When Venetia had given me the tour of the house and grounds, she barely even mentioned the tennis courts. I never expected to set foot on them - I don't play tennis, Venetia doesn't play tennis as far as I know - much less in black tie dinner wear, but here we are.
It's two-versus-two, Felix and Oliver against Farleigh and Venetia, with myself acting as a referee from the side of the court, despite the fact that I don't know any of the rules for tennis. Not that I really need to - everyone on the court is holding a bottle of something or other, and the game is slowly devolving into simply which team manages to hit the ball at all. I take a hearty swig from my own bottle of prosecco, and try not to laugh as Felix beams the ball right at his sister, hitting her in the arm.
The ball bounces off Venetia's arm and shoots off towards the edge of the court. She scrunches her face up into an angry pout as she walks off, wobbling slightly on her polka-dotted platform heels as she does. "You never aim it at Farleigh." She complains, serving the ball back over the net.
"Farleigh might actually hit it back." Felix says, volleying the ball back over to his sister's side.
True to Felix's word, Farleigh swings long, batting the tennis ball back to the other side. Oliver barely manages to hit it, jumping with his racket extended up above him. It's a little amusing to watch him try to keep up with Felix and Farleigh, considering that they both have a good 9-ish inches on him. I take another drink of my prosecco, letting the little bubbles pop against my tongue.
Oliver's hit is weak, and Felix darts forward to help the ball over the net. He swings hard, and the ball whizzes between Venetia and Farleigh, slapping the ground on their side of the net before bouncing towards the back wall of the court.
"Another point down- what's it now, five to one?" Felix gloats, retrieving his bottle of wine from the edge of the court and gulping it down like water.
Venetia throws both her hands in the air, one holding her tennis racket, and the other a bottle of rose, some of which sloshes out of the neck of the bottle and splashes onto the court. "I'm out!" She announces.
"Don't be a sore loser, V." Felix says, grinning as his sister wobbles off the court.
"You guys haven't won yet." Farleigh corrects him.
"Yet." Oliver says, a little smirk playing on his lips.
Farleigh rolls his eyes behind his Dior sunglasses.
Venetia stops before me, holding out her racket. "Switch off with me Evie?" She asks.
"I've never played tennis before." I say, taking her racket from her and standing up.
She snorts out a laugh. "You can't be worse than me."
She takes my spot, sitting up against the low stone wall that encircles the court, legs splayed out on the pavement. I kick off the heels I'd worn to dinner, and leave them with Venetia as I make my way over to Farleigh, bottle of prosecco in my left hand, a tennis racket in my right.
"Thank fucking god." Farleigh says. "I need someone a little more sober than V if I'm going to win-"
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves here." I say, setting my bottle down near the net before turning to face Oliver and Felix. "I can't promise that I'll be better than V."
Farleigh serves the ball, sending it flying over the net towards Oliver's face. "It's not that hard." He says. "Just hit the ball."
Oliver barely stops the ball from smacking him in the nose, and sends it in my direction. Bare feet slapping against the warm pavement, I run towards it. I swing, and thankfully the ball connects with my racket. It bounces away from me, headed right back to Oliver. Tucking my racket under my arm, I reach down and bunch the skirt of my dinner dress - an emerald green shimmery thing of Venetia's - tying it into a knot by my thighs, effectively shortening it to a more athletic length.
We volley back and forth for a while, and I start to get the hang of it - if the ball bounces towards the left side of the court, it's Farleigh's problem, if it bounces to the right, it's mine. It's easy enough to chase after Oliver's hits, and I'm lucky that Felix is only beaming it at Farleigh - there's no way that I would be able to get after those, but Farleigh does well enough. What he lacks in talent he makes up for in height and athleticism.
Oliver bats the ball back over the net at me, and I send it back. Felix jumps forward to get it, and sends it towards Farleigh. I expect him to move after it, but he doesn't, simply turning his head as he watches the ball sail past the lines marking the inside of the court. Out of bounds.
"Point for Farleigh and Evie!" Venetia crows, sticking her tongue out towards her brother.
Farleigh grins, and extends his hand for a high-five. I return his smile, and slap his hand.
And so it goes. In the end, Felix and Oliver still win - of course - but Farleigh and I manage to score a handful of points, capitalizing on how Felix doesn't know how to hit the ball not with his full strength, and Oliver can't hit it anywhere but the right side. We make an alright team, now that we've evened the playing field - or, at least, I think we have. He hasn't called me a dog since that night he tried to hold my hand and I clawed into his leg, and the band-aid on his thigh is gone now. Didn't even leave a scar.
Still, we lose in the end.
Racket tucked under my arm, I retrieve my bottle of prosecco, and gulp most of the contents down like water, ignoring the head rush. Farleigh looks just as sweaty as I feel, and as soon as I take the bottle away from my lips, he grabs it, finishing it off with just as much vigor as I drank. I untie the knot in my dress, and the fabric rolls down my legs again.
"You did pretty good." Farleigh says, handing me back the empty bottle. "For someone who's never played before."
"Oh, yeah sure Farleigh, you can have the rest." I snark. "Thank you for asking before you just snatched my bottle away."
His only response is a grin and he pulls the tennis racket out from under my arm and starts back off the court, following Felix and Oliver back towards the house. He even has the audacity to blow me a kiss before he turns around. My stomach has the audacity to send a round of butterflies swirling around my guts.
I roll my eyes, and head to where Venetia and my shoes sit against the side of the court. Her eyes are barely open, and the hazy smile on her face tells me she's absolutely wasted. With how much she drank at dinner, and the fact she never let go of her bottle of rose on the court, I'm not surprised.
"Hi baby." I say, crouching down in front of her.
Her grin widens. "Hi Evie." Her eyes flutter open wider. "You're sweaty."
"Sorry." I say, taking hold of her arm in one hand and my shoes in the other and standing, tugging her upward with me. She rises on unsteady feet, the platform polka-dot heels not helping at all. I debate for a moment taking them off, but she's already up.
She giggles as I loop her arm over my shoulders, and hold her by the waist. Her head falls against my shoulder, sunglasses crooked on her nose. "I saw Farleigh blow you a kiss." She says.
"He's a dick." I say. I only sort of mean it - there's no bite in my voice.
She nuzzles into my neck as I start us back towards the house. "You have to promise you won't let him steal you away." She says. "You're not allowed to like him more than me."
"I don't think I could like anyone more than you." I say, my lips brushing against her hair.
YOU ARE READING
Summer of Like // Farleigh Start x OC
Fanfiction"You're sure it wouldn't be too last minute?" I ask. Her face lights up, and she turns around in her seat again. "Not at all - the guest bedrooms are always made up anyway, it wouldn't even be an issue. And it would be such fun to have you there, E...
