Love Game

Her smile was brilliant then, like the sun coming out from behind a dark cloud. I raced to the rear of the court, toward my box, and jumped up to brace my hands on the ledge in front of Daisy, my legs hanging down.

Daisy laughed as the crowd around us oohed when I kissed her.

“You came,” I said, still hanging half off the box. “Did the paperwork for the dog come through?”

“No.” She touched her fingertips to my lips. “I realized I was falling in love with you.”

My arms trembled, and I practically fell back down onto the court.

“Go,” Daisy said, smiling at my dumbfounded reaction. “You’re going to get in trouble.”

“Time delay and second violation, Mr. Solomon,” the ump intoned into the mic. “Point penalty. The score is now love-15.”

“Too late,” I said and kissed her again before jumping back down onto the court to thunderous applause from the crowd.

She loves me…

I slowly turned my head in Brad Finn’s direction, a slow smile spreading over my lips. The break was over, and we passed each other.

“Looking over-confident, Solomon, for someone who’s already losing,” he said.

“Aye, mate,” I said. “This brown boy is going to end you.”

Daisy

“So,” I said, settling back into my chair, a huge grin on my face and Kai’s kiss lingering on my lips. “What’d I miss?”

Jason laughed and introduced me to Kai’s mom. Antonia Solomon looked to be in her fifties with graying blonde hair tucked into a neat bun. She told me in her charming Australian accent that she had been a nurse until she had to retire early due to arthritis in her knees.

“And are you the young lady responsible for the smile on my son’s face?” Antonia asked as the game was set to start.

I felt warm all over. “I’d like to think so. I can’t stop smiling myself…”

Antonia laughed and reached across Jason to pat my hand. I noticed she still wore her wedding ring, though Kai’s father was ten years gone.

I gestured at the scoreboard. “What do all those numbers mean? It looks like Kai is losing.”

“He is,” Jason said. “He’s down two sets to none. If Brad wins one more set—a set is six games—then Kai is out, and Brad is the champion.”

I shivered at the words. “But Kai isn’t going to let that happen, right?”

“He looked about ready to blow it.” Jason fixed a grateful smile at me. “But now I think he’s got a chance.”

“If he wins, it won’t be because of me.”

“If he wins it’ll be because he decided to get his shit together and show the world what he can do. And that is entirely because of you.”

The match was about to start; Kai had the serve. Because of his time violation he was already down a point. Jason explained to me that one more violation and he would lose an entire game. One more after that and he’d lose the entire match.

“But he seems looser now,” Jason said. “More relaxed. That scowl is gone from his face.”

“I’ve been watching his matches on the television,” I said. “He looks great but he’s not having any fun. Not one ’tweener.”

“He’s smiling now,” Jason said. “I feel the tables are about to be turned.”

I nodded and bit my lip nervously. I’d watched Kai trade aces with other players the entire tournament. He had the best serve in all of professional tennis in my humble opinion, and just then he proved it by serving Brad a 139-mph ace, tying the score to 15-all.

Then with a mischievous grin on his face and a wink in my direction, Kai wound up for another ace and instead dropped the ball. Before it hit the ground, he popped it over the net in an easy underhand serve. Brad raced like hell to get it, but it dropped on his side and bounced twice before he could touch it.