so I had breakfast with a friend in his dorm room.”
“A friend you’re sleeping with?”
“No. A friend I have meals with. You’ll note I left my own room this morning.”
“Keep it in your pants until you’re done swimming. Sex screws with your focus.”
Isaac sat at the edge of the warm-up pool. “No, sex screws with your focus.” No one else was in earshot, except Conor and Randy, who were already swimming slow laps. “Should I be giving you this same lecture about Katie?”
“Katie and I have an understanding.”
“That you’ll bone as soon as you’re both done swimming.”
Luke grinned. “Hey, I like Katie. We both know this is her last Olympics. She’s great at the middle distances, but she doesn’t have the speed she used to. Hell, this could be my last Olympics too. So we’ve decided to celebrate once it’s all over.”
“How long have you been seeing each other? Isn’t she kind of young for you?” Isaac asked, reading between the lines.
Luke sat next to Isaac at the side of the pool. “She’s only six years younger than I am. And I dunno. We’ve been dating three months? Give or take? I really like her. I mean, I’ve always liked her, but I don’t know. We went out to dinner after practice one night and got to talking. We’ve been friends for a million years, and now we might be more.”
“Well, if you’re happy, I’m happy for you.”
“This breakfast friend of yours. Is it someone you plan to, uh, celebrate with?”
“Maybe,” Isaac admitted. “Still deciding.”
“Do I know this person?”
“Uh. Not sure. Probably not personally, but if I told you, I’m guessing you’d know who he is.”
“He?”
Isaac shrugged.
Luke slapped his back. “As long as it’s not a beach volleyball player. I hate those guys.”
“No. Not beach volleyball.” Isaac laughed. It felt like some kind of truce had been reached. “Look, I’ll support the team in any way I can. But you know I’m not very good at the rah-rah-cheerleader bullshit. I’ll cheer everyone on during their races. I’ll be there for anyone on the team who needs something. But that’s all I can do. The shared meals and the viral videos and all of Melissa’s insanity? That’s not me.”
“I know. Just don’t be an asshole. That’s all I ask.”
“I can do that.”
“Did you see that Pearson dyed his hair green?” Pearson was an Australian swimmer, Isaac’s chief rival in the breaststroke races.
“Did he?”
“Yep. Matches the officially sanctioned Australian swimsuits. It’s a trip.”
Some commotion caught Isaac’s attention, and he looked up in time to see Randy and Conor goofing around at the far end of the pool. Luke shook his head. “Come on, old man. Let’s swim some laps.”
Chapter 5
ISAAC HAD the official Ralph Lauren ensemble hanging in his closet, but he didn’t want to put it on. What he wanted was a drink. The craving was intense and had been since he’d spotted the Spanish volleyball team passing around beers a little while ago. Well, the craving was always there, an itch in his chest he couldn’t scratch, the need to just make everything go away. His body ached from training, he missed the familiar comfort of his apartment in Raleigh, and his anxiety about the beginning of preliminary swim heats the next day ran high. He did not need to put on boat shoes and a blazer. He needed to figure out how to calm his nerves enough to swim well tomorrow.
And that reminded him of that massage he’d gotten from Tim. Maybe he needed a distraction after all.
Instead of changing into the costume and heading to the stadium for the festivities, Isaac put on pajamas, grabbed the fleece blanket he’d packed, and walked down to the lounge at the end of the hall to watch the Opening Ceremony on TV.
A few of the other swimmers popped in to say hi. Most of the athletes competing the next day—which included a good third of the swim team—were not attending the celebration, opting to rest up instead. The male gymnast Isaac thought was hot—his name was Jake—also popped in to watch the ceremony for a few minutes. Isaac tried not to let the guy’s arms distract him, but this guy was jacked, and his broad shoulders pulled at his T-shirt. He walked into the room as if he had no idea how attractive he was.
“I gotta sleep,” Jake said, “but I’m too wound up.”