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‘Great,’ Rob said. ‘So are we all cool? Can we just play tennis and hang out for a few more days?’
‘Yeah,’ she said with a smile. ‘We can definitely do that.’ Neither of them said anything for a moment, so Hannah stood up. ‘I might go and get changed.’
‘Me too,’ said Rob, but he didn’t move. ‘Can you go first? Just so we’re not seen together?’
Hannah rolled her eyes and headed out of the pool, grabbing her robe off a lounger and using the sleeve to briskly rub away a drifting tide of mascara. It was a tiny gesture of self-consciousness, and Rob wished he could tell her that it didn’t matter, that even with panda eyes and red goggle marks and hair that fell in lank, wet spirals down her back, she took his breath away.
‘See you on court tomorrow,’ she said, giving him a half-wave.
‘I’ll be there,’ said Rob. He wondered if she could feel him watching her walk away, but she didn’t look back. Something fundamental had shifted between them, and right now he couldn’t decide if it made things better or far, far worse.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
‘You seem a lot happier today,’ said Jess to Hannah, both of them sitting on the wooden deck against the railing, sipping ice-cold glasses of Cava. Rob sat opposite on the other side of Nick, and Hannah was glad of her sunglasses so she could turn her face to the evening sun, but also take advantage of the opportunity to shamelessly look at him. The other coaches were all at the other end of the boat, chatting to Manuel as they sailed out of the marina and into open water.
‘Yeah, I’m good.’ Hannah leaned back on her hands. ‘A lot better.’ She was wearing a strapless sun dress that faded from hot pink to a pale orange, her feet bare on the warm wood of the deck. She hadn’t told the others about the pizza on Tuesday and the conversation between her and Rob in the pool last night, knowing that it would prompt too many questions and put Trish in a mood. There’d been no further mention of Trish’s attempts to get Rob into bed, so presumably that had hit a dead end.
‘I wanted to say sorry to everyone,’ said Trish, waving her empty glass at the assembled group. Rob turned his head to pull a face at Hannah, both of them sensing emotional declarations were incoming. ‘I’ve been a bit of a twat,’ she continued.
‘No, you haven’t,’ said Gaynor soothingly, patting her on the shoulder.
‘Yes, I have,’ Trish said determinedly. ‘I said some awful stuff to you guys on Sunday, about your husbands and fancy holidays and stuff. I was pissed.’
‘It’s fine,’ said Jess. ‘Forget it,’
‘And I haven’t been fair to Rob either,’ said Trish. Nick grinned and sat up, clearly relishing the spectacle.Oh God, thought Hannah.Where’s she going with this?
‘He made it really clear on Sunday that he wasn’t interested,’ said Trish. ‘And the same on Monday. But I kept trying it on anyway, and that wasn’t fair.’
‘It’s fine,’ said Rob with a shrug, glancing at Hannah again.
‘But at the end of the day, I’m damaged goods.’
‘Oh fucking hell, here we go,’ muttered Gaynor.
‘And Rob, you were lovely and an absolute gentleman, and I probably didn’t deserve that. These guys already know that I haven’t had a shag in two years, so that was . . .’
‘Okaaay,’ said Jess, as Nick snorted with laughter. ‘I don’t think Rob and Nick need to know the details.’
‘It’s important to share,’ said Trish, her lip wobbling. ‘It’s OK for all of you, you’ve got perfect lives.’
‘I do NOT have a perfect life,’ said Gaynor, an edge creeping into her voice. The other women stared at her, so she cleared her throat. ‘Ed and I are fine, but he works away a lot and it’s definitely not like it used to be. Before the kids.’
‘You still love him, though, right?’ asked Jess, reaching over to touch her arm. Hannah wondered what Rob was making of this display of female soul-bearing. If Graham was anything to go by, men would rather die in the trenches than have conversations like this.
‘Course,’ said Gaynor. ‘But it’s now May, right? And I can genuinely only think of one time we’ve had sex this year. Maybe twice, but the other time was barely worth mentioning. I had to finish myself off in the bathroom.’
‘Sorry, guys, girl talk,’ said Jess, wafting an arm at Rob and Nick, who were both boggle-eyed and speechless. ‘Look, it’s not just you, mate,’ she added to Gaynor, still patting her hand in solidarity. ‘Tim and I definitely do it less than we used to. You just have to make the effort, make time for each other every week.’
‘Yeah, we tried that,’ said Gaynor gloomily. ‘Friday night date, no excuses. Until he’s tired or I’ve got my period or the kids are being a nightmare. Then we get out of the habit again.’
‘Sorry, but do you guys even know we’re here?’ asked Nick, turning his palms upwards towards Hannah.
‘Yeah, but we don’t care,’ said Hannah.
‘Have you talked to Ed about it?’ asked Trish.
‘Not really,’ said Gaynor. ‘I’m worried it’s going to open a big old can of worms. Like maybe he doesn’t love me, or he’s screwing someone else and wants a divorce but doesn’t know how to tell me.’
