Chapter 9
Nash
Normally, this was the best time of day.
It was so early that no one was around, my phone wasn’t ringing, no one judged me, and it felt acceptable to do anything I wanted under the shroud of darkness.
But this morning I was following footprints through the newly fallen snow from the dorms to the athletic building, without a return set.
Who the fuck is in here?
I was on high alert as I pulled open the door, listening for any sound, my eyes searching the shadows. Nothing moved in the hallways or in any of the other rooms. Every footfall was silent as I walked closer to the locker room, wishing that I had my knife or gun.
The hair on the back of my neck bristled—an instinct developed from years of parental abuse. Someone was here.
I stepped into the echoey room and looked around. The only thing out of place was a bit of cloth caught in one of the locker doors. The lock was open and hanging there, daring me to look. All I found was a senior’s uniform, but no wallet or other identification.
Who the fuck?
Then it hit me. No…it couldn’t be. Annoyed, I closed the locker, leaving it as I found it before changing and exiting to the pool.
My suspicions were confirmed the moment I walked onto the pool deck.
Sabastian flipped at the far end and moved at a steady, relaxed pace. More warm-up than effort. I moved over to the end of the lane, glaring down at him as he reached out and touched the wall.
His head snapped up when he realized he wasn’t alone.
“What the hell are you doing in here?”
“What does it look like I’m doing?” He responded, heavy with sarcasm.
Pushing off the wall in a casual backstroke, he forced me to follow him.
“If you want to train, then get in, Nash. No one is stopping you, and the pool is certainly big enough.”
“That’s not the point. This is my time. No one is supposed to be in here,” I growled.
As the words left my mouth, I realized how childish they sounded, but I didn’t care. No one had bothered me here in three and a half years…until now.
“This is when I trained at my other school,” Sabastian said with a smirk.
Fuck, I hated this guy.
“Besides, I thought you wanted to be friends. Put the past behind us and bury the hatchet.”
I smiled but in reality I wanted to bury the hatchet alright—right between his shoulder blades.
“You’re right,” I said as he reached the end of the pool.
It was Sabastian’s turn to give me an uncertain expression.
“I did say that. You took me by surprise this morning. I use this time to think and be alone. Once I’m warmed up, do you want to race? All in good fun, of course,” I said with as much of a smile as I could muster for this asshole.
“I’d never pass up an opportunity to wipe the floor with you. All in good fun, of course.”
“Great.”
“Great.” He smiled back at me.
It was official, I was getting rid of this guy.
I didn’t give a fuck if he was Ren’s long-lost sorta-brother.
I knew that she wanted a chance to reconnect with Sabastian, but everything in me screamed that he couldn’t be trusted.
He knew that Lawrence was going to hit Volatile on New Year’s Eve.
I was sure of it. The only reason he showed up that night was to get a front-row seat for the action.
My feet slapped on the deck as I rounded the edge of the pool, heading for the lane right beside him. Dangerous considering how much I wanted to drown the fucker, but I wasn’t giving him a chance to weasel out now.
Sabastian was already halfway back when I jumped in and set my goggles in place.
Surprisingly, the rhythmic sound of him swimming wasn’t as annoying as I thought it would be.
Not that I was going to invite him to join me all the time, but as the water flowed over my body and my muscles worked, I felt less like killing him.
I swam three lengths and met him at the end, where he lounged with his arms on the deck.
“You ready?”
“Born ready,” Sabastian replied with a smirk.
“Uh huh…individual medley?”
His eyebrows shot up.
“Not going with your strongest stroke? I don’t know if I’m shocked or impressed.”
Sabastian pulled his goggles down and smirked, and my fist itched to hit him. I bit back my sarcastic remark and climbed out of the pool beside him.
“Who will do the countdown?”
“You can,” I said, ever the gentleman. “I wouldn’t want you to claim that I was cheating when I beat you.”
“If you beat me.”
Stepping up onto the block, I grinned.
“I know I will,” I said, assuming the start position. Everything stilled in my mind the moment he started the countdown. It was just me and the pool.
“Go.”
Diving off the block, the same rush and surge of excitement that filled me during competition raced through my system.
Cutting through the water, I ignored Sabastian even though I felt him in the lane beside me.
I broke the surface with the first pull of the butterfly.
It felt like breathing for me, and my limbs fired on all cylinders in perfect sequence.
I reached the wall, drew my feet up, and pushed off in a streamline position. The lights overhead blurred as I returned in the back stroke. In my mind, I could hear the crowd cheering my name.
My next turn was just as smooth as the last. The breaststroke was my least favorite swim, but it couldn’t hold me back this morning. Every pull of my arms felt like a victory.
As I pushed off for the final length in freestyle, I became aware of just how close in time Sabastian and I really were. My arms cut through the water as I forced my body to go a little faster and a little harder…to be better.
Swimming had always been the one thing I could control. Success was all on me. I competed against myself as much as anyone else in the pool. It was just one of the reasons I loved it so much.
I looked over with my final stroke and touched the wall a fingertip before Sabastian. We both gasped and leaned on the edge of the pool as we stared at one another.
He shook his head slowly, knowing he’d lost.
“Fucking asshole,” he grumbled, making me smile. “It’s a good thing you decided to wimp out and not join the World’s team,” he said, climbing out of the water.
My smile immediately fell.
“How the hell do you even know that?”
I pushed myself up onto the deck and glared at Sabastian.
With a shrug, he pulled off his cap and goggles as he wandered over to the tall stack of clean towels and grabbed one.
“I didn’t know it was a secret. I’m on the team, and Coach Richards mentioned that you hadn’t responded. He’s looking for your replacement.” He wrapped the towel around his waist. “Good thing, too. You would’ve been a pain in my ass the entire run to Worlds.”
His words hit like a blow, knocking all the air out of my lungs.
“You’re on the team?”
“Course I am.” Sabastian snorted like that was a stupid question. “We hold the two fastest times in the country. Did you really think I wouldn’t get an invitation?”
He put his hands on his hips as I stood there speechless.
“I’m just surprised that you’re not going. You didn’t strike me as the type to walk away from a challenge, but I guess I was wrong.”
He walked toward the locker room and lifted his arm in the air. “Have a good one, Nash. This was fun.”
Rooted to the floor, water dripping off my body, I watched him walk away and disappear. All I could think was that he was stealing everything that I had worked so hard for—my dream.
Sabastian had not only pushed his way into my school, but he was potentially instrumental in people I loved getting killed and hurting countless others. Now he held my ambitions in his hands with a smirk on his face.
My hands balled into fists.
I ran toward the pool and dove in, screaming in frustration as soon as I was underwater. I stayed beneath and waited for silence.
Tears that no one would ever see ran down my face as I grieved the loss of more than those we buried.
I mourned the loss of the child who dreamed of a podium under the brightest lights, on a world stage, and winning something worth more than a gold medal.
I cried for the boy who wanted to earn respect and a legacy that wasn’t tarnished with blood or Lawrence Collier’s name.
My father had already stolen so much from me that I couldn’t replace. I wouldn’t let Sabastian do the same. He would feel the same pain.
I had planned to kill him, but now—now I was going to ruin him.