“Let’s take five,” Mike suggested.
They met at their chairs and gulped some water. Luke took a bite of an energy bar.
“So you and McAllister seem to make a good team, huh?”
Luke nodded as he swallowed. “Yeah.” He took another swig of water and added, “I guess.”
“I’ve been playing doubles my whole career and I’ve never even been to a final. You guys are looking good.”
“We’ve been lucky.”
“Luck, schmuck,” Mike scoffed. “He’s having a good year. You’d better watch out; he’ll be winning Slams before long.”
Luke smiled ruefully. “I’ll be long retired. All those little aches and pains are getting bigger and bigger each year. I don’t know how much longer I can keep it up. Or even if I want to.”
“Yeah, I hear that. Shell and I were talking about me taking on a pro job at one of the clubs in LA. after this year. There are plenty of rich people to give lessons to. And I’ll get to see her and the kids a lot more.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
“I guess.” Mike sighed. “I don’t know.” He sighed again and waved his hand dismissively. “It’s stupid, forget it.”
“What?”
“I guess I just…all these years, I’ve been thinking that one day my shot will come. That everything will fall into place, the stars will align, and I’ll win one of the big ones.”
“It’s not too late,” Luke lied. Mike was a solid player, but he wasn’t good enough. Never would be.
“Thanks for saying that, but you know it’s never going to happen. I know it, Shell knows it, everyone in the world knows it. So why am I hanging on to this dream?”
“Because dreams are hard to give up. You can know something in your head, but your heart…it’s a different story.”
“Ain’t that the truth?” Mike ran his hand through his hair and chuckled. “Well, I say we’ve had enough deep thoughts for the day, how about you?”
“Ready to get smoked again?” Luke grinned, trying to lighten the mood.
“As always.” They laughed and played on.
After practice and a long shower, Luke headed back to the hotel. As the driver navigated the narrow streets, Luke tipped his head back against the seat and listened to the radio. The DJs talked about the latest gossip involving a British rock star and the hot new Russian girl on the tour. Tongues were always wagging at Wimbledon.
Back upstairs, Luke slipped the keycard to Jesse’s room out of his pocket. Jesse had managed to lose the one he had for Luke’s room, which Luke had teased him about earlier. He was learning that Jesse had a habit of misplacing things, and to his surprise, he found it rather endearing.
He closed the door quietly behind him and tiptoed towards Jesse, who was out on the balcony. Jesse turned around before Luke was even halfway there. “You’re so not stealthy. You do know this, right?”
“Fine, fine,” Luke said. “Ruin my fun.”
Jesse threw his arms around him and they hugged for a moment before he propelled Luke backwards into the room. “The fun hasn’t even started yet.” He closed the drapes with a flourish, and then pushed Luke back onto the bed, straddling his hips.
“Hmm. And what did you have in mind?”
“I’m hungry,” Jesse whispered, and as he slid to his knees and unbuttoned Luke’s pants, Luke lay back and closed his eyes.
Life was good.
The knock on the door was soft, yet urgent. Luke blinked blearily at the digital clock on the nightstand. It was barely past six in the morning and he grumbled under his breath as he stumbled to the door.
Jesse rushed past him, a bundle of nervous energy. “Close the door!” he hissed.
Luke complied, wiping the sleep from his eyes. “What’s wrong? It’s six o’clock in the morning.”
Jesse paced back and forth, a newspaper clutched in his hands. “Jeff woke me up ten minutes ago. He showed me this.” Jesse held out the paper.
The bottom of Luke’s stomach fell away and he wavered on his feet as he read the headline. GAY SHOCKER! A grainy picture of Luke and Jesse in each other’s arms dominated the rest of the page. “Jesus,” Luke muttered.
“I don’t know how they got that picture; they must have been watching us.”
Luke peered closely at the photo. “We’re on the balcony of your room. Christ, I knew we should have kept the curtains shut. Why did you have to go out there anyway?”
“Well, excuse me for getting a breath of air. You didn’t have to follow me.”
Luke’s head spun, and he quickly went to his window and drew the curtains the rest of the way, shrouding them in darkness. “Fuck!” Anger raged through him and he tossed a vase at the wall, shattering it.
How could he have been so stupid? How?
“Luke, calm down. Maybe it’s not so bad.”
“Not so bad! Are you serious?” Luke flipped on the overhead light so he could see where he was pacing.