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She found a seat in the bleachers away from everyone while the game before hers finished. Vi remembered when she first met Cory. She knew she had to view her as an enemy, but she hadn’t meant to treat her that way when they were face to face. It was simply a tactic she used to keep her emotions in check. And if she stared into Cory’s blue eyes she’d definitely have emotions.

A smile played across Vi’s face as she tied her shoes. Cory had made it hard for Vi to think of her in a negative way. She made sure of that with her seen but supposed to be unseen looks and going out of her way to say hi.

Maybe that’s what her mother had heard in her voice. Did she respect Cory? Very much. She respected her courage to open her own store and sell wholesale as well as retail. And as an older athlete who still loved competition, how could Vi not respect her athletic abilities?

“What’s that smile about?”

Vi looked up into Cory’s bright blue eyes. “I’m not loaning you my shoes today.”

Cory placed her foot on the bleacher in front of where Vi sat. “Tada! I have my own today.”

Vi laughed.

“Hey, I wanted to invite you for a celebratory drink after the match. I’d love to make you a non-alcoholic cocktail that you’ll love and won’t give you a headache. Of course, after I pound the daylights out of you on the court, you may already have a headache.”

“Oh my God! That was a good bit of trash talking, Sloan.”

Cory leaned in and spoke quietly. “Really? I’m terrible at it and it makes me feel bad when I say rude things.”

Vi couldn’t keep from laughing. “That doesn’t surprise me at all. You’re too nice, Cory Sloan.”

“Are you a trash talker?”

“Nope.” Vi narrowed her eyes. “I’ll do it with my sarcastic looks after I bounce the ball off your head.”

Cory giggled. “I like you, Violet Valdez.”

Vi raised her eyebrows. “You may not after this match.”

“I will. You can count on it.” Cory winked then walked over to where her teammates were sitting.

Vi watched as she sat down by her sister, CeCe, with a smile on her pretty face. “I like you, too,” she said under her breath.

“Cory wasn’t over here trying to get into your head, was she?” Olivia said, sitting next to Vi.

“I don’t think so.” Vi grinned.

“Have you decided to uncomplicate things?” Olivia asked.

Vi gazed over at her and shrugged. “I don’t know. We’ll see.”

“Right now,” Olivia said, standing up, “it’s our turn to play. Come on, we have to win. I’ve never been in first place before.”

Vi stood up and grinned. “Well then, let’s go win this game.”

They set their things down on the bench and ran onto the court. Both teams began to warm up and Vi had a hard time keeping her eyes off Cory. There were small cheering sections in the bleachers for both teams and Vi looked up to see an older woman who reminded her of Cory. Her hair wasn’t as blond, but there was something about her mannerisms. Vi wondered if she was Cory’s mother.

“Watch out!” Cory yelled as a ball whizzed by Vi’s head.

She looked up and realized she hadn’t been paying attention. Vi nodded at Cory in thanks and put all thoughts out of her mind except ones of volleyball and how to win this game.

The first game was close, but Vi’s team pulled away in the end and won it. She and Cory had exchanged several spikes and each had blocked the other once.

When the game was over, she and Cory exchanged looks as they changed sides of the court.

“Great job, Violet, but I’ll be ready for you this game,” Cory said with a smile.

Vi smirked then grinned. “You’d better be.”