The Padel Court Spy

I never thought I'd be the type of girl to spy on someone, but here I was, tucked behind the bougainvillea on the second-floor balcony of my parents' country club, watching Liam play padel every morning at 10 AM sharp. Three weeks of this and I'd memorized his backhand technique, the way his dark curls caught the sunlight, and how he laughed with his friends — this effortless, golden sound that made my chest feel tight.

My best friend Savannah called it "stalker behavior" but honestly, what was I supposed to do? I was fifteen, chronically awkward, and Liam Rodriguez was exactly the kind of beautiful unattainable that inspired terrible poetry in the notes app of my phone. Anyway, it wasn't like I was taking pictures or leaving notes in his locker. I was just... appreciating from a respectful distance.

Until I wasn't.

"You know, the view's actually better from down here," a voice said behind me, and I nearly jumped out of my skin.

Liam. Standing there with a padel racket slung over his shoulder, looking amused and slightly sweaty in that way that should be illegal. My brain short-circuited.

"I — what?" was my incredibly articulate response.

"I've seen you watching me," he said, and instead of calling security or looking creeped out, he smiled. "It's flattering. Mostly." He gestured toward the court below. "You play?"

"No. I mean, I could. Theoretically." I was rambling. "I just — I like watching. The strategy part. Of the game."

"Smooth," he said, but not in a mean way. "Well, some of us are hitting the pool after this. You should come."

"Like, the swimming pool?"

"Unless you know about another pool at the country club?" He grinned. "Be there at eleven. Don't make me come back up here."

He walked away, and I stood frozen for approximately thirty seconds before sprinting to my room to find a swimsuit that wasn't from sixth grade.

Later, floating in the cool blue water while Savannah splashed me and Liam held court with his friends on the pool deck, I caught him watching me. And when our eyes met across the chlorinated water, he winked.

"You're welcome," Savannah whispered, grinning like she'd planned the whole thing.

I smiled back, thinking about how sometimes the craziest risks — like watching someone from a balcony, or saying yes when you're terrified — lead to the best summers of your life. And how I'd definitely need to delete those terrible poems from my notes app, like, immediately.