Seven

I CRASHED AND BURNED against the thirteenth seeded player from Loyola Marymount in my first match of the morning. I played well, but I was just plain out of my league. The guy had an incredible match. It made me wonder how I’d ever managed to hold my own against Karl on Monday morning. I guess I just wasn’t in the zone. That put the pressure on for my next match. I had no time for remorse, as the next elimination round was at eleven and I was fighting for my life. This was another of the unseeded players who had lost in the first round, but had already fought back through his first elimination match. We were pretty even and I barely pulled out a victory in the last game.

I was able to get a quick bite to eat and a clean uniform, but I wasn’t in the mood to socialize with anyone before my five o’clock match. I sat in the stands and put on my headset. I hadn’t done any drawing since I got here. Allison and I left right after my match yesterday. Now I had time and the inclination to sketch as I watched the action. I did do a few player sketches, but I found myself daydreaming and snapped out of it when I saw I’d sketched a truly beautiful torso and pair of elegant breasts. I closed my sketchbook and tried to think who those beauties belonged to. When I figured it out, I got hard.

Overall, it didn’t help me in what was to be my final match. I met another of the top seeded players who had dropped down at the same time I did. I don’t think I’d ever played anyone who was so fast on the court. No matter where I put the ball, he was there. I didn’t disgrace myself, but I still lost. My first National Singles was over.

I was on the phone with Lissa and Melody when I got out of the locker room to meet up with the rest of the crew. Lissa was feeling tons better and was home with Melody and the boys. Kate was with them, too, and had kept Melody from falling apart while she had responsibility for the boys. Molly had them while the girls were in class and then they took care of all the nighttime rituals and got them to bed before collapsing. After Melody got out of her morning class, she went to pick up Lissa.

With luck, it looked like the rest of us had avoided the contagion. It was nasty, but short-lived.

“Kiss to each of you,” I said. “And kiss Kate for me for being such a great help.”

“Oooo! Kate!” Melody called. “This is from me because you were such a big help this week.” There was a pause and I could imagine the two girls’ lips coming together.

“And this is from me,” Lissa added. “I would have been lost without help this week.” I was smiling as I imagined Lissa placing a loving kiss on Kate’s lips.

“Oh, that was nice,” Kate’s voice came over the phone. “But what about... ?”

“And this is from Tony,” Melody interrupted. I heard a sudden “oh!” squeak out.

“It takes both of us to give you a Tony,” Lissa said. Oh my god! Kate must have been overwhelmed by a two on one lip-lock. I could feel a tightness in my jeans just imagining what that looked like.

“Thank you,” I heard Kate tell my girlfriends. “Um ... anytime. Really.”

“Sounds like you two have your work cut out for you tonight,” I laughed.

“Just innocent play,” Lissa said. “Unlike what you are likely to have. You’re not competing tomorrow, you know.”

Damn! I hadn’t thought about the fact that I was still sharing a room with Allison and there was no longer a competition prohibition against sex. Oh man! I really hoped she was all tease and wasn’t expecting too much.

“I might bunk with my folks,” I said, softly.

“No way,” Melody said. “Have fun, lover boy.” I looked up from my conversation and everyone was looking at me, waiting for me to join them. Mom held out her hand for my phone.

“Love you,” I said. “I think Mom wants to talk to you.” I handed her the phone.

“Hello dears.— No it was very exciting to watch him play.— You’ll still come for the weekend, won’t you, Melody?— Wonderful— No, of course I won’t.— ‘Bye now!” Mom disconnected, tucked the phone in her purse and said, “Now we can go have an uninterrupted dinner.”

I couldn’t believe the dinner. There was a steakhouse near our hotel and the steak was in-fuckin’-credible. I plowed through my appetizer, soup, steak, baked potato, salad, vegetable side, and was ready for dessert. I thought of what Bree had told me on the flight from Tempe and reached over to snatch a bite of mashed potatoes off her plate. She looked up at me and I winked. She actually blushed. I tried the same thing with Allison and she slapped my hand away and told me to order more if I was still hungry. She is really protective about who touches her food!

We had dessert—an incredible hazelnut chocolate torte with Frangelico ice cream for me—and coffee. Bree nudged me and slid her cheesecake toward me to offer a bite, which I accepted and offered her some of my torte. Allison observed what was going on and nudged me from the other side.