Slammed, стр. 38
“With Xavi?” Would I ever learn to stop picking at it like a scab?
“God, no. He barely leaves the hotel or the complex if he can help it. Put them both in the same place and he’s in heaven. No, I went out with some of the other girls. Keiko asked me, which is pretty nice of her considering.”
“I always meant to see more of Russia,” I confessed. “When I was a little girl I was obsessed with the last Tsar. Even asked my dad a few times if I might be a lost princess.”
That got another laugh from her. Toni was starting to make me feel like Ellen DeGeneres; nobody ever seemed to find me all that funny.
“I can’t believe I made the final, though,” Toni continued. “I know it’s old hat for you, but it was like I finally got close. Made losing even more of a bitch, but hey, there’s no shame in losing to Celeste.”
“None,” I assured her. Toni didn’t perk up, though, so on impulse I reached out to squeeze her hand. “Trust me, you’ll be back with other chances. But Celeste can take out anyone on her day.”
“You guys are friends, right?”
“That’s a complicated question.” I wished I’d gone for the damn wine now. Still, it was hardly a secret. “You’ve probably heard it around the place anyway, but we dated for a while.”
“Oh!” Toni blushed almost as dark as her wine for a moment. “I don’t listen to rumours so… Well, so… That’s cool. Cool, yes.”
“You really didn’t know?” I practically heard Alice taunting me inside my head. “I’m not exactly out, but I didn’t think it was news.”
“Hey, your personal life is your own. I didn’t want to force you to tell me.” Toni had recovered her composure, but something about her was a little off. Had I completely misread her? Did she think her mild flirtation was safe with a fellow straight girl and I had just blown that out of the water? We were saved by the arrival of our food.
I felt a little jealous of her risotto when they set it down, at least until my own pasta appeared and my stomach growled to remind me I hadn’t eaten since my last snack on the plane. Burning through as much energy as we did, our bodies were always primed for more fuel to burn, and this was some damn delicious fuel in the form of a perfect puttanesca.
“Wow, that must be some damn good pasta,” Toni teased as I moaned ever so slightly over the first bite. I hadn’t meant to, but it really was delicious.
“How’s yours?” I asked, and she nodded enthusiastically while taking another bite. “It’s almost always good here.” I said it with confidence, but honestly a lot of hotels and restaurants all blurred into one another at this point.
“We were talking about vacations, weren’t we?” Toni said as we made our way through the respective dishes. “I think I might go back to Mexico this year.”
“You still have a place in Spain though, right?”
“Mmm, but my dad’s family are in Guadalajara.” The way she said it was lovely, like the word itself was a happy memory. “My grandmother has a big old house south of the city, almost all the way to Lake Chapala. It’s really beautiful there.”
“Sounds like rest and relaxation to me,” I said. “You must need it too, coming back from such a tough injury and playing a season like this. You’ve been in a lot more than I have.”
“Yeah, but you know how it is. After you get injured, you’re just so grateful to be playing again, you don’t really mind how tough it is. Just so long as you can get out there.”
“Right. Of course.”
“Still, you could go anywhere I bet. The Maldives, or maybe one of those private islands somewhere. That must be cool.”
“Sure, I mean there are options. It would just be nice to go visit someone, or with someone. Not my whole entourage with a training schedule and bags of spare racquets. Just…a real holiday. One bag and a camera around my neck, you know? Play tourist.”
“Sounds nice, when you say it like this.”
We ate the rest of our meal in companionable silence, and when Toni ordered a second glass of wine, I had them bring the bottle so I could join her.
“Sitting here, we could almost just be tourists,” I said, realising we now had the pool patio to ourselves, candles lit silently by the staff while we had been oblivious. It was almost romantic, but I didn’t dare think of it that way. Toni’s dark eyes caught the candlelight beautifully, and I had even more trouble than usual not just staring at her. “Until you remember all our kit is upstairs, and the people to go with it.”
“Have you ever been to Mexico?” Toni asked in return. “Other than playing the Open there.”
“I haven’t in a few years,” I admitted. The prize wasn’t on the higher end of the scale, and it always landed on a week where I’d had a more lucrative option. I shrugged off the vague sense of guilt. We all made those calculations. “And I haven’t seen much of the country outside of a tournament, no. Oh! About ten years ago I had a long weekend in Cabo San Lucas. That counts, right?”
“Just about,” Toni replied. “I mean, maybe it’s weird of me to ask, but you could always come visit me for a vacation. There’s plenty of room. It’s not…you know, like this…” She gestured to the hotel in all its opulence. “But you’d be more than welcome. Abuela is always nagging me to bring friends, or a boyfriend.”
Ah. Fresh confirmation. Still, friends wasn’t such a hardship when it came to Toni. Despite my bubbling crush, I found her company much more pleasant that just about anyone else’s.
“And you’re not taking a