Page 209 of Whistle

Before Prism could reply, Arsen turned his dark eyes to me. “I thought we talked about this.”

I groaned and thought about the voicemail I’d received a few weeks ago—Arsen telling me to stop abusing his boyfriend’s ears with my air cannon.

Can you imagine? He called it an air cannon.

“What’s going on?” Max demanded.

“The dean’s pissed about Bodhi and Coach, so Coach quit.” Wes filled him in.

Win whipped around to look at me. “For reals?”

“Yes. For reals,” I said. Sometimes it was easier just to answer than argue.

Win nodded. “Mad respect.”

I didn’t resign for respect. I did it because I chose Bodhi. I chose him over everything.

“Be that as it may,” the dean said, looking a little shell-shocked as he tried to commandeer the conversation, “the consensual relationship policy here at Westbrook prohibits?—”

“But it is consensual.” Lars interrupted, brow wrinkled. “Bodhi is twenty-one. That’s legal age to vote, drink, consent to a relationship. He can do anything?—”

“Technically, he can’t rent a car. Gotta be twenty-five for that.” Kruger corrected him.

“That’s stupid.” Wes scoffed. “He can literally go buy a car outright and have it in his name, but he can’t rent one?”

Kruger motioned with his hand. “Arsen, you better call up the senator. Tell him to put our tax dollars to work and fix that.”

“The senator?” Bodhi asked, glancing curiously at Arsen.

I remembered that time he commented about Arsen’s ass. He’d better not be getting any ideas.

Forgetting I was being professional, I grabbed Bodhi by the wrist and pulled him into my side. Without any reaction, he leaned his head on my arm.

Much better.

“Yeah, bro, my in-law is a state senator,” Kruger boasted.

Prism cleared his throat.

Kruger made a face. “You know, because my brother here is dating the senator’s son.”

Prism tugged Arsen’s jacket closer around him and nodded.

“I’m sure Senator Andrews has better things to worry about than the age limit for a rental car,” Philip argued. Then a confused look crossed his face. “Why are we talking about this?”

“Because Bodhi and Coach are old enough to consent to a relationship.” Lars reminded him and then looked at Win. “Right?”

“Yes.” Win agreed.

“No,” Dean Cardinal refuted. “That’s not how this works. The problem is that Bodhi Lawson is not able to give consent because Coach Resch is in a position of power and therefore can use said authority to influence and even coerce him into a relationship.”

Bodhi snorted. “Coerce? I don’t do anything I don’t want to do.”

Philip looked down his nose at the swimmer by my side. “Did you or did you not come here as a condition to avoid jail?”

“So?” Bodhi asked.

“So perhaps involving yourself in an affair with your coach is a way to keep your status here since your swim times are abysmal.”

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