three rounds of six dives for each competition. Thirty-six competition dives.”
“Yup. And how many dives do you typically do in a week?”
Fair point. “You’re certain I can do this?”
“Yes. Are you sore anywhere?”
He was sore everywhere, but not more than usual, so he said, “No, I’m all right.”
“Kayla has really good things to say about that Kinesio tape she’s been using. Apparently it helped stabilize her back.”
“I’m not injured. My body feels good.”
“Then you’re fine. But Kayla has more tape if you need it. It’s waterproof and stays on during competition pretty well.”
Tim nodded. He did feel good, just tired. “I tossed my shammy from the springboard. Did you see where it went?”
Donnie handed it over, so apparently he had been paying attention. Tim had a lucky shammy that he carried around like a security blanket during competition. It was a little towel with unicorns and rainbows on it—he figured he might as well embrace his identity—and it was faded in parts from chlorine and too many washings. Every diver used this kind of fast-drying shammy, and there was a fair amount of superstition regarding them, but Tim needed his. He wiped his face with it now.
“Look, Timmy, you can do this. If ever there was a diver who could, it’s you. And you probably are going to hurt come the platform final, but it’s the Olympics.”
Tim nodded and thought of what Isaac had said about pushing himself to his limits. Tim supposed it wasn’t worth doing if he didn’t put his all into it. “All right. I hope I don’t regret this later.”
“I think you’ll regret it more if you don’t try for both.”
Tim nodded. That was probably true. “What time is it?”
Donnie looked at his watch. “Seven.”
The evening swim session started in an hour, so the swimmers were likely in the building. Tim was tempted to stick around to watch Isaac again, but he felt worn out from a grueling practice and not getting enough sleep.
“Come on,” Ginny said. “We’ll go back to the Athlete Village. You look like you could use a nap or five.”
Tim followed her out of the Aquatics Center. As they walked outside, Ginny looked at her phone. “Uh-oh,” she murmured with a glance toward Tim.
“What now?”
“Don’t get mad. It’s probably not true. This gossip site is mostly just made-up shit.”
Tim’s heart raced. Was it an item about him and Isaac? “What is it?”
“Uh. There’s a rumor Pat’s in Madrid.”
Tim’s heart stopped. That could not be true. “Let me see.”
Ginny reluctantly handed over her phone. “Again, just a rumor.”
“He knows better than that. It’s over. I was very clear about that. Why would he be in Madrid?”
Tim was so tired, he could barely focus on the words on the screen, but Ginny had a celebrity gossip website open on her browser. Tim swallowed and made himself focus on the text: Oak Hills star Patterson Wood was spotted in Madrid. Could he be there to see ex Tim Swan dive at the Olympics? Does this mean a reunion is on the horizon?
“It does not,” said Tim aloud.
“Maybe he’s got a doppelganger.”
“He can’t be here, Ginny. He can’t.”
“He probably isn’t. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have shown you this.”
“No, it’s better to know. Do you think he’d show up at one of the competitions?”
“No. You’re right, he knows better. It’s probably not even him. How many tall, brown-haired, handsome actors are there in the world? What are the odds your ex would turn up in Madrid? Push it out of your mind, Timmy.”
While they waited up for the bus, Tim tried to forget he knew there was a small chance Pat was in Madrid. He texted Isaac to wish him luck but explained he needed to sleep.
Isaac texted back a moment later: I left my spare key under your door.
Well. At least that would be a place to hide for a bit.
Chapter 18
THE 200 IM semifinal was kind of a trial, and Isaac’s arms began to burn sooner than usual, so he swam a conservative race and made the final by the skin of his teeth. Which meant he had a shitty lane assignment, but he was in the final, and that was what mattered.
Because next he had to anchor—goddamned anchor—the 4 x 200 free relay.
The anchor job was a particular challenge, because either the anchor was gifted with a lead by his teammates and had to keep it, or he had a deficit to make up and had to push to close it. Isaac had anchored