Losing at Love (10 page)

“Sure about that?” Amy sounded pretty confident. She was a two-time, All-American and had once been the best OBX had to offer.

Jasmine was going to make sure she understood. A lot had changed in two years. “Positive.”

The grass courts at OBX were normally like a ghost town, with most of the athletes spending their practice time on the hard courts, but word travelled quickly and by the time they were done with their warm-ups, a small crowd of people who had nowhere better to be lined the courts to watch the Academy’s first two athletes go head to head again after so long.

The buzz around them quieted a bit as they took their positions at the baseline. When she was young, before Dom had started her on a truly rigorous elite level conditioning program, Jasmine had always been the weaker player, her physical strength unequal to a girl’s a few years older than her. That wouldn’t be the case this morning. Jasmine had spent the two years since training against the likes of Penny Harrison and Indiana Gaffney, playing on Chatrier at Roland Garros against the best doubles players in the world, the Kapur twins, forcing them to a third set. She wasn’t that little girl who got her as kicked in the OBX semifinal anymore. Not by a long shot. Amy’s game had always been a solid one, no real weakness and her strengths, a solid backhand and decent forehand, worked great against NCAA competition but wouldn’t compare to the level of play Jasmine faced down on a regular basis.

Jasmine bounced up and down on the balls of her feet, and then landed, legs spread just a little more than shoulder width apart, her weight shifting back and forth. Amy tossed the ball and served it straight and flat, skipping through the center of the service box. Landing balanced led to a quick crossover step and then a strong forehand had the ball rocketing back over the net into the corner of the deuce court before Amy had recovered enough to return it.

Amy stood still at the baseline, staring at where the ball had bounced, but there was no doubt it was in, a clean winner. The crowd buzzed around them and Jasmine let her eyes flicker over the faces, catching Teddy standing off to the side, leaning against the fence, a smirk lifting the corner of his mouth. Amy stepped into her line of sight and raised her eyebrows over the net, but Jasmine shrugged, moving to the other side of the service line.

The next serve, Amy tried to send out wide, but she missed beyond the doubles alley and Jasmine sent the ball back to her and waited for the second serve. Jasmine took a few steps in, a clear sign to the crowd around her just how little respect she had for Amy’s serves. The older girl saw where she was standing, paused and let the ball fall again, bouncing it against her racket and shifting her feet a little. Another toss and Amy sent her next serve closer to the line, but Jasmine was on it almost before it bounced, lining up the backhand and ripping it cross-court. Amy managed to get a racket on it, but Jasmine shuffled closer to the net and finished the point with a short volley. The crowd buzzed again, but this time, Jasmine ignored them all.

Standing at the baseline with her hands propped on her hips, her racket hanging limply in one hand, Jasmine tilted her head. Amy pouted and let out a begrudging sniff. Clearly, the match wasn’t going quite the way she had planned.

Twenty minutes later, Dom called a halt to things and the crowd milled around for a while, the chatter carrying out over the court to Jasmine as she gulped down her Gatorade.

“Did Fitz totally lose it in California?”

“Nah, Jasmine just destroyed her.”

Grabbing a towel and shielding her face with it, she smiled into the rough terrycloth and then wiped the sheen of sweat off her forehead.

“Nice set, Jazzy,” Amy said, grabbing her own drink. “Didn’t know you had it in you.”

“Yeah, we should do it again sometime.”

“Definitely.”

Jasmine turned her back and tossed her drink into her racket bag, knowing she would never have to face Amy Fitzpatrick on a tennis court again.

~

The locker room was virtually empty when Jasmine stepped out of the shower. Morning sessions were all in full swing and she dressed in peace and quiet, the adrenaline still thrumming through her veins from the win. She had the afternoon off. All she had to do was head home and finish packing, then tomorrow morning, they’d be on a plane to London. Penny had texted everyone that Alex was inviting them all to stay at his London townhouse for the duration of the tournament. He had more than enough space and it would be nice to be away from the constant scrutiny of the major tournament hotels. She and Indy would have to share one of the four bedrooms since his training partner Paolo Macchia was staying there as well, but there would be enough room for Jack and Teddy too. It would be a crazy few weeks all crammed together in one house, but it would be a blast.

