“I think I’d like to tell her who you are to me,” Toni confessed. “I mean, she already knows there’s someone on the scene. And that I almost blew the whole thing.”
“But you didn’t,” I assured her. “It doesn’t have to be such a big deal. You’ve met my mother.”
“She travels with you. You work together every day. And she gets it, Elin. From what you’ve told me, there was no big adjustment. One gay daughter, one trans daughter—Britta just rolls with it and loves you both the same. My mom? It’s not like that.”
“She knows you’re gay, though?”
Toni nods, sipping at her water. “But she told me she doesn’t want to know all the details, not in her face, all of that. If she has to meet ‘some woman’ I better be serious about her.”
“And you didn’t tell her what lesbians are like for serial monogamy?” I tried to lighten the mood, but my heart was doing a strange kind of pitter-patter that would have set alarms beeping if I had my treadmill heart monitor on. “Sounds as though you really like me, if you’re going through all this.”
“That’s what I’m saying,” Toni said, heaving a sigh of relief. “So yeah, you enjoy that tomorrow. Me? I’m glad my ass will be on court.”
“It is a very nice one,” I agreed. “You know, if we just ordered dessert we could be back at the hotel in less than an hour.”
“I’m hungry,” Toni protested. “But okay, we’ll skip the first course. You’re a bad influence.”
“Oh, I know.” I wanted to make a joke about how the GTA would agree with her, and we’d find out tomorrow, but the words just wouldn’t form. She deserved a night with no stress, no interference with her preparation. We’d talk about it after the match. “And I’m really happy you want me to meet your mother.”
We smiled at each other in the candlelight, and my heartbeat settled down to something quick and happy.
My plan to shield Toni was obliterated by the morning headlines. Alerts had started appearing on my phone in the wee small hours, thanks to Parisa forwarding them, and it seemed the GTA were going all out for the suspension.
What pissed me off almost as much as the thought of Toni waking up to be distracted by it all was the way the official statement implied I’d done something wrong when it came to doping. No mention that I had spoken out against injustice, just the vague implication about me, drugs, and suspension. Only at the very end did the statement mention I had never tested positive for any banned substance.
I went back to bed and waited for Toni’s alarm to rouse her. She had one of those sunrise alarm clocks and took it with her to every hotel and house throughout the year. Slowly, the fake sunlight woke her up with a smile on her face.
Like the lovesick idiot I was, I thought maybe she had never looked more beautiful. I said good morning with a soft kiss instead of words.
“Hey,” she said, voice still husky with sleep and deep enough to hit me right between the thighs. “What are you waiting so patiently for?”
I wished it was for something as fun as sex.
“Listen, it’s not a big deal, but I made some headlines today. You’re almost definitely going to get pulled in for testing whether you win or not, so don’t let anything affect your focus.”
“Can we go for a swim?” She was checking her phone, catching up on reality swipe by swipe. I braved myself for her anger at me not having told her sooner.
“If you want to, sure. I’m apparently a real troublemaker, though, so you might not want to be seen in public with me. Or let me meet your mother.”
“Elin, you’re taking a stand to protect the sport we all devoted our lives to. You don’t take illegal steroids or speed or anything to cheat, and no funny little men from the GTA can intimidate you. Especially not with a press release, no?”
“Right. You saw the part where I’m going to be fined and suspended once the president approves it?”
Toni kicked off the covers and slipped out of bed, coming around to stand on my side. In her tiny cami and shorts, dark hair tumbling wild over her shoulders, it took all my strength not to yank her onto the mattress there and then.
“Well, that you have to appeal. Reps, attorneys; hell, why not set your mother on them?” Toni kissed me on the end of my nose. “Other people I might worry, but babe, you can take on anyone.”
I felt ten pounds lighter by the time we brushed our teeth and picked up our swim gear. Who knew that talking it through with Toni, and her boundless confidence in me, that I would feel better than if I just silently fretted over it? Okay, when I put it like that, I saw exactly how obvious it was, but the very pleasant feeling remained. I felt like I could take on the world, not just the stuffed shirts of the GTA. Let them ban me. I’d sue my way into the French Open and bring the glare of public opinion right along with me.
The pool was mostly empty, save for a few men thrashing out lengths in the fast lane. Usually I’d go threaten their egos with my killer front crawl, but I was more in the mood for lazy backstroke with frequent interruptions for making out in the shallow end. Toni indulged me for a while before going to splash around in her real workout, teaching the fast-lane boys a lesson in the process. At least until Jürgen showed up. With his arms, he had the edge on all of us.
He eventually came across to disturb me after zipping around
