, and that warms Juliette from the inside out, chasing away all the jealousy.

“I got it. Thanks, though,” Juliette says, starting to turn away.

“Juliette.”

She spins on her heel. “What now?”

Kacic frowns, covering her mouth with the ball. “I’m going to serve down the center. You cover the center of the court, okay?”

“Got it,” Juliette says and holds out her fist for Kacic to bump. She does it and sparks jolt up her arm briefly.

It doesn’t matter because Kacic hits an ace.

“Nice serve,” Juliette says once she’s back at the baseline with Kacic.

“Thanks. I’ll try to do it again.”

“You got this,” Juliette says, even though the words feel foreign in her mouth. Kacic blinks, biting her lower lip briefly.

Juliette tries not to think of Kacic’s mouth as she goes to the net again. Instead, she thinks of Kacic’s words. It fills her with a strange, warm confidence. And when Nadia hits a sharp backhand at Juliette, she steps into the ball and angles it away beautifully.

“Knew you could do it,” Kacic says, and when she holds out her hand this time, Juliette smacks it with conviction. Maybe they aren’t so terrible at this.

Juliette puts away two more volleys to even the games at one all. “We’re not doing too bad for a couple of singles players,” Juliette says as Luca falls into step with her at the back of the court.

“No, but we’d be done for if we were playing doubles specialists.” Kacic plucks at her strings.

Nadia holds easily with Remi up at the net to put their returns away with ease and Juliette nearly running into Kacic to get a ball that was not on her side.

As they go back to the bench, Juliette shrugs off the last game.They haven’t been broken yet, at least, and Remi and Nadia haven’t run away with the set, even though they’re much more coordinated.

They sit, a respectable distance between them, but Juliette’s skin prickles from being so close to Kacic. She can ignore the feeling on the court because she’s focused on playing, but it’s harder here without distractions. Juliette cracks her banana open and pops half of it into her mouth.

“Any words of wisdom for my serve?” she teasingly asks Kacic.

“Hit it hard?” Kacic says, her voice ticking up in a question. Her eyes are a little wide as she glances at her.

“Always excellent advice,” Payton says with a teasing grin as she leans between them on the bench.

“Thanks. I never would’ve guessed,” Juliette says, but she isn’t annoyed. If anything, she’s amused that she caught Kacic slightly off guard.

The umpire calls time and Juliette shakes out her wrists, ready to take on her serve. “Kick serve out wide,” she tells Kacic, who nods before she sprints to the net, crouching down.

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