Neptune's Grandson

Chapter 25

"Good, good, everyone is now here," my swim coach, Coach Yemi, said when Brady, Aquamarine, and I walked into the area where the swimming pool was held about thirty minutes later. She smiled and dipped her head in greeting while she walked over to me. "How are you three today?" she asked and raised an eyebrow in question.

"Good, Coach Yemi," I said and pulled on the sleeve of my wet suit while I cleared my throat and shifted on my feet, feeling very nervous and worried for some reason. "Where have you been? You didn't show up yesterday, and you missed meeting one of our new team members." I gestured toward Aquamarine, who Coach Yemi looked at before she looked at me with a small shrug, nonchalant.

"I was interviewing people to become my assistant coach, since Veronica had left and moved somewhere else unexpectedly and before we could find a temporary replacement," she replied and gestured to someone standing closer to the water and was watching the people that were already in the water, swim and do laps with his back toward us. "We didn't get done finalizing everything until yesterday evening."

Brady took a step closer to me, his gaze hard while he stared at the other male, and I glanced at him from the corner of my eye. He didn't say a word while he stared at the new assistant coach, and I couldn't help but give him a curious look before I looked at Coach Yemi when she created her throat and shifted on her feet.

"You all are almost all adults and have worked with each other for many years in both surfing and swimming, so I was sure that you all would have been fine." She sent us a playful wink, and I held back an eye roll and pressed my lips into a thin line.

"And you are the team captain, Ty," Brady said while he turned his gaze back to us with something in his tone that had me become nervous because he didn't sound as playful as he normally would if he was teasing me. "So there isn't anything that you cannot handle." He patted my back teasingly.

I rolled my eyes and scowled, pressing my lips into a thin line before I cleared my throat and shifted on my feet, turning my attention back to our coach. "Anyway, this is Aquamarine. She is one of the new people here," I said, changing the subject, and Coach Yemi looked at her with a soft smile on her face.

"How are you?" Coach Yemi asked and held out her hand toward Aquamarine so that she could shake her hand. "I'm Yemi Kekoa, and I am the head coach of the swim team, and that is Kaimana Aukai. He will be assisting us this year. Kaimana, come over here and say hi to the captain of the swim team and his friends."

Coach Kaimana turned to look at us with cold brown eyes, and Brady moved closer to me while he kept his eyes on him. He didn't say a word while he looked between the three of us before he walked over to us with something in his eyes that I didn't like and didn't understand.

"This is Tyler, Brady, and Aquamarine. Aquamarine is one of our newest members to the swim team, but Tyler and Brady are pros."

Coach Kaimana pressed his lips into a thin line and slowly nodded. "It's nice to meet the three of you," he said and held out his hand, and we took turns and shook his hand before he placed it behind his back and clasped his hands together while he cleared his throat. "How are you three?" he asked and raised an eyebrow in question.

"Good," I said before I cleared my throat and shifted on my feet because I wasn't so sure about him. "How about yourself?" I asked and raised an eyebrow in question. "How are you?"

"I am well, thank you," he said. He cleared his throat again and looked toward the swimming pool before he looked at us again. "Are you three ready to swim?" he asked and raised an eyebrow in question.

"Yes, Sir," we said in unison and nodded. "We are ready to swim."

Coach Kaimana grunted and nodded. "Then, go ahead and get into the water and get started. You three are late, by the way," Coach Kaimana said with a scowl on his face while he narrowed his eyes. "I hope that this will not be a normal occurrence," he said and raised an eyebrow in question.

We shook our heads no and stayed silent. All three of us were tense, even though I was the only one that didn't understand why.

Coach Yemi looked between the four of us and something flashed through her eyes that I couldn't understand. She cleared her throat and shifted on her feet. "Now, go ahead and get warmed up, you three," she said, and we looked at her. "We are doing a twenty-five meter lap, a fifty meter lap, a seventy-five meter lap, and then a hundred meter lap of each stroke with a fifteen second break between each set. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Coach Yemi," we said in unison and nodded in confirmation.

"Good, now hop into the water and get started. You all will be in the same lane as Blayke today." She gestured to the lane where Blayke was "swimming" by herself, watching us with a protective look in her eyes while she stared at us and at Coach Kaimana.

"Yes, Ma'am," we said again while I raised an eyebrow in question while I stared at Blayke, silently asking what was wrong and why she was so tense.

Blayke didn't answer while she smiled and waved, the look vanishing for a second while she dove under the water.

I bit back an annoyed sigh but decided to ignore it while we murmured our agreements and started to make our way toward Blayke.

Brady pulled me back a little when we were away from both Coach Yemi and Kaimana and moved closer to my ear, and I slowed down a little and looked toward him. "Whatever you do, do not be alone with Coach Kaimana. He is a mer as well, but he is not from the kingdom."

I furrowed my brows and cocked my head while I glanced at him from the corner of my eye. "H-"

"We'll talk more about this later," he promised, interrupting me while he kept his voice barely above a whisper. "For now, promise me that you will not be in a room alone with him. Is that understood?'

I bit back an annoyed sigh before I slowly nodded and moved a hand across my face. "Understood," I muttered under my breath so that he could only hear it before I cleared my throat. "Just know that I don't like it, Brady."

Brady smirked and didn't say a word. He patted my arm before he released me, and we walked the rest of the way to Blayke's lane in silence.

Oh, Gods...