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“The other day — who was the guy at the hardware store?” Navarro says laconically.
It comes as a surprise to me. Our hands take turns laying the cards on the middle of the table. Occasionally, his fingers brush against mine, sending a warm flicker through me. Just the mere vestige of his touch leaves goosebumps along my arms.
“My neighbour,” I don’t look into his eyes. Although, I feel his steady, curious gaze on me.
“A married neighbour, I noticed,” He says.
There’s a slight edge to his voice. Why does he care? He’s just been a d!ck to me. He should mind his own business. What I do in my own time shouldn’t be his concern. Not that I’m having it on with Mr Zeepler — argh! — but you know what I mean, right?
“Look, it’s nothing to do with you,” I shoot a glare at him, “What about Therese? When are you getting married?”
I may as well eek out some information about him — it’s not as if he’s the most talkative person in the world during training sessions. He’s what you call a “private man”. Who does he think he is? Some brooding Byronic hero (come to think of it, I’ve actually seen him reading Byron!)? Yeah right.
“This summer.”
Wow. That’s only a couple of months away…
I swallow. “Nice.”
The silence is intimidating. He continues to lay his cards down. Each card is a red or black blur. My hands turn clammy. No matches yet. This is rare…
My stack of cards is slowly diminishing as each second passes.
“How did you meet her?” I say.
The coach lays down the queen of diamonds. “All these questions…”
He shakes his head with a wry smile. This annoys me beyond belief. Such an idiot! I’m surprised he’s even engaged. Who’d want to get married to such a douchbag? Oh yeah, Therese Weber.
She probably just wants him as eye-candy. To her, Navarro will always be intellectually inferior…
God, I’m so b!tchy sometimes.
It’s only because I’m jealous though. This man drives me nuts! I can’t take it anymore…
“Tell me to p!ss off, coach. I dare you,” My frustration is bursting out of me in waves. I’m high with anger. God, why does he have to torture me?
“Her boat capsized on Lake Como…” His voice is level.
“What?”
“I dived in and rescued her.”
I gawp at him. Certainly didn’t expect him to say that…
There’s never a dull moment with him — that’s all I can say. I can’t help imagining him wearing a wet white shirt and rescuing me. Therese can just drown in Lake Como. Oh wait — I have a better line…
More like Lake Como spat her out because she tasted so nasty…
Her perfume would have damaged the lake’s ecosystem.
“Couldn’t she swim?” I sound strangely perky.
“Not at the time. She knows now, of course,” He grins.
“You taught her?”
“To all intents and purposes, yes.”
“Show off.”
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Scored in Love (Wattys2015)
Teen FictionCBY BOTW WINNER Feb 2015! What goes on inside our deepest fantasies can often scare us if we look too closely. Amelie is going to find out the hard way that appearances can be deceptive... Add my story to public reading list. Share with friends/fol...
