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“You have a lot of respect for him.”
“Of course. He’s a legend.”
“You don’t consider yourself in the same league? Aren’t you forty-something in the world too?”
He shrugged. “Rafa cares about tennis. A lot. I don’t.”
“You don’t?”
“It’s just hitting a ball across a net.” He demonstrated his point by knocking the ball on his racket over to my side of the court. “Basketball? That’s a sport. I should have played that.”
I gave him a small grin. “Basketball is just putting a ball in a net.”
Kai laughed, and his genuine, smirk-and-arrogance-free smile made my heart flutter. “You got me there, Miss Daisy.”
“You want to know what I think?” I said softly, moving closer to the net.
“Tell me.”
“I think you’re afraid of how good you are. I think you’re afraid of what could happen if you played to your full potential.”
That beautiful smile vanished. “You sound like my dad.”
“Do you want to talk about him?”
“No.”
A short silence descended in the heated air between us.
“Well…you’re amazing, Kai,” I said and cleared my throat. “At this sport. I can see why Jason cares so much about you.”
Kai’s expression tightened. “He doesn’t need to. I’m doing all right.”
“He said you could get banned from tennis for life.”
“He exaggerates.”
I raised my eyebrows questioningly.
“Okay, yes, the ATP is pissed at me. But that’s on them. They want tennis to be a gentlemen’s sport.” He bounced a ball on the edge of his racket. “I’m not a gentleman.”
“Wouldn’t you miss it?”
“No.” He whacked the ball away. Hard. “It’s just a silly game.”
“You sure about that? You’re so good—”
“I’m sure,” he said, his words snapping at me like a whip. “I’m also sure Jason told you about my dad, right? So you’d feel sorry for me and take the job?”
I tilted my head up to meet his dark eyes. “He told me. I’m very sorry, Kai. But that’s not why I’m here. Not to pity you. I want to help.”
Kai looked out over the court, his gaze distant. Remembering.
“He’s never not going to collapse on the court in front of me. He’s never going to get up and pick up his racket and keep playing with me. He’s never going to sit in the stands and watch me—his son and a Samoan-Australian—win a Major. He’s not here to be proud of all that he taught me…”
Kai glanced at me sharply, his expression hardening again, closing down in embarrassment for what he revealed.
“You can’t help me, Daisy,” he said. “So don’t bother.”
