parking lot was empty, even if the lights were on full blast, the glare breaching the predawn gloom and filling me with a little relief to be out of the dark. With only a few streetlamps dotting the entrance, though, it made me hate the idea of Theodosia having to walk here, which she said she did every day. Sometimes twice a day. That was a level of dedication that made her skill in the water make sense.
The place was utilitarian at best, ugly at worst. Built in the seventies, it was no wonder it was falling to pieces, but it was beloved by the locals—that much was evident.
Yesterday on the notice boards, I’d seen how many activities there were at the center. Most of the classes were no longer accepting students because they were full. There was a timetable that would match a country club’s, because people wanted to come here and do stuff. Whether it was to learn how to salsa or do aquafit.
The place, though small, was in Laurence, my mother’s main electoral area. She’d only come to know about the fundraiser yesterday by chance, but I thought it had been a success for her.
While she’d dragged herself from the gutter into a position of power—something I was proud of her for doing—she had stopped connecting with the people. Laura, the woman in charge of her reelection campaign, had insisted we make it to the fundraiser as a family, show the people that Mom still cared about the community she’d been raised in.
I figured from her buzz last night at dinner, it had worked.
Mom didn’t give a shit about anyone but herself. Then Cain. Then Dad. Then me. I came in last because I was the ‘problem’ child. At least, in her eyes.
The thought had me tensing up with irritation as I locked my bike to the rack, unfastening my coat because, though it was cold, I’d burned up a sweat on the ride over, then I headed into the center.
We had a nicer gym closer to us with a full-length pool, but that place didn’t have the one thing on my mind since I’d put my head on the pillow last night and since I’d awoken.
Theodosia.
She was all I’d been able to think about, and yeah, it was weird, but also, it was harmless.
She made me smile. I appreciated that she saw through my brother’s BS, but more than that, watching her in the water was a joy.
So I paid for a card that would let me in for the next three months from the yawning attendant in a strange booth that made me wonder if they had issues with armed robberies, and headed into the men’s changing room.
It was all nineties era gear, proving there’d been a refurb at some point since the building had been constructed. Still, it was low-tech. Nothing fancy at all. No swanky soaps and lush towels at the side of the sinks, no speakers piping in calming music. Nothing luxe at all.
The place stank of cheap disinfectant, was all one color—avocado—and the lockers looked dubious at best, but I hadn’t brought much with me, so I figured I didn’t need to worry about unsecure lockers.
Changing out of my clothes, I shoved everything inside. Passing a shower room, I walked into a little hall that had a wading pool connecting to the larger one. The tiles weren’t the best, grimy described them at worst, but it was clean.
When I stepped into the pool area, I looked around, liking the light in here—it wasn’t too blaring to make me hate waking up this early to train—and loving how quiet it was.
My usual center was busy at this time. Lots of people trying to train before work, start their day off right. Here? There was one person.
I recognized her cap from yesterday.
The bright red summed her up in ways I couldn’t understand. She was all muted golds, dark bronzes, and copper. But the red offset everything, revealing how vibrant she was beneath the muted mask she displayed to the rest of the world.
Watching her slice through the water was a pleasure. I’d never thought observing someone swim could be a turn on, but she was.
Her movements, the placement of her hands, her feet, the way she twisted her head to breathe when her face was in the water, how she kicked—everything was as it had been yesterday.
Poetry in motion.
Even as I wondered what it would be like to dance with her, she popped