Page 16

CHAPTER NINE

Uncle Ben

W e had one more day until we flew out to Dubai. In that time, I hadn’t gone a single day without that lump in my throat reappearing at odd times to choke me. Nightmares still woke me. I no longer screamed out loud, but the strangled gasps that shocked me awake were somehow more horrifying.

One more day of strengthening my ankle. Joel and I were on the tennis court. I balanced on my injured ankle and bounced a ball on my racquet. I’d had a proper ankle brace fitted to offer some extra support. It was still plenty sore, but the pain helped me focus.

Mostly. Today I was too distracted.

Every private thing Pete and I had done together had been analysed over and over by news outlets, sports gossip bloggers and Twitter.

I doubted anyone on social media had missed it.

This morning I’d finally snapped and gone into social media blackout, deactivating all my accounts until further notice.

I had no emotional space to deal with the abusive DMs and comments on my previous posts, about what a whore I was, how I was a bad role model, how I was going to Hell.

There were even a couple of death threats peppered throughout.

“Go to the police, Stink, for fuck’s sake!” Joel had said. “That footage getting leaked, all this abuse – it’s fucking illegal!” He seemed even more incensed than I was about the whole debacle. Like a protective older brother.

I was sure I already knew who leaked it – fucking Pete Levine. I bet he wasn’t being called a whore. More likely receiving virtual high fives.

At least when I had contacted the police to make sure it was okay for me to leave the country – that they wouldn’t try to stop me at customs – I’d been given the all-clear.

I lost my concentration for a second, and the ball hit the frame of the racquet, ricocheting away across the court. Joel grunted and retrieved it. I put down my left leg, taking some of the weight off my injured ankle.

“Focus, Mel! Your mind’s wandering,” he said in a clipped tone. He handed me the ball. “Your head’s not a hundred percent in this. Physically you’re fit enough to compete, but mentally you’re struggling!”

I scowled. “Of course I’m not mentally prepared for this! How can you expect that with everything that’s going on?”

Joel took a deep breath.

“Stink, Dad would have wanted you to keep going. All he wanted was for you to succeed and he knew that you could do it. Don’t let him down now. He wouldn’t want you to get distracted. He’d want you to go to Dubai and play your heart out. Do him proud.”

I gritted my teeth, clearing my throat to dislodge the lump.

What he was saying was totally true. I took a few deep breaths and set the ball on my racquet, lifting my left foot once more.

Joel picked up a racquet too. I guess he thought that I’d feel better about it if I wasn’t the only one looking ridiculous.

“Time for a break yet?” a deep voice asked.

Joel gave me a sharp look and shook his head minutely as Ben sauntered onto the court.

He leaned against the net pole and folded his arms across his chest, watching me intently.

I put too much force into a bounce and lost control.

Ben picked up the ball and grinned a white, toothy smile at me.

“Ben, we’re trying to work here, and as you can see, Mel’s easily distracted.” Joel actually sounded grumpy. Ben continued to smile, his eyes on me.

“Well, maybe it’s time for a break – you’ve been out here for two hours. It’s hot, why don’t you come inside and have a cold drink, something to eat?”

I waited for Joel to decide. He looked at me, and he must have seen in my face how over it I was. He sighed and put his racquet down. I followed suit, relieved.

“So, are you staying much longer, Ben?” I asked as we all made our way back inside and up the stairs to the main level, where Sandra had made sandwiches. He shook his head.

“No, I’m going back home tomorrow. I’ve got a big project going on at work, so I could only get a week off.”

“And where’s home?” I asked, taking a bite out of a salad roll.

“Dubai,” Ben replied with a grin. “I run Meerkat Engineering.”

“Holy shit!” I gasped. “You own the business that sponsors the Dubai Tennis Championships?” I asked. Ben chuckled.

“No. Well not entirely anyway. I’m an executive director.” He smiled smugly at me. “I always loved tennis, but I was never good at it the way Steve was – I must have missed out on the sports gene. By sponsoring the Dubai Championship, I still feel involved.”

I took another bite of my sandwich, mentally readjusting my picture of Ben. I’d assumed that he was living off Steve’s wealth. But he’d built his own fortune. He went up a lot of notches in my estimation.

After lunch had settled, Joel suggested that I get in the pool and swim some laps. I ducked back inside the house to change, feeling Ben’s eyes following me.

I had a couple of pairs of swimmers with me – a deep blue one piece that was very practical for exercise, and a little yellow string bikini, which wasn’t practical at all, but was great for tanning. And if you wanted to impress someone.

