members of the swim team. That was it. So Isaac knelt on his seat and said, “Hey, guys?”
It was a small enough crowd that he got everyone’s attention.
“Cone of silence, right? What you all saw… I mean, you know now, Tim and I are kind of seeing each other. But it doesn’t leave this bus. Got it?”
There was a murmur of assent. Luke gave Isaac a thumbs-up.
“Because I trust you guys. And me and Tim just met. It’s not really a thing yet.”
“Understood,” said one of the divers.
“Yeah, we won’t say anything,” said the redhead.
“Okay. I don’t want to be a dick, but it’s important. I trust you all. Just so we’re clear.”
Everyone nodded. Isaac felt pretty confident that they understood the situation. A couple of the divers looked young, so they might have been inexperienced, but they knew now. Luke had already given the swim team a “Don’t talk to the press about team gossip” speech a few days before.
Isaac slid back into his seat. “Okay?”
“Yeah,” said Tim. “Thanks. So we’re clear, it’s not shame, it’s just….”
“No, I get it. Believe me, I understand how stupid the media can be.”
Tim nodded. He was quiet for a moment. Everyone on the bus fell into conversations with their seatmates, and Isaac closed his eyes to savor the little bubble of privacy he had with Tim for the moment. He opened his eyes again and met Tim’s gaze. They smiled at each other.
Tim reached over and fingered the medal that still hung from Isaac’s neck. “This might be the closest I get to a gold medal.”
“Aren’t you a reigning Olympic champion?” asked Isaac. “Do you not already have a gold medal?”
“Sure, but that was the last Olympics. That medal is not in Madrid. Look how pretty this design is.” Tim traced the edges of the design, a floral motif clearly inspired by the architecture and design in Madrid. It was slightly different than the pattern on Tim’s silver medal. “Also, the diving competition is fierce, so I don’t know if I’ll ever get one of these.”
“Competition, schmompetition.”
Tim laughed. “You seem so mellow. You’re riding quite a high right now, aren’t you?”
“I feel amazing. If I come in dead last in the rest of my races, I won’t even care.” Isaac sighed and looked up at the ceiling. “Three gold medals. What the fuck?”
They spent most of the rest of the bus ride in comfortable silence, and they seemed to move that way through the building that housed the Americans, stopping at Tim’s room briefly before going to Isaac’s.
Safely in Isaac’s sanctuary, Tim said, “You’re incredible.”
“No. I’m an ordinary man who just did an incredible thing.”
“All right. Well, watching you was sure incredible.”
Isaac grinned. “Do you want to make this night more incredible?”
“What did you have in mind?”
Chapter 15
ISAAC WORE a navy blue jacket with red sleeves—the official Team USA jacket that was part of his medal ceremony uniform—over a USA T-shirt and a pair of black warm-up pants. Tim wondered if Isaac’s whole wardrobe had been supplied by the USOC. Tim had a similar pile of clothing he’d been issued at athlete check-in, which happened shortly before he flew to Madrid. And just in case any athlete thought he didn’t have enough USA garb, there was more available at the America House shop.
Tim didn’t hate all the free stuff. Everything was custom-made. His dive suits had been made to his body’s exact specifications, in part to prevent wardrobe malfunctions.
But it was funny to watch Isaac, a guy who probably didn’t have a whole lot of patriotic zeal, slide off the jacket and tug at the hem of his star-spangled T-shirt.
“So, before we get down to business…,” Isaac said. He waggled his eyebrows and paused for Tim to take in his meaning. “I have a favor to ask.”
“All right.”
“My hair’s growing back. On my body, I mean. It’s sort of patchy, and just in a few spots. There’s a woman on staff who does waxing, but I only need some touch-ups. When Luke and I roomed together, we used to shave the hard-to-reach places for each other, but he’s busy fooling around with Katie, so I wondered if you could help me.”
“You want me to shave you?”
“Yeah. A little.”
Shaving Isaac felt like a new level of intimacy, although he’d had Isaac’s come smeared into his skin the night before, so maybe they’d crossed that threshold anyway. The idea of shaving Isaac excited Tim. “Yeah, okay.”