the gold medal. And the third was a cyclist from Great Britain who proposed to his boyfriend in front of the Plaza Mayor when they went on a tour.”
“Aw,” said Kayla. “Something for everyone.”
“It’s nice that there are so many openly gay athletes,” said Jason. “I mean, the media is talking about these proposals, right?”
“Yeah. It’s pretty great.”
Tim nodded, but he remained a little skeptical. “It is nice. But, I mean, my parents told me that there was some controversy because that one British diver’s husband was in the audience during the team competition, but the American network wouldn’t show him on TV.”
“That’s dumb,” said Ginny. “What’s the big deal? It should be about the divers, not their high-profile spouses.”
“Well, think of it this way. If what my parents said was true, if I’d married Pat, they wouldn’t show him in the audience. But they showed a whole lot of both of the Australians’ wives. Like, they want to embrace the LGBT athletes but not show too much.”
“Oh,” said Ginny, seeming chastened.
“Sorry. I’m not bitter, I promise. And Pat’s out of the picture, so it doesn’t even matter. I just hope that someday, if I get married while I’m still competing, the cameras pan to my husband supporting me from the stands. Just like they’d show the spouse of any other athlete. That’s all.”
“Did they ever show Pat when you were dating?”
“Not really. Although Pat didn’t come to a lot of my meets.”
“When you blamed his schedule, how true was that?”
Tim sighed. He didn’t love the third degree Ginny was giving him, but he answered, “His schedule was usually the reason he couldn’t come. He’d be filming something and not available to travel, that sort of thing. But his schedule was more important to him than me. Some of that comes with the territory of being an actor, but sometimes he’d bail on my meets so he could get strategic paparazzi photos taken and that sort of nonsense.”
“Good riddance,” said Jason.
“Yeah. That guy was a tool,” said Ginny. “You’re better off without him.”
Tim laughed ruefully. “I am. You’re right.”
He wondered if he was making a better choice by falling for a certain swimmer. Because he was definitely falling. But Isaac was a risky choice. The alcoholism was something he still struggled with. Did that make him a bad bet? And they lived so far apart, there was no way it would ever work.
One day at a time, Tim told himself. That’s how Isaac would tell him to look at the situation.
He kept trying to frame the rest of his scheduled time in Madrid as having a whole two weeks left, but really, he only had two weeks left.
He shook his head and tried to focus on the swimming. Ginny was shouting again, so there must have been American swimmers in the water.
Tim wanted Isaac, bottom line. The question was how to make that happen past the Closing Ceremony.
“I think that’s Flood’s mom right there,” Ginny whispered as she gestured toward the front of the section they were sitting in.
A middle-aged woman with graying hair sat five rows in front of them. Tim could only really see the back of her head, but it could have been Isaac’s mom. Tim had seen pictures of her, or video footage of her cheering on her son from the stands, so he knew what she looked like. She chatted with a younger woman, closer to Tim’s age—maybe Isaac’s sister, because she didn’t have the physique of a swimmer. And there were plenty of swimmers around them in the stands to compare with.
Finally the announcer proclaimed the 100-meter breaststroke final was next. For the finals, there was a little more ceremony. As they called each swimmer, he stepped out in front of a flashy screen that displayed his name, and he waved to the crowd.
Tim caught himself holding his breath again as he waited for Isaac to emerge. Isaac walked out a moment later, wearing the heavy-looking coat again, his cap in place and goggles on his forehead. He waved at the crowd with both hands. The applause was deafening.
Tim realized Isaac was probably the defining story of the Olympics right now. And Isaac would hate that.
Isaac went through the dance again, carefully taking off everything but his swimsuit, cap, and goggles. At the side of the pool, while everyone got ready, one of the officials fiddled with some piece of equipment, delaying the start. The longer this drew out, the tenser Tim became, watching