“Please. Just come and watch her. You won’t believe how fast she is. Sir, her potential is unreal, and it’s such a waste. She’s not doing anything with her time other than training. She puts more into it than Cain and me combined, and all for nothing. She doesn’t compete outside of school events, she just trains and trains.”
“Why?”
“She likes the water.”
He grunted. “How fast was she again?”
“Twenty-nine seconds. The other day, Maria hit thirty-one. And that was after warm up, when she wasn’t fatigued.”
Pursing his lips, Ryder sighed. “What’s the center called again?”
I told him, hope filling me as he studied me, evidently considering what I was saying.
“She swims like that every day?”
I shoved my phone at him, a phone he’d been ignoring since I’d barged into his office before practice. I pressed play before he could say another word, and his focus zoomed in on the video.
His jaw worked for a second, his brow puckered next, then he cast me a look.
“Bring her in.”
I grinned at him. “Knew you’d like the look of her.”
He scraped his hand across his chin. “Yeah, well, I’m a sucker for sob stories.”
That had my grin abating. “She isn’t a sob story. She didn’t ask me to come to you. She doesn’t even know I took the video.” I jerked up into a standing position and slammed my hand against the desk. “That’s out of order, Coach. She’s good. Too good to waste.”
“I agree. And that’s why I’ll meet with her, but I won’t take any smarts from you, Adam. Watch the attitude.” He scowled at me for a second, then asked, “Is this why you’ve been performing better recently?”
“Because of training with her?” I shrugged. “I don’t know. My times are the same.”
“Aside from your inability to drop the weight, your form has improved.”
“I can’t see why. I haven’t asked her for help.”
“Been swimming more?”
“Seven days a week.”
“That’s up from five,” he pointed out, then his eyes drifted over me. “I didn’t notice an increase in muscle mass, but that must be where you’re storing that extra weight.” He scrubbed his hands together. “That I can deal with.”
I controlled everything I fucking ate, and all I got for my pains was criticism from this fat bastard.
With a grunt, I muttered, “I try. Can I bring her around tomorrow?”
“Don’t see why not.” He squinted. “She good enough for the next NCSA meet?”
“When is that? Three weeks away?” At his nod, my brows rose. “She’s ready, God, she’s constantly ready, but you’d be willing to put her into the team?”
“If she can beat Maria’s time? Hell yeah. We have a reputation to uphold, and those bastards over at the Virginia Marlins need their asses kicked.”
Excitement rushed through me. “We’ll be here. Tomorrow. Seven AM. Thanks, Coach.”
He dipped his chin, and I felt his eyes on me as I left the office. They were like lasers pinpointed on the back of my neck, and I knew why—he was curious. Not just about Thea and her skills, but why I was getting involved. I pretty much kept to myself because I had no choice, thanks to Cain’s psychotic ass, and though I kept my head down and worked hard, I knew I had a rep for being a lone wolf.
Yet, here I was, doing something selfless for some poor kid. Coach could be as confused as he wanted. He could think what he wanted too. I was doing this for Thea, because I hadn’t been lying on her birthday when I told her she deserved the fucking world and that I was going to give it to her.
I pretty much bounced on my way out, feeling like Tigger from Winnie the Pooh—sexy, I know—as I headed into the locker room and toward the bathrooms for some privacy. On my way, unfortunately, Cain stopped me by grabbing my arm. I hadn’t expected his approach, so I nearly flew into him.
“Watch it, Cain,” I snapped, shoving him back hard enough for him to almost collide with the bench behind him.
“What’s got you so excited?”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “What’s it got to do with you?”
“You asking Coach for weight loss tips?” he asked loudly, louder than goddamn necessary. I heard a few snorts around the changing room and saw that his dweeb friends were standing around in varying states of undress.
“No,” I said shortly.
“Then what were you talking to him about?” He cut a look over his shoulder where there