them to be supportive,” Luke said. “Katie said they cheered louder than anyone.”
“We’ll have to thank them,” Isaac said as he texted Tim to tell him not to leave without him.
Do you care if the whole dive team sees us together? Tim asked.
Nope was Isaac’s reply.
He didn’t give a fuck about keeping this relationship a secret. Because it was a relationship. He’d realized as he’d stared at Tim’s eyes during the medal ceremony that Tim was the best thing to happen to him… well, since rehab, probably. And he’d be a fool to let that go.
Isaac had a moment’s hesitation wondering if he cared about being outed—he didn’t. He’d survived being arrested and the shame of admitting he was a drunk. He felt no shame about his sexuality and didn’t really care who knew about it, because it didn’t affect how he swam, and he generally viewed it as a positive, something to take pride in. His friends and family all knew. So if he got some press for being with Tim, so be it; it could never be as terrible as the press he got after the DUI.
“Tim’s here,” Isaac told Luke. “I mean, with the dive team.”
Luke grinned. “Go get him. You just won your third gold medal in as many days. Live your life, Isaac.”
“I plan to.”
When Isaac and Luke reached the athlete’s exit of the Aquatics Center, Tim waited there with a few of the other divers, most of them wearing their official warm-up suits or jackets that said USA Diving. One of the female divers, who had red curly hair—Isaac didn’t know her name—squealed when he walked out. “Oh my God, congratulations!”
“Thanks. Tim, I—”
“That was so amazing,” the redhead said. “Nobody expected you to win.”
“Uh, thanks. So, Tim, I—”
“I think you just pulled off a miracle,” Tim said.
And then, because the only people standing there were three divers and a couple of the swimmers waiting for the bus back to the Athlete Village—and also because Isaac didn’t really care what anyone thought anyway—he reached for Tim, grabbed his head, and pulled him in for a hot kiss. Tim went with it, hooking his arm around Isaac’s, but Isaac sensed more people coming outside, so he pulled away.
“So, you two know each other,” said the redhead.
“Um, yeah,” Tim said.
“I did not know you were gay, Isaac Flood.”
“Bisexual,” said Isaac, frustrated with the girl. “Tim, I—I’m really glad you’re here.” He let out a breath, glad he finally got to say what he wanted to say.
“Me too.”
They all boarded the bus back to the Athlete Village. Luke got on the bus shortly thereafter, and he punched Isaac lightly on the arm. “Well done all around,” he said.
Isaac nodded.
Tim said, “Isaac, I—”
“Shh.” Isaac lowered his voice. “You’re spending the night with me, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Then whatever. Bask in my glory.”
Tim laughed. “Yeah, but….” Then he shook his head.
Isaac supposed it was out now that he and Tim were… doing whatever they were doing. He didn’t care if the swim team knew—and they were all hooking up with each other anyway; Exhibit A was Luke and Katie, who canoodled whenever they were together—and he wondered how long it would take for this piece of information to leak to the press. He felt a pang of regret at the idea that the story would likely become “Flood is gay!” and not “Flood came back from rock bottom to win three gold medals,” but Isaac could only control himself and his own happiness. Headlines would fade, the public would forget him, and some things were more important.
“Do you trust your teammates?” Tim asked.
“Sure.”
“I’m just worried…. I mean, I don’t mind other people knowing about us, but if it leaks to the press….”
“So it leaks to the press.”
Tim let out a frustrated grunt. “If it leaks to the press, then the story stops being about gold medals. For me, it will be all gossipy stories in tabloids about how I’ve moved on from Pat. Or I’m dating a vulnerable swimmer who just got out of rehab and doesn’t know what he’s doing.”
Isaac narrowed his eyes. “I know exactly what I’m doing.”
“I know, but just….” Tim looked out the window for a moment. When he turned back to face Isaac, he said, “I want the story to be about what I did here athletically. Not what I did with my dick.”
Isaac nodded. He did a quick inventory of the bus. There were the kids in diving T-shirts that were Tim’s teammates, and there were five