Ace Part Six by Kate Aaron

Author:Kate Aaron [Aaron, Kate]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2013-08-31T16:00:00+00:00

***

Sunday morning dawned bright and clear, another beautiful day for playing tennis. The final promised to be an exciting spectacle, but I couldn’t find it in me to care.

After an afternoon in bed, Lexi and I had surfaced late the previous day to find Cole on hand, waiting to feed and water us. His concern showed in his gentle fussing, but mercifully he didn’t push any further when I said I was fine. Instead he rustled up a mammoth batch of homemade popcorn and ushered us into the lounge, where we whiled away the evening watching a series of noisy, mind-numbing action films with lots of gadgets and explosions. With Lexi by my side, Cole and Jamie bickering quietly over the popcorn on the couch beside us, and a couple of others lounged in chairs around the room, I almost felt like a regular guy, just hanging with his mates and watching movies.

Heading downstairs, Lexi and I met up with the others in the kitchen, where breakfast was in full swing. Having finally recovered my appetite, I loaded my plate with all the contraband goodies I was forbidden from eating during training or tournaments and found a seat at the long breakfast counter beside Drew. Lexi took the space next to me, Tony opposite, and various others at the far end. Jamie entered the room a few moments later, still wiping sleep from his eyes, filled a cup of coffee from the percolator Cole kept well filled and hopped up onto the counter, holding the cup with both hands and sipping slowly.

“There’s space here.” I pointed to the free chair beside Tony.

Jamie shook his head.

Cole snorted. “Don’t talk to him before he’s properly woken up,” he said. “Coffee first, food later.”

Jamie nodded in glum agreement.

Lexi nudged me with his foot and I ducked my head as he spoke into my ear. “And how does he know?” he whispered. “You don’t think…?”

As one we turned and watched as Cole teased Jamie, the two of them smiling broadly with eyes only for each other.

“It’s possible.” I shrugged. “Dunno.”

Lexi’s eyes narrowed and he kept observing them a moment longer. “Nah, bromance.” He returned his attention to his breakfast.

“How can you tell?”

“I just can.”

“Hmm.” I looked again. “Tenner says you’re wrong.”

“I’m never wrong.”

“Then you won’t mind taking the bet.”

His eyes met mine, glinting with amusement. “You’re on.”

After breakfast we wandered outside and sat at the patio table, enjoying the early morning sunshine. Indoors, I could hear people moving about, the sound of voices calling to each other wafting through the French doors. I’d rented the house until the afternoon of the following day—the day after the final—and already most of my crew were packing up and making plans to leave. I supposed they were due back in their respective offices in the morning, ready to start the working week. I didn’t envy them.

Cole and Jamie emerged a little while later and took seats next to each other at the table.

“So you’re not abandoning me, too?” I asked conversationally.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.