Page 70 of In Too Deep

Laura turns down the other end and is still in line with the English and the Americans, with the Chinese tight on our tails. We all need to put in our best efforts to win this relay. Katie and I cheer as Hayley positions herself ready to jump in. Laura glides toward the wall, and I hate this part—anything can go wrong—so my breath holds, and I grit my teeth as Laura slams against the wall and Hayley dives in. My stomach settles. Katie glances at me and beams as Hayley takes off doing the breaststroke in her perfect form.

I’m up next, so I turn to Katie and nod.

She grins at me, squeezing my hand. “You can do this.”

I offer a small smile. “Yeah, we both can.”

She turns to leer at Marta, who I’m going to be racing against, and then she turns to face me. “Whoop her damn arse.”

With a chuckle, I step up to the starting block. My nerves are out of control as I catch Marta staring at me. I glance ahead to watch Hayley and the English girl in a direct line—I can’t tell who’s in front. I need to push to get us a healthy lead, and my God, I am going to push hard to get ahead of Marta.

Hayley swims, and as she gets closer and closer, my stomach flips. I’m nervous, but I can do this. Hayley slams against the wall and I leap off the starting block and dive straight into the water. A slight smile crosses my face as I hit the pool. I’ve missed this, the adrenalin of the race, the thrill of the chase, the speed of the hunt. I live for this. As I come up for air, I raise my arms over my head. Then slam back down into the water. I love freedom in the water. All my cares all my worries disappear. Right now, all I can think about is getting in front so I can kick Marta’s scrawny, pale arse.

I reach out for the wall and turn, and as I come back up, an almighty smack crashes up into my face. My eyes roll around as the sharp pain radiates through my nose. I stop swimming and push myself to the edge of the pool, grasping at my nose. A buzzer sounds as arms reach down to lift me out of the pool as my head fades in and out of blackness.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

My head is pounding as the fuzz clears and the blackness lifts, showing the stadium and all the people surrounding me. My head is hazy as I try to gain my bearings.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I got too close to the lane ropes, and my arm came under and hit her nose. I’m so terribly, terribly sorry,” I hear Marta say in a sickly sweet voice as I lay on the edge of the pool deck, zoning in and out.

“Lacy, Lacy, can you hear me?” Tuck asks while a medic takes my blood pressure.

I dip my chin, trying to take in everything around me. There’s some yelling and I catch security holding Coby back as he struggles to get to me.

I sit up dramatically.

Tuck pats my back. “Lacy… say something.”

“What happened?” I gurgle.

Everyone around sighs with relief.

“Marta’s hand came under the lane and hit your face. She hit you pretty hard.”

I huff and glance at Tuck.This wasn’t an accident.“Okay. What happened to the race?”

“They stopped it. It’s going to be re-run at another time. Once we can find another fly swim—”

“No! I’ll do it. Just give me five minutes to get my bearings.”

“Lacy, you could have drowned. You nearly passed out.”

I cough slightly. “Tuck, I’m not… not racing in this event.”

“Let.. me…through,” Coby yells and somehow bursts through security. He rushes to my side and pulls me to him. “Jesus Christ, Butterfly, scare a man half to death, why don’t you?”

“Sorry.”

He caresses my cheek. “You okay? How’s the nose?”

“A bit sore, but I’ll be fine. I just need to win this relay.”

He scoffs. “You’re not going back in that pool—”

“Coby don’t—”

“No, Lacy, you practically drowned. You probably have a concussion. Be smart.”

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