Page 108 of Poolside

Everything else fell away until all that was left was the sun and Tommy and the strong, steady beat of his heart in his chest.

“Are you with me, baby?”

Chuck blinked down at Tommy, and smoothed away the furrow of concern between his brows. “Yeah, love. I’m with you.”

Chuck was struck by how full he felt at that moment. Not only full of the good, but also the parts of himself that had always been harder to love, the parts that were always there, interwoven with the rest. The joy and the sadness. The dark and the light. Chuck had never been so content to be exactly who he was.

Tommy loved all of him, just as Chuck had grown to love every single part of the man who held him.

Their love was too vast to stay bottled up, too great to be hidden away from the world.

And when Tommy kissed him, Chuck’s eyes drifted shut and he let go.

EPILOGUE

October

“Come on,” Tommy groaned, glaring at the Honda Civic that had taken the last parking spot in that row. He carefully navigated around the other car’s bumper before pulling out of the Humphrey Center parking lot.

The Southeastern campus was still familiar enough that it only took three minutes to find parking in one of the nearby student garages, but Tommy was running late. He grabbed the paper-wrapped flowers from his passenger seat, and started jogging back to the athletic complex.

He hadn’t had time to change, choosing to come to Southeastern’s first swim meet of the season straight from work. At least he was comfortable in jeans, sneakers, and a short sleeve button-up with cream and dark green stripes that Chuck had helped him pick out a few months ago.

Tommy took the stairs two at a time until he reached the front entrance, not stopping as he reached out to slap the bronze statue of the Southeastern mascot, Eckbert the Eagle, on the tail feathers.

The natatorium was loud. The stands were full of students, families, and fans, while the lower deck surrounding the pool was bustling with swimmers, coaches, and athletic staff. Tommy quickly made out the Southeastern team, wearing their green warm-ups with golden yellow accents.

He spotted Maggie’s blue hair first, and offered apologies to everyone he squeezed past as he joined his friends. Everyone was there—David and Sage, Maggie, Darius and Rebecca, Keaton, Miguel and Richard, and Wade Johnson. Tommy squeezed into the empty spot beside Maggie.

“How’s he doing?” Tommy asked the group.

“They’re sitting solidly in second,” Keaton said, leaning over from the row behind them. “The 100 IM was a little disappointing, but they’ve still got the women’s 50 back, the men’s 100 free, and then the relay. There’s plenty of room for them to take the lead.”

Tommy searched the deck, a huge smile spreading on his face when he found the distinct red of Chuck’s hair. He was back in a corner with some of the other coaches, obviously deep in the headspace of coaching.

Tommy loved to see it.

“How are you?” he asked Maggie, leaning towards her.

She shrugged, her expression uncharacteristically serious. “I’ve gotta go back to Georgia for a week. Help the family out with somethin’.”

“Is there anything we can do to help?”

Maggie let out a pained laugh. “No, not unless you’ve got a spare two hundred grand sittin’ around?”

Tommy winced, unsure of what to say.

“I’m just playin’,” Maggie rushed to say, shaking her head. “It’s the same bullshit it always is, but I’ll figure it out. I always do.”

“I’m sorry,” Tommy offered. Out of the corner of his eye he caught sight of Keaton, who was staring at the back of Maggie’s head with a concerned expression on his face.

A rousing cheer distracted Tommy, and he turned back to the water. It took him a minute to get his bearings, his gaze bouncing between the pool and the scoreboard. This was a smaller meet with only four schools, but still it was a lot to keep track of.

Over the next few races, Southeastern pulled closer to College of Atlanta, who was in the lead, but going into the final relay they were still sitting in second. At the horn, the swimmers dove in from the starting blocks, and the crowd went wild.

But Tommy didn’t watch the race. He didn’t track the progress of the swimmers as they sliced through the water.

No, his eyes were on Chuck.

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