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He sends me a row of rolling eyes emojis and I put my phone away with a grin, returning my focus to the swimmers below. It’s hard not to get a little emotional, and I hug Joy tighter to my chest, dropping a kiss to the top of her head.

“I’m not asleep,” she grumbles.

Chuckling to myself, I wrap my other arm around her. “I know,mia stella.I know.”

LANE

I’ve never been so proud in my life. The kids are swimming their hearts out, the work we’ve done with them over the last year or so evident to anyone with a pair of eyes. Fuck, even one eye.

When we moved to San Francisco after Aldo and Joy graduated, I was worried about my future. September rolled around and I still hadn’t heard from any coaching jobs I’d applied to. Doug told me he’d phoned Drew while he was in England and made sure nothing was on my record. Drew also convinced President West to remove the misconduct from Doug’s file too, explaining how Joy’s mom had manipulated the situation. I don’t know how he managed it, but he did.

“Come on!” I shout as Engles and Johnson turn for their final lap. “You’ve got this!”

It was Doug’s idea, to start a swimming center for underprivileged kids, and I fell in love with the suggestion instantly. We both came from nothing, and we know firsthand that working your way to a professional swim career can be damn expensive. So, we decided to open a center funded entirely by charity and rental on the pool space. Drew was a huge help before he left Franklin West, using his connections with the wealthy parents to help us with our initial funding. Even so, it’s taken years to find a suitable location and set up the charity. We’ve only been open thirteen months, but things are going better than we could have hoped.

Any kid can come and try out, and if they show potential, we train them for free. It’s the kind of place we both wish we’d had growing up. So many kids miss out on the chance to pursue their dreams because of lack of finances.

Of course, it means we don’t make a lot of money, but it’s not about that. Swimming was never about the money. It’s about passion.

Today is our first official meet and our kids are competing against four local middle and high school teams. And they’re kicking ass.

I whoop and holler as Engles takes first place, her gap-tooth smile lighting up the poolside as she realizes she’s won. Doug’s hand lands on my shoulder, squeezing tight and my heart swells at the pride in his eyes.

After what went down at Franklin West, I thought I was done. I thought I’d never coach again. Now, I get to do what I love with people whose entire lives could change because of it. One day, we might coach the next Team USA gold medal winner.

“We did it,” Doug says in my ear, squeezing my shoulder one more time before moving away to speak to the team and the parents who have started to filter down from the crowd.

My throat thickens and I look up at the bleachers, searching for the other two people who have made me the happiest man on the planet. When I find Aldo, he’s whistling and clapping, wearing a t-shirt with our team logo on it. Joy looks like she’s just woken up, her dark hair mussed and her eyes barely open. We all told her not to come today, but I know she wouldn’t have missed it for the world.

My heart swells at the sight of them. Lucky doesn’t even begin to cover it.

JOY

“Wake up, sleepy head!”

I groan, opening my eyes to find everyone standing around the bed, staring down at me. “What the hell is going on?”

“Food’s been ordered,” Lane says. “Get your butt in the shower and wake yourself up. We’re celebrating.”

Pushing myself up, I yawn and stretch, frowning when three pairs of eyes fix on me like I’m a fucking steak. In my sleep-addled state, it takes me a hot minute to figure out I’m not in my pajamas. I shed my clothes after the meet and crawled into bed in my underwear. A stupid idea, because now I probably won’t sleep tonight. Another stupid idea was two back-to-back gigs.

“Stop looking at me like that,” I say, shoving off the covers and climbing out of bed.

Doug reaches for me, his hands sliding around my bare waist, causing goosebumps to break out across my skin. “I think you might need help in that shower, Minx. You’re barely awake, you might slip and hurt yourself.”

I snort. “Slip and fall onto your dick, you mean. I think I’ll be okay.”

Lane barks a laugh and Doug scowls, but I just give him a peck on the nose and move past to the shower, locking the door behind me.

The water works miracles, and with every passing second, I feel more alive. The water doesn’t wash away the guilt, though. I might have been there in body for the center’s first meet, but I slept through most of it. I know they don’t care, but it still bothers me.

The good news is things might be changing. I’ve spent the last four years gigging and doing damn well at it. I’ve made a bit of a name for myself in California, and I love it, even if it means I don’t get to see the guys as often as I’d like. Aldo’s hours are usually pretty much nine to five, but Lane and Doug have to train the kids before they start school, which means five a.m. practices. They rent out the center for swimming lessons and things like aqua aerobics in the afternoons and evenings.

I’m trying not to get too excited about it, and I haven’t told the guys yet, but at the gig last night, a music producer approached me. He loved what I’ve done with a couple of remixes and asked for my card. Apparently, he wants me to ‘work my magic’ on one of his artists’ tracks. If he likes it, it means my remix could feature on their album, which would open a whole new set of doors for me.

Grinning to myself, I shut off the water and wrap a towel around my hair before grabbing another for my body. I’m still smiling when I unlock the bathroom door, only to find all three of them sprawled on the bed.

Aldo’s apartment worked for about a year, but then we upgraded to a slightly bigger place. Of course, when his parents had gifted the apartment to him for graduation, they weren’t expecting him to arrive in a package deal of four.

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