Page 22 of The Pickleball Girl Finds Her Match

“Right. See, he could have gotten it completely fixed by any of those world-renowned doctors in LA, and he probably could have done rehab and come back to play his senior year.” Joel shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. “But he didn’t. He just up and quit tennis altogether. So it’s no wonder he said he felt like his knee never fully healed. He’s a fucking quitter.”

“Come on, Joel. Give him a break. Sebastian had his dream of becoming a pro tennis player crushed along with his knee.”

“But was it? His dream, I mean.” Joel picked up the tennis racquet and started snipping the strings. “After what happened with his knee, Sebastian sure wasn’t interested in becoming a pro tennis player any longer. He wasn’t interested in tennis, or actually …anything.Just up and quit everything. And since then, I don’t know if he’severfound anything he’s interested in.” Endy couldn’t decide how much of this history to believe. “Have you ever asked him what he—”

“He wasn’t even interested in Sloane anymore,” interrupted Joel. “Broke off their engagement, which surprised everyone, especially her.”

Sebastian was engaged?

“Sebastian hasn’t really done anything since he quit tennis, and then quit Sloane.” Joel frowned and crossed his arms. “So yeah, I think that makes him both messed up and a quitter.”

They all remained quiet for a bit after Joel finished this story. Endy retreated to her office and pretended to go through all the emails on her computer. But her mind was buzzing with thoughts of Sebastian.

A knock at her door pulled Endy out of her thoughts. Maria entered and sat in the chair across from Endy’s desk. “What was all that about?” she asked. “Who is this Sebastian that Joel was talking about? And why is he so wildly jealous of him?” Maria looked over her shoulder, then turned back to Endy. “You can talk. He already left for the day.”

Endy raised her hand and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Sebastian Hall,” she started. “The hottest, most handsome, most incredible …”

“Wait, what?” screamed Maria as she leaned close to Endy, a huge grin on her face. “Why didn’t you tell me about him when I was at your house last night?”

Endy laughed. “I guess I wasn’t even thinking about him because we got so caught up talking about trying to make more friends here.”

“He could be afriend.” Maria lifted her hands, and her fingers made quotes in the air. “What is even going on? Spill everything!”

Over the next half hour, Endy recounted everything—from how she’d run into Sebastian when she was late to Picklers, to bringing him ice, to laughing uncontrollably with him on the golf cart. By the time Endy got to the part where she and Sebastian had shared a bottle of wine a couple of evenings before, Maria was whooping and dancing around Endy’s office.

“I dunno, don’t read anything into this. He might just be like this with everyone, you know, super nice, kinda flirty …”

“I’ve never seen Joel act like he did today. He knows there is something up between you and Sebastian.”

“There is nothingupbetween me and Sebastian Hall.”

“I’ll be the judge of that,” replied Maria, still doing little hip shakes. “But I’m going home now. I gotta light some kind of candles and put out some prayer flags orsomethingfor you. You’ve found our first new friend, Endy.” She winked.

“Maria, please, please don’t make this into something it’s not.” Endy dropped her face into her palms.

Maria smiled at Endy, leaned across the desk, and planted a kiss on her head. She backed out of the office, holding both hands up with fingers crossed, and a wicked grin playing across her red lips.

14

Endy and Maria walked into the Stout House, a busy sports bar with fifty-one different beers on tap and dozens of screens mounted above the bar, each showing a different sport. They stopped just inside the door, letting their eyes adjust to the dimness. The Friday evening crowd packed in, with every table full and people standing two or three deep at the bar.

“There they are,” Maria said, standing on a step. She tugged on Endy’s sleeve, and they made their way to the booth in the back corner where Joel, Sebastian, and Collin Park sat.

“Hey guys,” greeted Maria as she slid in next to Collin.

Endy took the open seat next to Joel, then leaned past him. “Sebastian, this is my friend Maria.”

Sebastian reached across the table to shake Maria’s hand, the muscles in his arms rippling. With a wicked grin, Maria shook his hand and kicked Endy under the table.

“Ow!” Endy exclaimed, clapping a hand across her mouth.

A waitress arrived and set down two glasses of white wine, one in front of Maria, the other in front of Endy, then rushed away to tend to the booth next to them. Endy raised her eyebrows. “We haven’t ord—”

“I hope it’s okay that I put in an order for you guys,” said Sebastian. “It’s so busy in here that it’s been hard to get our server’s attention. And I didn’t want you to have to wait.”

Endy and Maria looked at each other and smiled. Maria took a sip of the chilled wine and said, “Oh, this is nice.”

Sebastian nodded and looked at Endy. “It’s the same wine we had the other night.”

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