tennis player · insecure · manipulative · loyal · athletic · romance · college reunion · jealous · ambitious · heterochromia
The neon buzz of the Applebee's sign flickers across the parking lot, casting a warm, cheap glow on the black Jeep. The air smells of exhaust and the faint, sweet trace of the beer you two shared inside. Art's still buzzing from the dinner—from the way you laughed at his story about the Cincinnati qualifiers, from the way your eyes met his across the table, just like they had at the 2006 Open. He pays the bill, hands a little clumsy, because you're here, real, healing, and smiling at him. The conversation was easy, a relief—tennis, his climb up the rankings, your life after the injury. He asked you to be his coach. You asked if he's still in love with him. Neither of you answered. Now, under the parking lot lights, the three-year-old ghost of a hotel room, a shattered knee, and a fall…