Page 118 of Game Point
I stuttered, struggling for a reaction, foranythingto say, but I was already shocked from everything that I didn’t have the words for. How did she know about Oliver?
‘Don’t even try to deny it. It’s clear enough from your face,’ she added. ‘And I had to sit there and watch him fuss around watching you play. A man in love. It’s obvious.’
‘It’s not …’ I trailed off, the denial sticking on my tongue.It’s not love.But if it’s not love, then what is it? What else is Oliver to me but love? I pulled myself together, desperate for this to be over.
‘I can see the news headlines,’ Avery’s face twisted. ‘And I wonder how much somebody would pay for that information.’
Dread filled me, chilling me right down to the bones. She wouldn’t do that, right? Not to her oldest friend?But as it was turning out, I never knew her very well to begin with.
Inhaling, I found my grit, my determination. Even after a hard match, I had to find it.
‘You don’t know what you’re talking about,’ I ground out, my hands curling into fists.
‘I think I hit close enough to the mark.’
‘If you think you can threaten me like that, you know me as well as I know you.’ I shook my head, taking a step away from her, seeing the end of this friendship. ‘Don’t contact me again. Don’t call my parents. Just stay out of my life.’
‘You always fucking choke, Dylan,’ she shouted from behind me. ‘And you’ll do it again.’
I headed out of the warm-up area, heading towards the showers, not bothering to look back at her, not wanting to give her any satisfaction. But as I stormed through the facility, ignoring everyone else around me, her words began to burrow under my skin.
What if she was right? I choked at Wimbledon. I chokedin every single final. My track record was superb if you enjoyed falling at the last hurdle. And while I knew this was what she wanted, it wasn’t like I didn’t carry my own worries that I’d end up that way again.
Kicking open the door to the changing rooms, almost taking it off its hinges in the process, I threw my bag on the ground. Fear and anger clouding my judgement.
Where was Oliver?
I sat with my head held in my hands, trying to breathe through the feelings, using all those dumb methods they’d been teaching me for the past few weeks.
‘You look like shit.’ I looked up, finding the annoyingly warm sunshine gaze of Scottie Sinclair, her hand on her hip.
I frowned. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘Don’t worry, your parents are safe. They’re still unloading all of your childhood trauma with Nico,’ she said. ‘Jon sent me back here to get ready. I’m playing Chloe Murphy next and I think he might be worried.’
‘He shouldn’t be.’ I looked across at her, shaking my head. ‘You’re the better player. You stand at least as good a chance.’
Confusion twisted across Scottie’s features, her lips pursing. ‘Wait.’
‘What?’ I asked.
She almost inspected me, her hand rising to my face, moving it around so she could get a good look. ‘Did you suffer a massive brain injury?’
‘No.’
‘No blunt force racket to the head?’ she added.
‘None I recall but if you are offering …’ I muttered under my breath.
‘You paid me a compliment, Dylan.’ She didn’t bother trying to hide the surprise in her voice.
‘I guess I did,’ I shrugged her off, not wanting to make a big song and dance about it. Scottie, however, had other plans.
‘Wow,’ she smirked, ‘I mean I know I’ve been trying to become friends but I never thought it would work so easily.’
I shot her a flat look, as I offered, ‘I can just as easily unfriend you.’
She put her hands up, sounding a little panicked as she said, ‘No! I like it! I’ll stop talking about it now, I swear.’ I mumbled under my breath, almost regretting the decision to let her into my life.Almost.Because somehow in mere minutes of conversation with her, I felt better than my entire time speaking with Avery.
