Because I Love You

Chapter Fourteen: Promise

“You finally decided to keep your promise,” Alana grinned and twirled her racket in her hand.

"It's been almost four years.  I should have kept it a long time ago,” Gino smiled down at her and tucked a stray strand of her dark hair behind her ear. 

“It’s nice you didn’t forget, but now I finally get some revenge for you winning football and soccer against me.”

He chuckled and twirled his own racket in hand.  “Well, I’m pretty athletic too, so I’m pretty sure I stand a chance.”

The two of them stopped in front of the tennis court and Alana spun her racket around her wrist and caught it in her hand before doing an impressive trick that made it go around her arm.

“We’ll see,” she said, and winked.

She made her way to one side of the court while Gino prepared himself on the other.  After setting down her water and bag, they stretched and did a couple rallies back and forth.  Alana had to admit, considering the fact he rarely did sports using anything other than a ball and his own body, he was pretty impressive.  His reflexes were sharp and he had good hand-eye coordination.

“Ready?” she called, bouncing the tennis ball on the ground.

“I was born ready,” he joked good-naturedly, and she rolled her eyes.

Alana threw the ball into the air and did a twist serve.  As the ball bounced on the other side of the court, it spun up to meet his face.  Gino jerked out of the way, startled, and the ball hit against the cage surrounding the court.

“Fifteen-love!” she said with a laugh.

He jogged over to snatch the ball off the ground and threw it back over to her.  She caught it out of the air.

“Fine,” Gino gave a mock growl.  “Again.  And this time, I’m not going to lose to that.”

He ended up losing two more points to the twist serve before he was finally able to hit it back.  For a few more games (which he lost spectacularly to his girlfriend), Alana made sure to hit shots that would have her boyfriend run all around the court.  He held his own and would hit some back, but would lose to the unexpected smashes and drops. 

After losing more games, so that she ended up winning six-love, Gino dropped his racket and began chasing her all around the court “for payback.”  She squealed and streaked away, but his long legs had him catching up in no time.  She felt his hands on her waist and Alana was turned and hauled up against his chest; she instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist.   

He pressed his mouth onto hers, and her playful protests vanished from her mind.  She could only think about how soft his lips were, the scent of his sweat mixed with his cologne, and the heat and strength of his body pressed against hers. 

Gino pulled away after a moment and whispered into her ear, “You’re a little minx.  How do you expect me to win when I’m distracted by how sexy you look?”  He lightly nibbled at her earlobe, and Alana had to grip his shoulders to reassure herself she wouldn't fall, despite the fact that his strong arms were firmly wrapped around her.

"I...  I'm just wearing a tank top and short shorts," she protested, looking down at him with pink cheeks.

A wolfish grin spread across his face.  "Well, then you underestimate what your body does to me.  Besides, you're really... feisty when you're playing tennis, and it's kind of a turn on."

Alana felt his hands grip her waist a little more firmly and press her against something hot and firm.  She gasped and arched against him.

“No.  No way in hell are we doing it in public.”