She stored her rackets in her locker and headed out into the bright sunshine of the North Carolina spring, a rare day to spend with nothing to do except relax.

“Hey Jazzy,” Amy called from just outside the door, leaning against the fence of a practice court with Teddy Harrison at her side.

Jasmine clenched her teeth together at the ridiculous nickname. She thought maybe the defeat on the court would mellow out Amy’s obnoxiousness, but apparently it didn’t.

“Hey guys.”

“Teddy was just saying he’d take me to Deuce for breakfast so we can catch up before y’all leave for London. Isn’t that sweet of him?”

“So sweet,” Jasmine agreed, looking at Teddy, who refused to make eye contact with her.

Amy wrapped her hand around Teddy’s forearm, leaning into him, her breasts brushing against his bicep. It could have been innocent contact, but Jasmine knew Amy better than that. What really annoyed her was that Teddy wasn’t pulling away. “Oh my God, you should totally come with us. We can reminisce about the glory days.”

She’d rather spork her eyes out and feed them to the seagulls circling overhead.

“Jasmine has stuff to do, don’t you?” Teddy answered for her.

“Lots of stuff,” she agreed, but he shifted back and forth, his shoulders wilting under the weight of her glare. It wasn’t like she was going to accept the invitation, but the last thing she needed was Teddy to speak for her. “Getting ready for Wimbledon, you know. We’ll catch up when we all come back.”

Amy stuck out her lower lip and slid her hand down Teddy’s arm, interlocking their fingers together. “No way. Dom said you had the rest of the day off at the end of our match and I know you, you’ve been packed for days. Come with us, please?”

That’s how she found herself at Deuce in the middle of the morning, listening to Amy wax poetic about how amazing it was in Palo Alto and how Stanford was everything she hoped it would be.

“I can’t believe you chose Duke, Ted. You would love Cali.”

“Wanted to be near family,” he said around a mouthful of eggs. He’d been stuffing his face with food since they sat down, letting Amy’s mouth run to her heart’s content and he hadn’t even glanced at Jasmine once since they sat down.

“Yeah, but your family isn’t going to be here. I mean, your mom and dad yes, but Penny and Jack are going to be all over the world and you’re going to be stuck here in North Carolina with all the little OBXers.”

“Duke is an amazing school and they have a great tennis team,” Jasmine cut in.

“You’ll have to come out and visit on breaks then.”

Teddy pulled his phone out, alerts popping out on his screen as he flicked his thumb over it. He flicked his eyes to Amy and then glanced quickly at the door. “I gotta go. Jack’s freaking out ‘cause I didn’t find my passport yet. See you guys later.”

He was up from the table before either of them could utter a word of protest.

“So you and Teddy, again?” Jasmine asked, before he’d even left the restaurant.

Amy was watching him leave. “There’s just something about that boy, you know? Like a magnet. His older brother too, but Jack wouldn’t go after his little bro’s ex, that much is obvious.”

“So you’re just hooking up with him because Jack’s not an option? Nice, Amy,” she said, unable to keep the bitterness out of her voice and she cringed as Amy’s eyes lit up.

“Oh my God, you guys
did
hook up, didn’t you?”

“About a month ago,” Jasmine mumbled, already sorry she said anything.

“Wow. I mean he mentioned that things got a little weird between you, but I didn’t realize. You don’t mind, do you? I mean, of course you don’t. He’s my ex-boyfriend. You probably should be asking me if I mind or apologizing. That’s a big no-no in the Girl Code, but whatever, I guess it’s over now since you’re clearly not together.”

“Clearly not,” Jasmine repeated. “We decided we’re better off as friends.”

“Both of you or just him?”

“Both of us,” she said quickly.

Amy’s eyes grew wide, but the small upward motion of her mouth betrayed her amusement. “Oh, you are upset, aren’t you? I’m sorry, Jazzy.”

“Don’t be. I’m not upset. You’re welcome to Teddy Harrison.”

The smile widened. “Good, because I have plans for him. Now let’s get down to business.”

“Business?”

“You really think I asked you to breakfast to talk about Teddy? Come on, Jazzy.”

“Could you not call me that?”

Amy laughed, waving her hand in the air dismissively. “Why? I’ve always called you that. Anyway, look, my coach wanted me to talk to you about coming to Stanford in the fall.”

