Page 62 of Whistle

Wes laughed, and Ryan shook his head. “Bro. That’s not a thing.”

“Coach just said!”

All eyes turned to me.

“For shit’s sake, go swim.” Over their shoulders, I saw Bowen’s form fall out. Blowing the whistle, I pushed through the land dwellers and approached him. “Your form is off. Do it again.”

“My arms are like jelly, Coach.”

“Do it again,” I demanded.

He groaned and went to it while I stood there and watched. Intense attention from the side made me look over. The rest were all still standing there, staring.

“Finish your laps and then stretch out,” I ordered.

“Go on. Let’s finish this,” Landry said, finally backing me up.

Rush went to kiss her, and I blew my whistle. Handsy asshole.

I waited until Bowen came back and slapped his hand on the tile.

“Good job. Go stretch out. See you tomorrow.”

He pulled himself over the edge and lay there like a floppy fish. I shook my head and walked away. My footsteps stuttered when I saw Ryan there waiting. He had pulled off his swim cap, his dark hair mussed around his head. Blue eyes studied me seriously, and inwardly, I sighed.

Elite treated him like some sort of alpha swimming god, and it put it in his head he was the team captain. Sometimes it really burned my britches that he acted like he was some sort of honorary coach around here.

I acknowledged his presence by asking, “What’s the problem, Walsh?”

“Where’s Bodhi?”

Just the mention of his name set my teeth on edge. “Why are you asking?”

“Because you told us he’s Elite, but he hasn’t been here for three days.”

“I was giving him a little time to settle into his new dorm and classes.”

“You never gave the rest of us time to settle in.”

I turned my head and met his stare full on. “You got a problem with the way I run my pool?”

“No, but I thought maybe it would help if I talked to him. See if he wants to swim with me, like one on one. Maybe it would help get him comfortable with the pool.”

He did that with Wes a few semesters ago. Really helped him get his time up. I exhaled, tension leaving my shoulders and making me feel like an ass.

I’d never tell anyone that, though.

“Yeah, son. That’d be a good idea. I appreciate the offer.”

“Do you think that the way me and Jamie threw him in traumatized him?”

I rotated to face the Speedo-clad swimmer fully. “Nothing you did is the reason he’s not here,” I told him sincerely.

That’s all on me. And I’m too chicken shit to hunt him down and apologize.

Because you won’t apologize. You’ll kiss him.

“There is trauma, though,” Ryan said, his voice a little lower than before.

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