was a window that looked into Ryder’s office. Coach was watching us with a flinty gaze, until Cain raised his hands and I backed off.
We knew about the ‘no fighting’ rule, but we had broken it a time or two. Naturally, I was the troublemaker.
“And I repeat, what’s it got to do with you?”
He squinted at me, then shrugged. Only when he’d turned his back on me did I rush out of the locker room. Now that he was in there, I was getting the hell out.
Only when I was outside in the parking lot did I hit ‘connect’ on the call to Thea.
“Hey!”
She sounded chirpy, and I loved that tone on her. The last couple of weeks had been tough for her. Louisa had died, and Thea’s foster folks were, quite understandably, taking it hard. After the healing that she considered botched, even though, as far as I could tell, Louisa’s life had been extended further than the doctors had imagined, Thea had taken it to heart. I’d only managed to cheer her up this week with her birthday gift which she loved, and which I loved seeing her ride. She looked cute as fuck on it.
“Hey,” I rasped, closing my eyes at just how good it was to speak with her. I’d only seen her this morning, but even that was too damn long ago.
She was like my personal drug, and I had no desire to go cold turkey.
“You okay? Or just want to listen to me breathe?”
Mouth quirking into a smile, I inquired, “Wouldn’t that make me a heavy breather?”
“No. I’d be the one heavy breathing. You’d be the one liking the sound of it.”
I snorted then, sobering up a little, questioned, “How would you feel about joining a swim team that has prospects?”
She went quiet. “Why would you ask that? You know I can’t join anything like that. There’s nothing in the area—”
“There is. I’m a member of one.”
“Yeah, I know. I’ve seen the jacket you wear. It has patches from your team, but they’re attached to Rosemore, aren’t they?”
“No. We can’t be. Long story short, but to compete in the NCSA, you can’t be attached to an ‘institution.’ But, I admit, the team is made up of Rosemore students.”
She blew out a breath. “Then why ask me when I can’t be a member?”
“Because I might have got you a tryout.”
“Why would you do that without talking to me first?”
I wasn’t sure if she was pissed or just curious. Her voice was bland, and considering her voice was always loaded down with emotion when she was talking to me, I didn’t think that was the best sign.
“I know what Coach Ryder is like. He’s difficult.” And that was being kind. “Plus, he doesn’t like me. If I hadn’t told him your times, then he wouldn’t be interested. If anything, he’d be the opposite of that because I’d been the one introducing you.”
She grunted. “Let me guess. He’s on Team Cain too?”
“Isn’t everyone?” I laughed. Before Thea, it would have been a bitter laugh. Now? It was just amused, mostly because I didn’t care about anyone else’s opinion except for hers.
“God, don’t turn this around so I’m not mad at you!”
I laughed again, feeling pretty fucking giddy at how things were turning out. This plan had been percolating in my head for too long, but now that she was sixteen? I felt like it was time to take things to the next level. Some of the greatest female swimmers had already attended an Olympics by now, and I wanted Thea to be where she belonged—on an Olympic podium with a gold medal around her neck. “I’ll take it how I can. We can grab an Uber to the pool because it’s too far to bike it. We’ll need to be here by seven AM.”
A shaky breath escaped her. “Are you kidding?”
“No. I’m not.” I licked my lips. “Thea?”
“Yeah?”
“Coach doesn’t allow us to have relationships with people on the team.”
She fell silent. “Then why did you go ahead with this?”
“Because your future is important. Your talent can’t go to waste. He’ll be watching us.”
Her quietness seemed to surround me, shrouding me in guilt when I was doing this for her.
“There’s plenty of time for us. I’m not going anywhere.” I prompted, “Are you?”
“No,” she whispered eventually.
“But I need you to try your best. Please, do it for me?”
She gulped. “Okay.”
“Get some rest today. Eat well. Sleep a lot.” At her snort, I grinned down at the gravel crunching