Sushi (gxg)

Chapter 23

"Are you ready?" Kit asked while I sat on one of the benches in the locker room. I'd already warmed up and was just waiting for the announcement for the race to start at this point.

"I'm ready, and feeling good." The preliminary heats for the 4x100 had been that morning here at the Paris La Défense Arena, or Arena 92 as they kept calling it. The team had put in some of the younger swimmers that were in their first Olympics and they had finished in the middle of the pack to qualify for the finals. That was all we needed though, because they were putting in their best swimmers for the finals, myself included. "I think we have a good shot at this."

She nodded sagely, as she was the queen of my mood and could tell I was feeling confident. "And no cap!" she reminded me.

"No cap, I didn't even bring it, so I can't be tempted." I had literally taken it out and put it in one of the drawers back in the room. I knew what I was going to do, and I didn't see the need to tempt myself by taking the easy way out.

She smiled happily, then gave me a quick kiss. "I'll be right back, don't run off on me!" she skipped away towards the restroom, and I just shook my head at her enthusiasm. She was so excited for me that it was infectious, and the rest of the team had seemingly adopted her as the official team cheerleader when we watched the original qualifying heat.

She came back only a couple minutes later, but now had bright red lipstick on, which made me smile. "Getting all made up for the race?"

She shrugged cutely and then blushed. "I thought maybe there could be an interview when you got that gold medal, and I wanted to look good for my girlfriend just in case."

"You always look good!" I pointed out. "Can I mess up your lipstick with a nice kiss?"

"Noooo!" she said quickly, backing away. "I have to save it!"

I snickered at her action, and then swooped over and pulled her into a hug. "Fine. I'll wait, but I expect extra smooches afterwards!"

"You can have all the smooches you like, I promise!" her eyes were alight with happiness, and yet there was something that she was hiding, though I didn't know what. But I also knew that with Kit, it would probably be something sweet. We already had date plans for tonight after the race, so maybe it had something to do with that?

When they called us for the race, I was more than ready. My teammates for this race were Demi, Bree, and Lisa who were all great swimmers. Bree was actually a favorite in both the 100 and the 200 to at least medal, and Demi and Lisa were solid racers that had a chance to medal in their events as well. I knew I was fast in the 100 but was more of a wildcard since I hadn't swum a race in it since high school, though I had practiced it a few times at school. In our team practices though, I was blazing since I never had to run out of energy over such a short distance.

Kit followed us out, acting as an unofficial helper with water bottles and towels, and the girls and I took turns jumping into the pool to warm up. All the other teams were doing the same, and after a few minutes we were told to get ready. When I got out of the pool, Kit motioned me over to her, and I quickly padded on over. She crooked her finger, and I leaned down until she wrapped her arms around my neck and bent my head down.

I felt her lips on my scalp for a moment, and then she pulled away before whispering to me,

"Now the world can see who you're racing for."

I sighed happily at the thought of that red lipstick of hers on the top of my head. "I was always going to swim for you, beautiful."

"No more calling beautiful. If you win the gold today, then you can call me Sushi again. I want to be your Sushi tonight," she whispered huskily.