Matchpoint

Chapter 39

"Good." I praise Dom as his ball slices through the court. I send it directly over to him, calling for him to take a lob.

Tomorrow, Dom plays Holger Rune. Considering Dom's above Holger, Dom seems rather unbothered by the match-up. But I remind him that any and every game is different. You can't go into the match expecting to win. That's when you fumble. That's when you lose. Like always, I remind Dom not to be so cocky.

"Haven't we trained enough." Dom finishes off the rally by cheekily hitting the ball softly over the net. I have no chance of reaching it. Sneaky son of a bitch.

"This is the quarters, I'm not taking any chances." I call, not budging from the baseline, hoping he gets the gist that we're going again.

"Yeah, but you know I'm good enough to win." Dom grins, trying his best to urge me to give in.

"Dom, baseline." I point my racquet at him before proceeding to bounce the tennis ball in a rythmic pattern.

"You're lucky I like you." Dom calls back before dropping into his starting stance.

I've been keeping a close eye on Holly today as well. However, she doesn't seem as confident as Dom. Her mind just isn't in the match.

Somehow, Holly has found herself playing against big name Qinwen Zheng. World Number 8.

"I'm royally fucked!" Was the words Holly used this morning when I knocked on her hotel room. I wouldn't say she's fucked, but the likelihood of her winning this match is slim. Especially considering Ladley still isn't well enough to coach. The worst part is that Holly's playing the same time Dom is, so I can't even assist her. My allegiance lies with Dom.

It probably also doesn't help that Holly found herself between two boys last night. Jayce and Jayce's new friend.

"They were talking at the bar, I knew he was going to invite him back. I wanted Jayce all to myself." Holly groaned as she explained how her night went after Dom and I left. Apparently, Jayce spent the early parts of the night making out with Holly, but when he got hit on by another guy, his attention wandered. Though they all went back to Jayce's, it didn't take Holly long to leave. "I'm mortified. I don't even want to see him. I just get so caught in his web of charm, like we hook up, and then we regret it, and it's just a constant cycle."

Neither Dom nor I had heard from Jayce all morning. It wasn't till we started training that he popped up with sunglasses covering his eyes. He hasn't bothered to say anything or even approach us. He's just sat watching as we train.

Dom slices the ball once more, out of reach. With that, I walk towards the net, gesturing for him to follow. "Gym warm down." I suggest, and he shrugs, just relieved to be rid of the hitting drill. "We'll get back out on court later this afternoon."

We walk out to where Jayce is sat, a coffee in hand. "Morning lovebrids." Jayce hoots at us, jumping from his seat and sliding into stride with us. "You two got shit faced last night." He chuckles.

"Clearly not as much as you," Dom ruffles Jayce's hair, who is quick to swat his hand away in irritation.

"I fucked up," he chuckles nervously. "Have you talked to Holly today?" He asks, lifting his sunglasses and looking directly at me. His eyes are filled with red veins.

"Did you get high last night?" I ask curiously, causing Jayce to drop his sunglasses back on and blush a ferocious red.

"Yep," he mutters. "Brought Holly and this guy home. He and I clicked, and then Holly left. The guy called her a brat, and it pissed me off, so I kicked him out. Tried calling Holly, but she didn't answer, so I turned to getting high to solve my problems."