This is an entry in the
Summer Lovin' Story Contest 2022
contest, so it must be a complete story. That means it is long - 61 pages in MS Word! If you don't like tennis you may not enjoy some of the story, although tennis is meant to build insight into the characters, and to provide a setting for the ancient tussle between good and evil.
There is no sex among under characters who are under 21 years of age.
Love Match
Breakfast bar and protein shake consumed, Scott picked up his tennis bag, opened the door of the quaint little B&B, and stepped out into the heat. It was only 7 am, but his car told him it was 91 degrees outside when he started it. He smiled.
Texas summers are brutal, even in the middle of the Hill Country, but the summer of '22 was particularly nasty. Austin was reporting 57 days over 100 so far, but was celebrating the end of the 21-day streak of over-100 temperatures had ended with a high of only 99 on Thursday. That "respite" was due to coastal clouds and humidity slipping up beside the big H that had been parked over the state since early May.
Yeah, it was only 99, but the humidity was up from 30% to 70%, and the heat index was 106! The high humidity make his early morning run along Lady Bird Lake unusually vicious, but he was committed to his runs, his weight work, his daily boxing workout, and the two tennis leagues he played in.
His packed daily schedule made acquaintances tell him to 'get a life', but he was happy with his life and schedule. Well, maybe not 'happy', but being busy from before dawn 'til after dark kept him from slipping back into depression and rage.
This 'dog day of July' tournament was known across the state as a test of endurance, but he knew no one entered was in better condition than he: three, four, even five matches per day - no problem! Even when he was playing collegiately, he hadn't been in better condition.
Scott was very confident that if it came down to a mid-day three setter, he would win the war of attrition, even if he wasn't the better player.
As he pulled away from the B&B, Scott considered his recent life with a mixture of dark humor and angst. Being a December 2020 college grad, he had plenty of experience in home-based courses and part-time jobs even before he took the home-based Information Technology (IT) Security job he held now.
Living alone since April 16, 2020, he had learned the necessity of strict discipline in the mental, emotional, and physical realms in order to balance competing elements successfully.
With strict self-discipline, he was highly productive in his job and in his personal and professional development, while pushing himself to new levels of strength, agility, flexibility, and conditioning. If only he had driven himself this hard in high school and the first five semesters of college!
But, he recollected as he drove through the small town to the beautiful tennis center his university would have gladly traded for, he hadn't always had his shit together like he did now. His first two years in his small but prestigious and expensive alma mater, his tuition, fees, room and board, had been paid in part by a tennis scholarship, with the remainder paid by academic scholarships. It turned out that was mixed blessing.
His parents had saved up money for college, and he had earned some money while in high school, so when he got the scholarships he had some money to spend, and he spent a good bit of it before enrolling.
His first purchase was a year-old, barely-used Jeep Cherokee purchased from a wealthy friend of his parents. The friend's spoiled daughter decided she wanted a BMW convertible for her senior year in high school, so Scott bought the Jeep for a song - if about 30% of NADA value is a song.
Next Scott went clothes shopping with his favorite cousin, who relentlessly kept up with fashions for women and men. She picked clothes that would help him fit in with all the rich kids on campus, and be noticed by the girls. She required that he model each 'set' before pronouncing him ready for college, and made him wear one set out of the store to take her out for a late lunch. After said lunch, she told him was a hottie and bestowed a smoldering kiss on him.
"Go get 'em Tiger! And if those rich girls are too self-absorbed to see you for what you are, come see your kissin' cousin - I'll take good care of you! Remember, we're only third cousins, so it's all legal!"
They might only third cousins, but they were unusually close after that.
Excited about college and anxious to get away from his boring high school friends, he left early for rush. His tennis coach told him joining a fraternity was a bad idea, but an older male cousin had convinced him that was the easy way to score chicks, so he did it anyway.
It turned out that the demands of fraternity life, playing college tennis, and keeping an academic scholarship were not mutually compatible, so he only made one semester as an active frat rat. But a glorious semester it was, and the sorority contacts he made kept him warm at night for another year.
Well, the sorority girls and the "tennis groupies" who showed up to support the tennis players after the campus paper and radio station made a big deal about them winning a major tournament held on campus. Scott wasn't particular about the pedigree of the girls he was dating, or simply having sex with, so he scored often enough to become more expert in pleasing young women, and in choosing girls to date.
