The Racquet Accident

Chapter Eighteen: Meet a Leprechaun.

Chapter Eighteen: "Meet a Leprechaun."

I DIDN'T DO SLOW well.

I figured that out on Monday at practice. At 6:30 in the morning. Less than 24 hours after Nikko and I had the conversation.

Another thing I figured out? For a sport that sounded like it had zero sex appeal, there was more sexual tension in it than I realized. Then again it was a sport composed of intensity, strategy, agility, and power. And when you won a match, it felt really good.

So maybe it was a little like great sex.

That morning, I was sitting down next to Liya as we, along with our teammates, watched Nikko swat the ball a few times at the wall before his opponent, one of our teammates, Oliver came in. This happened sometimes at the end of practice. Our coaches would put up two teammates for us to watch in a friendly match. 

Nikko held the racquet like a sword. He rolled his shoulders back as tension eased from his body. As Oliver took his position, Nikko moved into his own, placing one foot inside the service box as he got ready to make the serve.

This was one of my favorite parts about watching him play the game. The way he set himself up, ball in hand, squared shoulders lined with muscles from hours at the gym that showed in his arms and his legs, in his quads and shins. 

I let out a long breath, biting my lip as he made the serve. 

"Nikko's kind of sexy." The low words came from my left. As quickly as they entered my ears, I swiftly turned my head to find out where they came from.

Polly.

Her comment didn't go unnoticed. Instead, it's agreed on by another one of our teammates' who murmured. "No, he is." 

Polly hummed in agreement, her focus on the match. She's right. They're right. He is. Especially when the game started.

With his jaw set in concentration, Nikko whacked the ball against the wall. As the rally went on, we all watched as Oliver attempted to match Nikko's abilities. He couldn't.

Nikko was alert as he moved across the court, swiftly darting his way to trick Oliver with moves I was familiar with, with an agility that led him to get the ball under his control with lightning speed. Before I knew it, the score was up 9-3 yet he wasn't backing down. 

The entire audience watched as he reached the 11 points in a matter of minutes. When the match was over, he shook hands with Oliver, the two of them speaking with lightness. The interaction, even as Nikko continued to say likely encouraging things to our teammate, ended with giving Oliver a pat on the back.

While Oliver led the way off the court, I paid more attention to Nikko. I didn't anyone on the court saw what was beneath the cheeriness. At the end of the day, he knew he was a good player. He was very aware of it because he there a slight smirk on his face that made me roll my eyes. He could hide that pride from a lot of people. But he couldn't hide it from me.  

When he exited the court, most of our team congratulated him before starting to head to the changerooms. I lingered behind with Liya who fist-bumped Nikko. "That was a good match." 

"Thank you." He said, giving her a one-armed hug before his attention slid to me. "What did you think?" 

I, for one, was too busy looking at him. The grey active tank he was wearing today was one of my favourite ones on him. Along with black shorts and black shoes. His hair was pushed back from his face, and his pink hair tie was wrapped around his wrist. And on his lips? His easy-going smile.

This slow thing was going too slow for me, I decided, taking in a deep breath. 

"Larine?"

Liya's voice cut through my thoughts. I blinked several times, my focus flickering to her before going back to him. "I thought that you were really good."