his ass. “Go change, kid. I want to sing the national anthem with you.”
ISAAC’S MOTHER was already back in Raleigh, but she’d called him that night anyway. When Isaac joked, “Ma, do you know how much this call is costing me?” she’d replied, “Oh, hush. You’ve got endorsement deals from here to Neptune. You can afford to talk to your old mother.”
She’d been calling to get his flight information so she could pick him up from the airport on Monday. Isaac felt some sadness at that; he, Luke, and Katie had been all over Madrid together in the days since Isaac’s little breakdown. Isaac and Luke had even done a filler segment for TBC where they toured some Madrid landmarks with a camera crew, including El Rastro, an open-air market where they found all manner of weird stuff. Isaac’s favorite site had been the Prado, but then, he’d always liked art museums.
They’d also taken in a lot of Olympic events; on top of the diving, they’d gone to see a bunch of track-and-field competitions, including cheering on American sprinter Jason Jones Jr. in the 100-meter sprint.
And he’d spent every night with Tim.
He was a bit embarrassed about his overreaction to Pat and that night at America House; he’d come very close to falling. Staring at that pint of beer, a battle had waged in Isaac’s head. He still thirsted for that beer, but he’d worked so hard. He and Tim had talked about it quite a bit in the intervening days. Tim seemed to understand that Isaac would have bad days, and Isaac promised to recommit to therapy when he got home so he didn’t fall into the trap of depending too much on Tim to help him on those days, especially since they’d be separated by geography.
And even with that one rough night, these had been the best two weeks of Isaac’s life, and he didn’t want them to end. He didn’t want to fly home to Raleigh and face the real world. He’d have to deal with the financial nonsense of his endorsement deals, for one thing, and how many of them were contingent on his continuing to swim. He’d have to decide if he wanted to stick around for another couple of World Cup seasons or if he wanted to retire. And then there was the big question: Would he stay in Raleigh?
The sun had gone down. Luke and Katie were probably doing it like rabbits and Tim was out with his family and the dive team, so Isaac was alone in his room. He hit the email icon on his phone, immediately regretting it as several hundred messages loaded. He scanned the names and subject lines, wondering which emails were worth his time.
He stopped on Re: Coaching positions at CU.
He held his breath.
He’d emailed the staff at the University of Colorado one night while waiting for Tim to return from training. It had been an impulse, although not one that he particularly regretted.
The reply said: Actually, one of our coaches is retiring at the end of this season, so we’re starting to think about replacements. Let’s talk when you return from Madrid.
So there it was.
Isaac held his breath for a moment, imagining his life beyond Madrid. Could he see himself ensconced in some mountain retreat with Tim? Could he coach? Could he see a way forward?
He could.
He let out the breath and smiled to himself.
A moment later there was a tap at the door. “It’s open,” Isaac called.
Tim opened the door and slid inside. “I think I’ve escaped them.” His gold medal still hung around his neck, and he was still wearing the official warm-up suit. He looked good, but tired.
“Yeah?” Isaac said.
“My parents went back to the hotel a half hour ago, but I was with Jason and the rest of my team at America House, but then I got really tired? So I told them I had to call it a night and we could party more tomorrow, but a bunch of people followed me back to the building. I had to get a security escort up here.” He sighed. “I lied to the security guard and told him I was on this floor and I could get to my room alone.”
“Okay.”
Tim flopped down next to Isaac on the bed. Then he slipped his gold medal off and handed it to Isaac. “I think you know what this means.”
Isaac laughed. “You want to have sex?”
Tim stood and pulled off parts of the warm-up suit.