Page 50 of The Backup Groom

I bounced the ball a few times, ready to serve, but stopped when Amber snort-laughed.

“Now what?” I said, looking over.

“Nothing. Nothing at all,” she said, snorting again.

“Seriously?” I said. “You’re laughing because I lost the first set?”

I needed to stay strong, so I tried not to encourage her.

Finally, she wiped her eyes and pointed at my shorts. “Okay, I have to ask. Are you smuggling apples over there?”

I glanced down, then jerked my head back, shocked. “How did that even happen?”

Amber laughed even harder.

Unbeknownst to me, I had jammed five tennis balls in my front pockets. I must have been so nervous that I didn’t even realize I had done it. It looked like the battle of the bulge had taken up residency in my shorts.

I quickly pulled the balls out of my pockets and dropped them on the ground behind me.

Amber was doubled-over, clutching her stomach, and suddenly I was joining the laughter.

I loved that she didn’t take herself so seriously and was out to have fun.

She teased. She talked. She flirted. And she kicked my butt.

Amber was relentless, and I didn’t stand a chance against her.

The match was an epic massacre, worthy of a slasher movie.

After we met at center court, I reached over the net and shook her hand. “Good game.”

Amber didn’t gloat. “You, too. Good game.”

She was being way too kind.

I could have swallowed a bag of tennis balls and crapped a better game.

We silently walked side by side over to the benches, set our rackets down, and then each took sips of water from our bottles.

Amber turned to me. “So . . .”

“So . . . what the heck was that?” I mimed a crash and burn off a cliff.

She feigned ignorance. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

I just stared at her.

“Okay, maybe I have a little idea.” She started to giggle. “Come on, we were just having fun, right?”

I tried to suppress my levity. “Yeah. I never had so much fun losing.”

“What a coincidence. I never had so much fun watching someone lose.”

Now we were both howling, because itwasfunny, but also we were both stalling for something we hadn’t named.

Amber rocked back and forth on her heels. “So . . .”

I rocked back and forth on my feet. “So . . .”