up with the whole entourage—he’d seemed quite alone in the stands, according to his parents, and he’d been alone at America House last night—but he was here. Did that mean he’d learned something? That he wanted Tim back for more than just fame and magazine covers? Not that it mattered, because Tim was not going back to him.
He shook his head and looked at Isaac, who gazed at him warmly. It killed Tim to say it, but he whispered, “Please don’t say anything about us. At your interview, I mean.”
“I won’t.” Isaac kissed Tim’s forehead. “I completely understand. But I wanted to let you know I’m going to do this interview. Do you think it’s a terrible mistake?”
Tim put a hand on Isaac’s waist and looked into his eyes. He knew Isaac wanted to do the interview and was moved by that desire, even if he wasn’t confident it was a good idea.
“You said,” Isaac said softly, “that telling your story to the public meant kids had a role model. That they could see a successful gay man and know that good things were possible for them too. What if I said, you know, you can sink into some dark places, but you can also fight your way back out? Do you think that would be an inspirational message?”
Tim’s heart squeezed. Had he actually inspired Isaac to make this choice? He could see the question in Isaac’s eyes, the struggle he’d probably had mentally for the past few days while he wrestled with the decision.
Tim realized that somewhere in the past two weeks, he’d fallen in love with Isaac Flood. Warmth spread across Tim’s chest as he looked at Isaac; this was a man he’d come to care about deeply in a short amount of time. And Isaac had done something incredible, both by getting sober and by using his sobriety as motivation to become one of the best athletes in the world.
How had this happened? How had Tim fallen for a man so fast? Was he making a terrible mistake, like he had with Pat? They’d known each other for such a short amount of time, and Tim clearly wasn’t the best judge of character. He didn’t completely trust his feelings yet.
Well, he figured, they’d made no decisions yet. As far as things stood right now, Tim would fly back to Boulder on Monday, and Isaac would fly back to North Carolina. Nothing had really changed. But everything had changed.
Still, Isaac was waiting for Tim to say something, concern etched all over his face, probably wondering if he was making a horrific mistake by talking about his struggle so publicly.
Tim looked around, then leaned forward and kissed Isaac. “I think it’s an important message.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. And I hate to be a jerk about going public with our relationship. I’d love to go public. But can you imagine how many gawkers and cameras would show up at the platform final if we did?”
“I understand. I won’t say anything.”
“I’ve been through this before and I can’t… not before the final.”
“Tim. I get it. I swear, it’s our secret until you say otherwise.”
“The minute diving is over, we can tell anyone you want.”
Isaac shrugged. “The world doesn’t need to know yet. I’m happy with this being between us. And our closest friends, I guess.”
Tim smiled, relieved. “When is the interview?”
Isaac pulled his phone out of his pocket and glanced at the screen. “In an hour. Sheri from USA Swimming is arranging for a car to take me from here to the broadcast center in about ten minutes. So I’m really glad I caught you.”
“You watched me practice.”
“I did. Is that creepy?”
“No, I think it’s sweet.” Tim kissed Isaac again.
Isaac lowered his eyelids and smiled slowly. “Good. What are you up to now?”
“I was going to put in an hour at the gym. Then I might take a nap in your room.”
Isaac grinned. “Sounds good to me. I’ll see you when I get back.”
Isaac bounded out of the locker room, so Tim changed into his gym clothes. He hummed a little to himself, feeling content for now, buzzy from realizing how much he cared about Isaac. He smiled to himself as he shouldered his gym bag and left the locker room. He nodded at the security guard on the way out, glad that he was there, keeping out anyone who didn’t belong.
Because Pat did not belong. And yet there he was, standing just outside the police barrier. He grinned like an idiot when he