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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"Hey, you good?" I ask Saltz as I walk up beside him.
He's standing a few meters from the pool, his fingers toying with his goggles, lines of worry around his eyes.
"I'm fine," he says in a strained voice.
Saltz is a rookie, but this sectional isn't his biggest meet. Not by a long shot. He's two times junior national champion, after all.
And he's already smoked his competition earlier in his individual back crawl preliminary heat. So I know he's got the nerve management down.
But this is his first time competing on a team. Hell, it's all our first time competing on a team, and I can tell we're all a little wired because of it.
As our youngest member and the guy who'll start us out, I imagine it's hitting Saltz a little bit more.
I place my hand on his shoulder, and despite there only being a four-year age difference, I feel all old and wise for a moment. "This isn't make it or break it for us, Saltz. Just do your best, and no one can demand more of you."
Okay, so maybe I stole a bit of Sophie's encouragement, so what? It worked on me.
The way my teammate's shoulder sags under my touch tells me it works on him too.
What can I say? My girl is good.
Instinctively, the second my thoughts turn to her, I'm scanning the crowd, trying to find her in the sea of people.
There are quite a lot of spectators today. Everything from parents to coaches to spouses. There is no age limit on sectionals, so high school swimmers will be competing against professional swimmers at least a decade older than them.
We swam the preliminary relay earlier, easily outswimming the other teams in our heat but only making it into the final by the skin of our teeth. So we need to step it up.
I checked who we'd be competing against in the final, and there's another team of college swimmers who I think will be our biggest competitors. I know a few of the guys from last summer. They were in Paris too.
Didn't take home any medals, but then again, neither did I.
While my head rummages with thoughts of our soon-approaching medley relay, my eyes zone in on Sophie on the other side of the pool. Her dark purple hair makes it easy.
She's standing beside Jen, speaking to Colton. Even though his attention seems directed towards Jen, I still feel a surge of jealousy inside at him being that close to Sophie.
It's ridiculous because she's mine, and she would never go for a snake like Colton. She's got too good of a bullshit detector.
Her eyes flick up, landing on me like she could feel my gaze. One corner of her mouth turns up in a small smile, then she wrinkles her nose in displeasure, casting a meaningful glance at Colton.
