Page 116 of Game Point
‘Can I stick with you?’ Avery asked, turning to me. ‘I’ve barely seen you, and then I’d love to come for dinner.’
I was struck, unsure how to answer. I’d just come off court, I needed time to cool down and shower, that would all be quicker without a tag-along. However, one look at Mum and I knew leaving Avery with them was not an option. Not if Avery wanted to see the rest of the day without encountering Mum’s bad side.
‘Yeah, of course,’ I said. ‘I’ll show you around. You might be hanging around for a bit while I stretch and shower.’
She waved my concerns away. ‘I can ogle at all the hot tennis players while you do.’
I laughed nervously, our group splitting into two as Avery and I left, heading towards the players’ area. With us now alone things fell into a comfortable flow as I caught up with Avery about her life. The last time we had spoken was a few weeks ago, over a phone call that had been a little difficult.
Sometimes, Avery was a little open with her opinion, a little too cutting, and I knew it was because she cared, because she had the same history as I did. But sometimes, when I wasn’t in the right headspace, it wasn’t what I needed.
‘You know,’ Avery nudged into me, a grin curled on her lips. ‘You’ve really come a long way since the old days at Beacy.’
‘God, I’ll never forget that shitty court,’ I laughed, shaking my head. ‘It was hard to even run across without tripping up.’ I said, looking over at her. ‘Thanks for coming to the match,’ I added, despite everything, appreciating the effort.
‘You were really on point,’ she said, before something twisted in her features. ‘Though I noticed your serve was a bit off in the second set. I thought that might have been why Oliver left.’
I could handle critique, I was used to that … but not from somebody who didn’t play at this level. ‘I was intentionally playing slower. I don’t think it was off.’
I knew I was being defensive, maybe even too much, but it was hard to accept coming fresh off a win. I had learned to celebrate a win, and it was Oliver’s job to critique my playing. But Avery? She did it no matter what.
‘Definitely,’ she nodded, her gaze elsewhere, looking around the room. ‘But you wouldn’t want to get too comfortable, you know, at this level.’
I gritted my teeth, shooting her a look as if to say, ‘what is that supposed to mean?’ But I swallowed it down instead, knowing she’d made the effort to come to my match, see me play. She was trying to be helpful. Somehow.
We reached the cool-down zone, other players and coaches filling up the room. I scanned around looking for any trace of Oliver. I was worried. It wasn’t like him to disappear like this.
Avery let out a long whistle as she took in the area. ‘Wow,the facilities here are really cool.’ My eyes scanned around the modern area, acknowledging for the first time in a while how lucky I was to have access to spaces like this.
I hummed in agreement, thinking of our old club. ‘Much nicer than the ones we had.’
‘But hey, you deserve it.’ Avery looked at me, something in her expression unreadable. ‘You’ve always been the lucky one,’ she sighed, stepping ahead, almost leading me forward into the area. Her eyes went wide, taking in the faces around the space.
‘Oh wow, that’s Jasmine Carter!’ she squealed, turning to face the player who was warming up, readying herself for her own match. ‘Do you know her?’
‘I’ve played her,’ I nodded.
‘Oh yeah, she beat you at Wimbledon,’ Avery said carelessly.
I paused, blinking as if she hadn’t really said that.
‘Yep,’ I replied bitterly. ‘Thanks for the reminder.’
‘It’s true.’ Her tone was defensive. And then, almost in the same breath, she asked, ‘Can you introduce me to her?’
‘Um …’ I trailed off, looking over again at Jasmine who was talking to her coach. I knew she had a match coming soon, and decided against it. ‘She looks like she’s trying to get in the zone, I don’t think we should interrupt.’
‘I think it would be fine. It’s not like she’s playing.’
Before I even had a chance to reply, Avery began to move towards Jasmine and I only just managed to grab her arm. ‘No, seriously, leave her alone. She’s preparing to play.’
‘It will be fine, Dylan,’ Avery sneered. ‘I know what this is like.’
‘No, you don’t,’ I pressed. The words slipped out beyond my control, but I meant every single one. She walked around here like she knew this place, like this was her turf. She criticized me on court and tried to tell me how to improve my gameplay when she hadn’t played competitively at any level for almost ten years.
‘What is that supposed to mean?’ Her eyes narrowed on me, but I didn’t back down, rage boiling in my veins.
‘You never played professionally,’ I said, pointing out the obvious. ‘I’m sorry about that but this is different from whatyouknow. It’s serious here, we don’t fuck with somebody else before a match.’