Jasmine arched a brow and shook her head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Why not? I know the college scouts have been circling and you haven’t gone pro yet for a reason, let’s be honest. You’re so not ready. You’d be great on our team. Think about it. Me and you, number one and two singles.”

“More like two and one,” she muttered and then shook her head. “If your coach is that interested, tell her to call my parents. They’re the ones handling all that crap.”

Amy grinned widely. “Awesome.”

“Yeah, awesome. Look, I’ve gotta go. I want to check on Indy and then I promised my parents we’d spend some time together before I leave.” Jasmine stood, walking away much the same way Teddy had just a few minutes ago.

“See you when you get back, Jazz,” Amy called. She didn’t have to look back to see the smug smile still plastered across the stupid bitch’s face.

“Can’t wait.”

She was just out of Deuce and headed toward the beach when she saw Indy’s blonde hair rounding the corner headed toward the dorms, a swathe of glittering cloth over her arm.

“Where were you?” Jasmine said as soon as she was in earshot.

Indy looked behind her, like she might be speaking to someone else. “I had to, I…”

“Please don’t tell me you skipped training to pick out a dress.”

“No, I was at Jack’s and I grabbed this before I left, but...”

“So you skipped training to make out with Jack?” Jasmine nearly screeched.

“Keep your voice down,” Indy said, looking around to make sure they were still alone, but nearly everyone was at training. “No, there was a thing with my Dad and I had to…I had to take care of it and Jack helped.”

Jasmine’s anger faded immediately and was replaced with concern. “Your Dad?” She knew Indy couldn’t stand her father. “Is everything okay?”

Indy nodded, rolling her eyes. “Yeah, everything is fine. The same, you know, but fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I’m sorry I had to miss training.”

“It’s fine. You missed me kicking Amy Fitzpatrick’s ass, but…”

“You did
what
?”

“It was awesome.”

“Tell me everything.”

“Dom decided to let us play a set in place of doubles training. It was
awesome
. She couldn’t keep up. Just kept hitting the ball back to me and letting me dictate everything. I remember her being so much better than that.”

“She’s probably the same. You got better. It’s been what? Two years?”

“Made me think about what Dom said.”

“What did Dom say?”

“Oh um, he…well he said that if I decided to go to school in the fall, NCAA wouldn’t be...I’d be, the best I guess?”

“Are you considering that?”

“I have to, kind of, don’t I? I mean it’s a great option.”

“I guess so. I just thought…”

“What?”

“I didn’t think college was something you were thinking about, that’s all.”

“It’s mostly my parents. They brought it up when we got back from Paris.”

“By when would you have to decide?”

“It’s already pretty late, but I guess there are some schools that are interested.”

“Stanford?” Indy said, a shit-eating grin spreading across her face.

“Yeah, that’s not going happen. I don’t really want to think about it until after Wimbledon. We’ve got a lot of work to do in London and this is just a distraction.”

“Well, you know where I stand on it.”

“Do I?”

“We got a taste of it in France. Could you really go play in the NCAA after that? I couldn’t.”

“Maybe we’re different.”

“I don’t think we are.” Jasmine snorted. “Fine, but we’re not
that
different at least. You want to be the best.”

“I would be the best there.”

“Yeah, but not in the world.”

Jasmine shook her head. “Whatever. I still have time and Jack said…”

“You talked to Jack about this?” Indy cut her off.

Wincing, Jasmine nodded. “I’m sorry. I asked him not to say anything.”

“Is that why you guys were talking about Harvard?”

“Yeah.”

They lapsed into silence. Jasmine didn’t know what else to say. She was sorry she hadn’t told Indy to begin with, but there wasn’t anything to tell at first. Really, there still wasn’t. It was just an option, something to keep in the back of her head. The sun caught on the sparkly material still draped over Indy’s arm.

“Been in Penny’s closet?” she guessed, changing the subject.

“Yeah. I was going to go over there anyway later, but I figured it was easier just to let Teddy think that I was grabbing a dress instead of going to see Jack. I mean, we didn’t do anything, but he doesn’t know and…”

“Indy, it’s fine. I get it. You two should come clean soon though. It’s got to be exhausting to keep it all a secret.”