But that all came to an end in April 2019 when he met Amelia Anderson. They were magnetically attracted from the start - so attracted they married in August, just before classes resumed! They lived in bliss and harmony for seven months, until the world went nuts during the Ides of March, 2020.
Distracted by his memories, Scott made the last turn to the tennis center parking lot, and almost wrecked! Directly in his path was a white Jeep Compass with the tailgate up, and leaning into the back were the longest, most gorgeous legs he'd ever seen emerging from a tennis skirt!
She was leaning into the back of the small SUV, so the rest of her body was obscured. He had no idea what the other parts or her face looked like, but he was instantly lost in fantasy.
They say you subconsciously steer toward whatever you're looking at, and he was transfixed by the splendid legs and what he could see of her undershorts-covered butt. Maybe 10 yards before he ran over her, he hit his brakes, took a hard left, and parked directly across the small lot. His heart was racing for several reasons, including having almost killed his dream girl - or at least his dream legs. But also because he was hoping and praying the rest of her was even close to being as dazzling as what he could see.
He stepped out, pretended to stretch his back while staring at her, and nonchalantly made his way to the back. He raised the tailgate, reached inside, and pulled the tennis bag toward him - all without taking his eyes off her backside.
Her long, dirty-blonde hair was pulled into a ponytail. She was long and lean, with a small waist and a flaring butt that kept the short skirt elevated and her undershorts exposed.
So far, so good!
She found whatever she had been searching for, stuffed it in her bag, took the strap in hand, and spun around - catching Scott staring at her.
He wanted to stop; he tried to stop... but the rest of her was as magnificent as her legs! She was tall - maybe 5'8" to his 5'10"- and slender. Even her face was slender, and from fifteen yards away, seemed perfectly proportioned. Narrow nose, light-colored eyes (probably green, he thought), with high cheekbones, and pouty lips. He was mesmerized.
She blinked, smiled, and began walking toward him. His trance held him in place until she was a single yard away. She stuck out her hand. "Hi! You look kind of familiar, but I can't come up with your name, so If we've met before, excuse my poor memory.
"I'm Sabrina... Sabrina Rychtar. I was raised here, but I've been off in college - in fact, I just graduated in May!"
He was right - she was in the 2% of the world population with green eyes! Recovering after seeing her up close and hearing her voice, he responded, "Well, congratulations on that achievement!
"I'm Scott Carr, and I apologize for staring, and for what I'm about to say - that I couldn't help myself because you have the most beautiful legs I've ever seen!"
She blushed prettily, but rolled her eyes, and demurred. "Sure, you say that, but in junior high and high school they called me 'the giraffe' and 'stick woman' because my legs - and body - were so skinny! I filled out some in college, but I still think of myself as 'stick woman'. It's nice to have someone tell me different, but I'm not convinced of your sincerity."
Scott stared again, shook his head, and asked, "Do they not have mirrors where you live? Are all the men blind? You are absolutely beautiful! From head to toe!"
She gave him a dazzling smile, took his arm, and laughingly replied, "Come with me! I need to check in and find a partner, maybe two, but I want you to stay close so you can help rebuild my fragile ego!"
Scott dropped his racquet bag in the grass, shut the tailgate, picked up the bag, and let her lead him toward the tournament office.
"By the way, Sabrina Rychtar, we haven't met before. I'm absolutely certain I'd remember if we had, even if you were in your 'runway model' phase, before you became a 'swimsuit model!'
She giggled and shook her head, "Shameless flirt!"
"Sabrina! You made it!" cried the pretty blonde at the desk.
"I did! Are you still planning to be my doubles partner, even though we haven't practiced together all summer?"
"Of course! Maybe we can win it this year! I've been practicing, whenever my hubby will take care of the kids, and playing in a local league on Wednesday night, so maybe this year I won't double fault and hit easy volleys into the net - at least not so often!"
The muscular blonde man stringing a racquet in the back corner was smiling at the exchange. He loudly said, "Hey, Sabrina! Good to see you - Sarah was worried you weren't going to get back from Colorado in time!"
