Chapter 16
jude
Four days after Tate gets pulled from the team, Reece shows up to the meet like rules are something he can step around as long as he smiles while doing it.
He isn’t on deck. That’s the technicality.
Marsh barred him from team spaces while the investigation is open, which means no locker room, no ready room, no supply areas, no team meetings.
It apparently doesn’t mean he can’t stand in the public hall outside the pool with a visitor pass clipped to his jacket, pretending he’s just here to watch like half the school didn’t hear what Tate said.
I see him before he sees me. He’s near the vending machines at the turn toward the locker rooms, hands in his pockets, expression arranged into something casual enough to make me want to put my fist through a wall.
People move around him because they don’t know what to do with him anymore. Last week, he was Reece, senior swimmer, fast in the water and useful to the team. Now he’s Reece under investigation, Reece named by Tate, Reece too arrogant to understand that everyone has started looking closer.
The only thing I can rejoice in is the fact that Tate is currently back home at his parents’ house awaiting a judgement from the school regarding his interference with my blockers. One less face I’ve had to see around.
Unfortunately, until Reece is gone, it won’t be enough. Bishop and Hollis stop behind me, all three of us focused on Reece’s proximity to the locker rooms. “He’s not supposed to be back here,” I whisper.
Bishop’s hand settles at the center of my back. “He’s outside the marked area.”
“Barely.”
Reece looks up before I can decide whether I’m angry enough to make a scene in front of half the school. His eyes move from me to Bishop, then to Hollis, and his mouth curves like he thinks we’re the ones proving his point. “You bring both of them everywhere now?” he asks.
I step forward. “What are you doing?”
“Watching the meet.”
“You’re standing outside the locker rooms.”
“I’m standing in a public hallway.” He lifts the visitor pass clipped to his jacket with two fingers. “Marsh was very clear about where I’m allowed to be.”
Before I can answer, Nelson jogs around the corner from the vending machines with something small in his hand. “Reece, wait. You dropped this.”
The tube is white and blue, with the old cap shape I haven’t seen since last year. Nelson holds it out like it’s nothing, and for one second Reece’s face empties completely.
Bishop catches Nelson’s wrist before he can hand it over. “Don’t.”
Nelson freezes. “What?”
I stare at the tube, at the shallow ridges on the cap and the scuff near the edge where my thumbnail used to catch before every meet. My throat tightens, but my voice comes out steady. “That’s mine.”
Reece laughs too late. “You can’t know that.”
“Yes, I can.” I look at him, the whole hallway going quiet. Several of my teammates and other students who had moved back here for the bathrooms seem to tune in. “That’s the tube that disappeared from my bag last year.”
Nelson lowers his hand. “Dude, what?”
Reece reaches for it, and Bishop steps between them without touching him. “No.”
I barely hear Bishop. I’m still looking at Reece, because the answer is already on his face and I want him to say it where everyone can hear. “Why did you keep it?”
“I didn’t.”
“Were you going to switch my shit again?” My voice rises, not enough to break, enough for the people near the pool doors to turn. “Tate’s gone, so you had to do it yourself?”
Reece’s mouth tightens. “You’re making a scene.”
“No, I’m asking a question.” I take one step closer. “Why is this so important to you? You got your year. You got the story everyone believed. Why wasn’t that enough?”
His expression twists. “Because you’re just an Omega.
” The hallway goes quiet enough that the pool noise behind the doors sounds distant as he continues.
“You weren’t supposed to be faster than us.
You weren’t supposed to make everyone pretend your biology didn’t matter.
You should’ve stayed where you belonged, holding a clipboard and keeping your problems off the deck. ”
Hollis moves before I can breathe, slamming Reece back against the lockers hard enough to rattle the row, one hand fisted in Reece’s jacket. Reece’s face finally changes, and for a second he looks exactly as scared as he should.
“Hollis,” Bishop says, gripping the back of his neck. “Let go.”
Hollis doesn’t look away from Reece.
“Baby,” Bishop says, lower. “Let go before he makes this about you.”
Hollis releases Reece and steps back, shaking with the effort. Marsh arrives from the pool entrance with campus security behind him, his eyes already fixed on the tube in Nelson’s hand.
“Security,” Marsh says. “Bag that.”
Reece starts talking fast. “He’s lying. He set this up. He’s been doing this since last year.”
I look at the tube until security seals it away. Then I look at Reece. “You kept it,” I say. “You brought it here and said exactly why in front of everyone.”
Reece’s mouth opens, but nothing useful comes out.
I don’t wait for him to find another lie. “Fuck you. All that shit you tried got you to this point and now you’re going to watch me swim and chart on the board like I was supposed to last year. And after all that, you’re going to pay.”
Reece lets out a small laugh. “Seriously? Nothing is going to happen to me.”
Hollis steps forward. “Tate’s going to be charged with attempted assault. But you? Jude was assaulted last year. There’s nothing attempted about it and if they find the same scent enhancer in that tube…”
The truth finally seems to scare Reece, just enough for him to get the point. However, I don’t need to stay for this. I have a meet to get to and water to swim in and two wonderful men who set this second chance in front of me.
I stalk off toward the water, clearing my mind of last year, of Tate and Reece, of anything that isn’t my love for the sport. One glance over to the side, I catch Bishop with a wide smile on his face, Hollis wrapped around him from behind, both of them mouthing the same words. You got this.
Bishop leans forward, giving me the choice before I curl my fingers into his shirt and drag him into a kiss. Hollis lets out a frustrated whimper as I pull back and kiss the Alpha as well, just barely over Bishop’s shoulder.
Then the whistle blows and I head to lane three, no longer seeing the nightmare of my past but rather a promise for the future.