Learning To Swim For Real

Chapter 14: Jack's World

Kelsey blinked and snuggled into Jack's side as they sat on the bleachers. Was the sun even up yet? She cracked an eye open, and saw that it was, just barely. Long rays stretched over the UCSM campus, creating weird patterns as its rays shone through the slight steam rising off the pool. They'd stopped to get a large latte for Kelsey, and Jack had overestimated how long it would take, so they were a few minutes early.

"You're the one who wanted to come," Jack said into Kelsey's ear, and she didn't have to see his face to know that he was grinning. She could tell that he wanted to plant a kiss on the side of her face, but was holding back. She'd explained that, in public, there was no way to know when or where photographers were lurking, and that included the wee hours of the morning at the UCSM pool, so PDAs were a no-no, always.

"In private, behind closed doors, you can be all over me like white on rice, okay?" she'd told him. "In fact, I'd like you to, very much."

"Really? Like white on rice?" Jack had repeated, picking her up and throwing her down on his bed.

Kelsey nodded, smiling hugely, grabbing him by his wrists and yanking him down on top of her. "But when we're outside, in public? You have to be my friend, my coach, nothing more, got it?"

"Got it," he'd said, nodding.

So they sat, side by side on the bleachers by the pool in the early morning chill and waited for the rest of the team to show up. Kelsey was all bundled up in jeans and a hoodie, with her hair hidden in the hood, while Jack was already shirtless and ready to swim.

"Aren't you freezing?" Kelsey asked, taking a sip of her coffee. She could smell the chlorine coming off the pool, a smell she already associated with Jack. It was familiar and nice, and kind of sexy.

Jack shrugged. "I'm used to it, I guess. I'm in the water literally all year long. That includes January, in the middle of a rainstorm or whatever, you know? And in California, most pools are outside, so if it's cold, we swim cold. If it's raining, we swim in the rain."

"You swim in the rain?" Kelsey asked, aghast. She gave a little shudder, which Jack found so cute.

"As our coach used to say, what were we complaining about? We were already completely wet. He was the one standing on the pool deck with water running down his neck," Jack said, grinning at her.

Kelsey caught his grin, and felt heat from it, from the way his eyelashes lay against his skin when he blinked, from the tricky shade of his hazel eyes, from the little cleft in his chin that she'd never noticed before. And when he talked, she found herself looking at his tongue, the tongue she'd watched lick into her when--

"LaGuardia! You're early today!" An absolutely enormous guy with a red beard came zooming up on a bike that was bending under his weight. Kelsey saw it bounce up a good two inches when he swung his bulk off of it. She had the impression of a huge, red-headed bear, a genial, smiling ursine in UCSM sweats.

"Hey, Zach," Jack turned with a pleased smile. "I'd like to introduce you to a friend of mine." He clapped a hand on Zach's shoulder. "Zach Hall, this is Kelsey Carlisle."

He turned to Kelsey. "Kelsey, this is Zach. He's one of the first friends I made when I came to UCSM, and one of the best people you'll ever meet."

"Hello, nice to meet you at last," Zach said, swallowing Kelsey's hand with his own. "I've heard of you, of course, and Jack has spoken of you a little. It's a real pleasure." Dirty jokes and locker room talk aside, Zach was a gentleman, and knew when to behave.

"You too," Kelsey said with her signature smile.

"Why on earth are you here, though?" Zach asked. "I mean, you didn't come down here at the ass crack of dawn to watch Mr. Ugly here practice, did you?"