SOPHIE BROOKS:
Party, hook-up, hangover, repeat.
I don't do rules, responsibility, or monogamy.
So when the chance to sleep with the hottest Olympian swimmer in the country presents itself, you can be damn sure I take it.
And sneak out before he wa...
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I'm late to practice.
Like thirty minutes, kind of late. It makes a vein pulse in Coach Matthews's forehead, and he sentences me to thirty extra laps as punishment - one for each minute.
But I don't care. I could walk on water right now.
I've been ready to go all in with Sophie for a while now. For a really long while, to be honest, but I've respected that she didn't want that.
I have tried my best to be satisfied with what she could give me. However, after she told me what happened before her move to Michigan, I realized how much I want her. Because she's strong and caring, and the fact that she allowed me to see beyond her walls made me feel so God damned special.
And yet, I could never have predicted that she would agree to make this thing between us official.
No more dating.
No more no-strings attached.
We're a couple.
Full on monogamy, baby.
So even as I'm suffering through my extra laps, I'm wearing a shit-eating grin.
Kimmy eyes me with suspicion as I stop for a sip of water. "What's wrong with your face?"
"Nothing. I'm happy."
"I know... It looks wrong," she says. I amp up my smile a bit more, just to fuck with her. "Stop it! It's creepy."
"Get moving, Byers, if you can keep up," I say before taking off for another lap. It's been a while since I could successfully challenge Kimmy that way, but today I'm flying.
🏊♂️
I spend time with Ollie like I always do on Saturdays. Even Antonella has forbidden him from skateboarding until his casts come off, so we just hung out in his room while he read a bit, and I tried drawing something cool on his cast.
At afternoon practice, the guys looked positively dumbstruck. We're doubling down on relay practice, getting ready for sectionals in a week's time, and this is the first run-through where my time came close to what it used to be.
If I compete like this in Cleveland, we might just stand a chance.
So when I enter the elevator in Sophie's building later that night, I feel really fucking good. She answers the door wearing a skirt and silk blouse since she had to go into work for a few hours today and she must have just gotten home.
"Hi, baby," she says, leaning in to plant a kiss on my mouth.
Just like the first time, that nickname hits me right in the chest. I know Sophie well enough to recognize that cutesy pet names must make her uncomfortable. If I were to guess, I'd say it's because it feels too familiar, too much like a surrender.
