Page 40 of Backhanded Compliments

“You don’t have to leave. We could be, like, soulmates-with-benefits?” Juliette frantically pushes her hair out of her face. “The health benefits of touching each other cannot be understated.”

Luca’s fingernails dig into her palms, tiny crescents of pain. “You don’t want that,” she whispers, desperately wishing it wasn’t true.

“What if I did?” Juliette scrambles off the bed.

Luca scoffs, stepping back from Juliette. She sways, hitting the wall. She swore she would never let herself land in another solely-physical relationship, especially with another player. But this is her soulmate

“I know it’s hard to believe—” Juliette starts.

“You’re right,” Luca cuts her off, “and even if I did believe you, I can’t have a purely physical relationship. I can’t do it again.” Luca steadies herself against the door, fingers curling around the doorknob. Her body clearly wants one thing, but she knows she can’t keep her feelings from tangling in a messy knot. She can’t trust Juliette with her heart—even if she is her soulmate, she’s also her rival. One who has been hell-bent on playing mind games in the media and distracting her for months. “And once you get what you’ve always wanted, will there be any room in your life for me?”

Luca needs to focus. She has tournaments to win and a number one ranking to keep. If she loses herself and looks away from her goal for one moment, all she’s worked for will be ruined. The resulting spiral will destroy her. A tight, thorny feeling latches around Luca’s lungs, a familiar panic she knows more intimately than any lover.

Juliette blinks and stammers, trying to come up with words, but ultimately she fails.

“I hope your wrist feels better,” Luca says as she shoves out of Juliette’s room.

EIGHTEENJULIETTE

The rapid flicking of the overhead light on and off wakes Juliette from a fitful slumber.

“What the hell?” She tosses her arm over her eyes.

The bed rocks and bounces. “Time to wake up!” a familiar voice singsongs.

“Fuck off, Remi,” Juliette mutters. She feels hungover, even though she hasn’t had a drink since that night on the beach. Her eyes burn, her throat is sore, and there is an unpleasant and frankly annoying ache in the center of her chest.

She would never admit it to any living soul, but after Luca left unceremoniously, Juliette had fallen asleep crying. She allowed herself the grace to wallow in her self-pity and overwhelming feelings. She didn’t know what she was crying for after a while. She tells herself it was the fear of hurting her wrist again, a catharsis after an emotional day.

But she knows that it has everything to do with the way Luca had behaved—all over her one minute and pushing her away the next. She wouldn’t put it past Luca to try to mess with her head, but she didn’t expect herself to fall for it so thoroughly.

“Come on, Jules,” Remi says, nudging her hip.

“Leave me alone.” Juliette lowers her arms and finds Remi lying next to her on her stomach, her head pillowed on her arms, and her soft dark eyes sparkling with barely contained mischief. She looks happy with herself, like she knows something Juliette doesn’t.

“Nope,” Remi chirps, kicking her legs back and forth like a teen girl from a 1990s commercial.

“What?” Juliette isn’t in the mood for Remi’s games. She stretches out her leg and kicks Remi’s calf.

Remi leans closer, undeterred by Juliette’s attempts to shove her away. “You and Luca Kacic?” She wiggles her brows.

“Nothing happened,” Juliette lies, turning on her side to grab her phone. She has a few missed calls and messages from Livia. She winces as she reads through them, the panic evident in her rapid sending of the texts. By the time she gets to the end of them, clearly someone had called and finally soothed her.

PICCOLA POLPETTA

you better be okay or I will kill Luca.

(I don’t care if she’s your soulmate btw.)

hope you feel better soon though xoxo

“I’m sorry, Jules,” Remi murmurs.

Juliette glances at her. “For what?”

Remi nudges her again. “Luca was going to come up here last night. I guess she didn’t.”

“Oh,” Juliette says, swallowing hard. “Well, she did.” She is grateful her voice doesn’t crack.

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