I thought about Ben sitting out there, watching me swim. I put on the yellow bikini and strutted back out to the pool. I had the satisfaction of watching Ben’s eyes bug out when he caught sight of me. I pretended I hadn’t noticed and continued into the pool, slipping into the water.

Joel appeared out of the house, wearing a pair of Speedos which left very little to the imagination. I tried not to let my eyes follow the definition of the V shape of his lower abs, pointing directly down towards his … stop, Mel!

He raised his eyebrows when he saw my bikini, but he didn’t comment, hopping into the pool and pushing off from the end, his long muscular body cutting an easy path through the water. I followed him, conscious of Ben’s eyes on me as I moved.

I think I’d done about fifteen laps when Ben appeared at the pool side wearing board shorts. I stopped for a moment and looked up at him. He might not have inherited the sport gene, but he had definitely not missed out on the hot gene. I was struck again by the similarities between him and Joel.

“Mind if I join you?” he asked, not waiting for Joel to give him permission before he hopped into the water. Joel scowled as he stopped swimming to tread water, glaring at his uncle, who was beaming at me.

“So, what’s an average day of training for you?” Ben asked, standing in the water, his hair wet and water beading off his smooth chest. Sporting gene or not, he worked out – no one had a body like that without working out.

I rolled over and floated on my back, my boobs sticking out of the water.

“Well, at the moment I’m not on my regular training schedule because of the ankle.

But normally I would do drills on the court every day for an hour or so, morning and evening, then thirty minutes of weights once a day.

I try to swim at least four times a week too – it’s good for relaxing, and it helps condition my heart and lungs without the wear and tear on my joints.

And of course, I play friendly matches a lot. ”

Ben’s eyes lingered on my stomach, my breasts, before sliding up to my face. “Maybe we could have a friendly match tonight? That is, if your ankle is up to it.” Ben looked to Joel, as if seeking permission. He nodded, a strange glint in his eyes .

“I was going to suggest that we play a game tonight, so if Ben wants to do the honours, that’s fine.” He seemed satisfied for some reason. I had no idea why. I’d given up trying to figure out what Joel got his jollies from a long time ago.

Sandra walked out onto the deck then. “Mel, you’ve got visitors!” she called. I swam to the stairs. Joel grunted.

“You’re supposed to be preparing for a tennis tournament, not socialising,” he muttered. I threw him a dark look.

“Oh, don’t get out, Mel!” Sandra called. “I think they’re hoping for a swim as well.”

Brad appeared, grinning, followed by Amanda, holding the hand of a tall, lanky guy with a pretty face and dark blonde hair. I threw a questioning glance at Brad as they dropped their stuff.

“The guy from the tennis,” Brad mouthed at me, before pulling off his t-shirt and leaping into the pool.

Amanda dragged off her sun dress, speaking quietly with the guy, who shifted uncomfortably.

“Hey,” I called out to him, and he glanced up, a hint of pink on his cheeks. “I’m Mel, nice to meet you …”

“Thomas,” he replied, a small smile pulling at his lips. Amanda nudged him with her elbow and leaned in, saying, “I told you she wouldn’t mind.”

And the pair of them joined us in the pool.

“We figured that if you weren’t going to have a chance to see us before you left, we’d make an effort to come see you.” Brad said, swimming towards me.

“I’m so glad you did!” I replied, splashing Brad and laughing when he shrieked. Amanda and Thomas introduced themselves to Ben as he dragged a couple of pool loungers into the water.

Joel brushed past me on his way out of the pool, his lips pressed together, shoulders tight. Amanda swam over to me.

“What’s up with Joel?” she asked, watching his dripping body with wide eyes as he stalked towards the cabana.

“Don’t stare at him like that when your new boyfriend is right over there!” I hissed, smacking her lightly on the arm. “He’s probably annoyed; this is our last chance to train before we get on a plane for fourteen hours.”

“Why does he care so badly? I mean you train so hard, what’s wrong with an afternoon off?” she persisted.

I narrowed my eyes. “He’s got a lot on his mind at the moment, with everything that happened with Steve, and putting his training business on the back burner to help me out, and leaving Sandra alone while he flies overseas to support me.”

Oh God. My bad mood, my lack of focus, me snapping at him, and now distractions in the shape of Ben, Brad, Amanda and this Thomas guy. Joel was stressed and I was making it worse.