Page 43 of Backhanded Compliments

“Okay,” Luca says dumbly, her eyes falling to Juliette’s mouth.

“You can do that, can’t you, Kacic?” Juliette teases, her voice full of uncharacteristic warmth.

“I’ll manage,” Luca says thickly, her brain frazzled by the proximity of Juliette Ricci.

She brushes her fingers over Luca’s bare shoulders, leaving goose bumps in her wake as she walks back to the couch.

“You got this, Luca!” Zoe calls. The sound of her clapping breaks Luca from her stupor.

Luca hits twenty-eight drop shots throughout the match and wins twenty-five of them.

Juliette gives her no more advice, but she does cheer whenever Luca hits a good shot. And she’s the first one to high-five Luca when she wins.

Juliette and Claudia put together their sister energy and win their first set while Luca is showering and eating.

It takes Luca until halfway though their second set to step behind Juliette. “Try to hit a kick serve into Xinya’s backhand. She’s weaker on that side,” Luca says.

Juliette glances up from under her devastatingly long lashes. “Are you my coach now too?” she asks coyly, before bouncing off the bench and onto the court.

An embarrassed flush creeps up Luca’s neck. She hides behind her phone, but Nicky sends her a steady stream of tweets about how uncomfortable Luca looks.

@paytoninafountain

kacic and ricci are giving payton and karoline vibes circa 1998. they can’t stand each other, and I can’t wait for the chapter in one of their tell-all memoirs that describes how much they HATED each other.

@storiesofwoe

jules got run into but luca is the one giving butthurt

@NIKEFEMME

Go on kacic, give us nothing queen!

Claudia and Juliette win their doubles match, giving their team their first lead. 7–4 heading into the final day.

It is, unfortunately, their last win of the Connolly Cup. Luca decides she’s just going to avoid Juliette, but it’s hard to stay away from her. Every time she turns, they’re scraping elbows and shoulders, always next to each other, no matter how Luca tries to maneuver to have Zoe and Claudia between them.

Eventually, Luca either succeeds or Juliette finally takes the hint to let Luca just try to be. The mood on their side is thoroughly crushed after Nadia beats Zoe to put Aurore and Victoria’s blue team up 10–7.

And when Claudia and Zoe lose a heartbreaking tiebreaker to Xinya and Remi, the last thing anyone wants to do is hang around and tease playfully.

“Aurore is never going to let this go,” Payton grumbles as they head back to the locker room on Sunday after the trophy ceremony. “She’s so annoying when she wins.”

Once they’re back at the villa, Luca wants to crawl under the covers and sleep, but unfortunately there is still one more mandatory event. Her legs are aching and her left shoulder is tight after so many matches in a row, so she stands in the shower under the hot spray until it unwinds the tension from her tired muscles. She doesn’t want to think of Juliette, but it’s hard not to. Juliette has wriggled her way under Luca’s skin, and there’s no escaping her, now that Luca knows Juliette wants her too. The kiss circles in her head, the feeling of Juliette’s body against hers making heat flush across her skin.

After her shower, Luca crams an energy bar into her mouth and stares at the tailored suit hanging on the back of the bathroom door.The ending gala is where rich tennis fans buy seats at tables so they can stare at their favorite players like zoo animals. And Karoline made it clear that they had to be on their best behavior and charm the billionaires into whipping out their checkbooks. Maybe if her team had won, Luca would look forward to this celebratory gala. Her stomach roils at the thought ofanothersocial event, but she wrangles herself into the suit.

“You are utterly hopeless,” Luca says to herself as she takes in the sight of her still hapless and woefully crooked bow tie. She tries one final time to get the bow tie right. It’s not the worst attempt, so she leaves it, shrugging on her cropped suit jacket before leaving her room.

Downstairs, the rest of the women are dressed and ready to impress. Immediately, Luca’s eyes search for Juliette. As expected, she’s standing between two of her sisters, and Luca has to exert a considerable effort to keep her mouth shut.

Juliette always looks incredible, especially in casual athleisure, but in a beautiful dress, it’s impossible not to stare. The dress is shimmering and deep blue, strapless, and cupping her body, cinched tight to leave nothing to the imagination. A high slit shows off one of her long golden legs, the other covered by a rippling flow of silken fabric. The setting sun gilds her curls, which fall loose around her shoulders, only a few pieces pulled back and held with a sapphire pin. Her elegant hands hold the sleek body of a vintage camera, and her nails are trimmed short and painted the exact color of her dress.

When Juliette glances at her, Luca’s gaze drops, unable to meet her eyes. She doesn’t want to see what Juliette’s reaction to her will be. If she’ll be angry or hurt—or worse, indifferent.

Luca is distracted by the sight of Juliette’s bedazzled blue Adidas tennis shoes with lighter blue satin ribbon for laces. It’s cute.

“You look nice,” a silken voice purrs in Luca’s ear, and she jumps. Octavia has abandoned her family to stand next to Luca. “I like the suit. Bold choice.” She brushes invisible lint off Luca’s shoulder.

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