Chasing You

Chapter 13

CHRIS

"A double?", Theo asks buttoning the sleeves of his white shirt. Truth is, the four of us got in our white attire. Theo and Ezra had invited us a while ago to play a good old tennis match with them, and we were so busy these last few weeks, both us at Astoria and Apollo, as Theo and Ezra at Oakley respectively Rune, so we only found some time today. Tomorrow is the beginning of the Australian Grand Prix, today is our free day, and we finally found the time to meet at some tennis courts in Melbourne.

"Easier to beat you", Ezra tells Lewis and me, high-fiving with Theo.

I let out a chuckle as Lewis snorts, fixing the collar of his Ralph Lauren polo shirt. "Let's be quick about this, shall we?", my best friend asks. "The sooner Chris and I win, the sooner the four of us can get a coffee or so and do some actual catching up."

"Look at you turning all social", I tease him, playing with my tennis racket to find the best grip.

"Aria seems to have left a mark", Ezra joins me.

Lewis just flips us both off and takes the small green ball, going to stand on his side of the field. I take my position, and Ezra and Theo walk over to the other side of the net, discussing a strategy on the way.

"Just like usual?", I ask Lewis instead.

He nods, putting a pair of sunglasses on his eyes. "Let's get this party started."

~

"Are we going to discuss what happened or just pretend it never did?", Lewis says with a smirk on his face, as he takes a sip from his dark coffee.

Needless to say, Lewis and I won.

"Asshole", Theo hisses. "Honestly, I just had a good time, yet it is Ezra I'm worried about. What would Naomi say?"

Naomi, Naomi Quinn, is Ezra's girlfriend. And a professional tennis player. I'd pay good money to see how that talk goes.

"It might all turn in my advantage, to be honest", Ezra only shrugs. "Might win me some more private lessons with her. And we all know how those end."

I laugh, so does Theo, as Lewis takes a very long sip from his coffee. Ezra must have noticed it too, for his smirk brightens as he asks: "What did Aria teach you?"

"She got into pottery now", Lewis starts telling us. "She found this video on Instagram about someone painting a mug. Ever since, our basement has been filled with painted mugs, vases and other ceramics. Winnie loves it, she uses the chance to paint unicorns on everything she sees, and Ari even made me paint one."

"And what did you do? A yeti?", Ezra jokes.

"I'm going for some raindrops and chess pieces. Dark academia and all", Theo adds.

"Some Espen wheels set into flames?", I join in, although I know the answer, for his wife sent me a snap of the result.

"Close, and very very tempting, but no. I just coloured it black", Lewis shrugs.

"The whole thing?!", Theo and Ezra can't believe it. I believe it sounds exactly like what Lewis would do.

"In my defence, she said I had a nice stroke of the paintbrush", he points out.

"That, or poor Aria was on the verge of a mental breakdown and didn't know what to say", Ezra mumbles under his breath, loud enough for us to hear that. He doesn't even mind the death glare he gets from Lewis.

Just as choreographed, Ezra's phone lights up with a call, and he makes us a sign it is important, so he takes his phone and walks a few feet away. Theo and I chat about the weather in the meantime, Lewis nodding whenever he feels fitting or whenever he got bored of his coffee.