The Perfect Emotion by Melissa Rolka Read Free Book Online Page B

bag off and then head out to the tennis courts.  I look and immediately see Reed.  He’s practicing his serves and the moment he sees me heading in he freezes.  His eyes lock on mine and I wish I could see the blue in them.  When I get to my side of the court he never wavers from holding my gaze.  I bite down on the bottom corner of my lip hesitating on whether to talk.  This time I don’t resist or stop myself from engaging.
    “Hi.”  His mouth parts and then I see a lip pressed grin.  It’s not cocky, but genuine. 
    “Hi Kate.”  I smile and then reach down to grab a couple tennis balls.
    “Love-Love.”  I give a good serve, it’s not my strongest, but it’s decent and it’s in.  Reed of course sends it back beautifully.  I’m able to return it to the opposite corner and he misses it.  Dang.   That feels good.
    “Nice one.” He says with his back turned to me. As he’s walking to get a couple balls I lose any restraint and filters I’ve had.
    “Sweet or salty?”  I say nervously.  My view is of his back and I see the muscles in his firm back and shoulders straighten through the thin fabric of his shirt.  He pauses mid stride when he hears my question.  Then he turns around to smile and wink at me.  I’ve missed that.  Oh. How. I’ve. Missed. That.   My knees go weak, but I force myself to get in my stance.
    “Salty.  Silver or gold?”  He asks from his side of the court ready to serve.
    “Silver.  Dogs or Cats?”  He slams a serve in that I return, not as strong as I would like, but still I’ve managed to get it in.  We play this out before continuing the game.  I lose this point, but I feel solid.
    “Dogs.  Beer or wine?”  Before he answers he cocks his head to the side knowing I know the answer to this.
    “Beer.  Coke or Pepsi?” 
    “Coke.”  I answer, but don’t throw another one out there as we continue to play.  I’m short on breath and need all my energy to play him. 
    We finish up a few sets and it’s after seven now.  Like always we stay on our opposite sides of the court pacing and drinking our sports bottles.  Finally, I sit down to catch my breath.  Reed continues to pace, but keeps his eyes in my direction.  The moment stretches and then he makes his way across the court.  He stands in front of me and I look up to see those crystal clear, ocean blues.  They are just as intense as I remember them.  My stomach does a little flip and my pulse races.  Luckily, I’m sitting or I know the lightheadedness spreading through me would take over. 
    “Anything else you want to ask?” The way his lip curves up on the one side and his hair hangs slightly in front of his eyes with sweat dripping down one would think he is a model for a sport commercial. I bite down on the bottom corner of my lip as I contemplate my answer. There is so much I’d love to ask, but I can’t. I just can’t bring myself to do it. My heart hurts for a moment and then I snap myself out of it.
    “No,” I say with little declaration to my tone.
    “Okay.”  He hesitates for a moment and I can see that he is having his own internal battle, but he doesn’t say anything else.  As he walks off the courts he runs his hands through his hair and his head drops a little.  I contemplate running up to him and telling him things, things that still seem too difficult.  In the end I chicken out though.

    I walk back to the house happier than I’ve felt in months.  My plan worked just like I thought it would.  I knew over time that tennis could be our bond again.  This time she came to me.  For weeks I played against her never crossing the line or talking to her.  When she turned around and asked me, “Sweet or salty” I think I stopped breathing and I nearly fell to my knees.  I knew that this was a huge breakthrough.  I loved that she started up the game I had started with her months ago to get her to open up.  This time I let the questioning end in her court,