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Doug grins, before turning back toward the stairs to his office. “Glad to hear it.”

“Are you still okay for that auction prize?” Wes asks, as we all move toward the locker rooms.

I look at Aldo in question, but he just gives Wes a bright smile.

“Sure,” he says. “Sounds fun.”

Wes nods and pushes open the door to the men’s locker room, leaving Aldo and I alone again.

“What auction prize?” I ask.

Aldo shakes his head with a grin. “Jackson Brown cornered me and asked if I’d donate a one-to-one swim lesson for the live auction.”

I open my mouth, then close it again, not sure how I feel about the idea of Aldo spending one-on-one time in the pool with someone outside of our group.

“Aw,” he teases. “Jealous?”

“No,” I lie, pushing open the door to the women’s locker room. “See you poolside.”

I’m still smirking to myself as I step into the locker room, the rest of the team already there, chatting and laughing amongst themselves.

“Nice of you to show up, Captain,” Theia calls over as she pushes her pink hair up inside her cap.

Sticking out my tongue, I start stripping out of my sweats, my swimsuit already on underneath. “I was talking to Coach. He’s going to work us extra hard today, ladies, so I hope you’re ready.”

Groans sound from around the locker room as we grab our towels and follow the familiar scent of chlorine. From the back of the group, I struggle to keep the smile from my face, still riding high from the weekend.

“You wanna look less like you got laid?” Tara teases as we lay our towels and water bottles out on the benches.

My skin flushes. “Jeez. You wanna keep your voice down?”

She laughs, lifting her arm above her head in a stretch, before grinning at something over my shoulder and moving away.

“My family can’t stop talking about you,” Aldo says quietly in my ear, making me startle. “I’ve had separate texts from all three of my sisters asking when they get to see you again.”

“Your whole family is just lovely,” I say, my heart swelling. “I’m kind of obsessed with your Great Aunt Rosetta. I want to be her when I grow up.”

Aldo grins, tucking his thick, dark hair up into his cap and adjusting his goggles on top. “She is pretty awesome.”

“It’s a shame the others couldn’t come to the brunch,” I murmur, checking that Tara’s moved out of hearing range. “Although, your mom already seems pretty smitten with Lane.”

Aldo’s smile fades a little, his brown eyes growing serious as he looks over at where Lane and Doug are standing, heads together, as they study something on the clipboard.

“What?” I ask, letting my thumb graze the bare skin of his hip.

Aldo swallows, his jaw taut as he looks back at me. “Nothing. Come on, let’s get warmed up.”

I watch him stride over to the pool and dive in, his graceful movement barely disturbing the water. If he thinks I’m letting it drop, he has another thing coming. Because I think I know what he’s not saying, and I feel the same. I’m not ready to walk away from this. The wedding was just a taste of what the future could be like for us, and we won’t get to properly explore it until Aldo and I have graduated.

Snapping on my goggles, I walk to the end of the pool and dive in, the cool water shocking my system. I know Lane would follow me to the ends of the Earth if I asked him to. But Doug? I have no idea. And there’s only one way to find out.

DOUG

The way Masters keeps finding excuses to touch me is a fucking distraction. Not that I have any plans of telling him to stop. Chewing the end of my pen, I watch him talking to Colton about his arm extension, tracking the way his t-shirt rides up as he demonstrates, then shoves his hand through his blond hair. I’ve never been particularly into blonds. It seems Masters is the exception to the rule in more ways than one.

As if sensing me staring, he glances up and grins. I keep my expression impassive, the ‘fuck off’ look I’ve crafted to perfection over the last three decades as natural as breathing. But he knows now. They all do. Masters, Rossi and Blake have all seen under my layers. They’ve seen what a complete tosser I am and still want me anyway. Idiots.

Masters’ grin suddenly fades into a frown, his eyes shifting to something behind me, and I turn to find one of the campus security guards poolside, looking like a fish out of water.

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