The Fox at the Country Club

The first time I saw him, he was slicing through the **swimming** pool like he owned the water. Dark hair plastered back, arms cutting through blue, surfacing right where I'd been pretending to check my phone for ten minutes.

"You gonna join, or just supervising?" He grinned, shaking water everywhere. My dumb crush hit me like a wave.

I was at the Oakwood Country Club because Mom said I needed "more social interaction." Which was rich, considering my only friend was my Netflix queue. But here I was, surrounded by kids who'd been summering together since kindergarten, watching them play **padel** on the courts like they invented the sport.

"Maybe," I managed, which was honestly ambitious for me.

"Liam." He offered a dripping hand.

"Maya."

"Cool. You play padel?"

"Never even heard of it before last week."

"Perfect." His eyes lit up. "I need a partner for mixed doubles tomorrow. Sabrina's sick, and if I show up solo again, Connor's gonna roast me into next century."

I agreed before I could overthink it. Because that's the thing about crushes—they make you agree to things your anxiety would normally veto.

The nickname came during our first match. I'd missed an easy shot, racket slipping out of my sweaty grip.

"You're sly, Maya," Connor called out, smug as hell. "Acting all shy, then BAM—competitive streak comes out. You're like a little **fox**."

Liam turned it into something better. "Fox Court," he declared, high-fiving me. "Our doubles name."

Fox Court. We were terrible. We lost every match that summer. But something shifted in the humidity of those afternoons, the thwack of balls against glass, the way Liam would throw his head back laughing when I tripped over my own feet.

The last day of August, I slipped into the pool alone. The water felt different now—less terrifying, more like somewhere I belonged.

Liam found me there. "School starts Monday."

"Yeah."

"You gonna come back next summer?"

"Depends." I treaded water, heart pounding harder than any match point. "You gonna be my partner again?"

He grinned, that same grin from day one. "Fox Court doesn't break up, Maya."

I ducked underwater to hide my smile. Some things, you don't need to say out loud.