Page 40 of Whistle

“You want us to pick you up a coffee, Coach?” Rush asked as they headed for the front door.

“No. Take Bodhi with you.”

“Can’t. The Vette’s a two-seater,” Rush called and bolted out the front with my daughter in tow.

Him and that damn Corvette. My Mustang was way better.

The second they were gone, there was no distraction, and my eyes went right back to the couch. Bodhi was sitting up in the middle, staring at the door Rush had just left through. The expression on his face pinched my heart.

I took another swig out of my travel mug and made a face. Tossing the drink into the sink, I turned off the pot and grabbed my keys from a hook near the door. “Get your shit. We’re leaving.”

“I said I’m not?—”

“I’m buying coffee.”

That got his ass up. My attention went right to his lean, bare middle and the diamond taunting me.

“I’ll be in the car,” I told him. “Hurry up.”

Then I fled into the breaking day to keep my eyes where they belonged.

Far away from my newest swimmer.

12

Bodhi

Pack a bag. Move across the country. Enroll in college. Join the swim team.

Didn’t they get it? Didn’t anyone get it?

My life was shattered. Never to be the same. I would never be the same. The me I was now couldn’t go back to who I was then. How could anyone expect me to just go back to school and start swimming again?

It was those old things that led me here. My old life my downfall.

Not that my current life was all great either.

But hey, there was coffee.

The sweet purr of Coach’s Mustang was a comforting rumble the entire way to the pool. The coffee in my hand was warm and filled with promises to get me through another day.

The campus was empty, the hour so early no one else was up. I’d been here before, months ago when I came to try and make up for what I’d done to my old best friend. It was funny how some things never changed even when everything else did.

The campus was clearly monied, with old stone buildings, some with ivy growing along the sides. There were mature trees just showing signs of tarnishing with the approaching fall. Sidewalks lined the lawns, and streetlights still glowed in the dusk.

My stomach cramped, but I ignored it, the feeling so familiar I’d probably wonder where it was if it ever went away. I stayed turned away from the driver. Neither of us spoke a word. He didn’t even ask me what kind of coffee I wanted, just ordered what he wanted me to have.

I thought about throwing a fit about it, but honestly, it was a relief. One thing I didn’t have to think about. It was sweet, but not too sweet, and creamy without losing the coffee taste. Just the way I liked it.

Besides, I had a feeling I’d need to save my fighting spirit for the rest of the day.

Coach downshifted and steered the sports car into the lot of the natatorium, which was a large building practically in the center of campus. The parking lot was filled with cars, Rush’s blue Corvette in the very back of the lot. Actually, I wasn’t sure which one was his because there was an identical one parked beside it.

“Practice starts every morning at five thirty. Six days a week. You need to do at least three days a week in the gym. Elite has their own.” Coach informed me, turning off the engine. “Some of the swimmers swim twice a day. You can ask them what time.”

I scoffed. “You think any of them are going to want to swim with me?”

“I don’t know what it was like at your old pool, but here, we leave it outside. Inside that building, it’s nothing but water and team.”

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