13. Chapter 12 Katrina
F ebruary 2024
One morning, as we’re going over plans for the indoor pool, Bryce shocks me by randomly agreeing to add a solid wall of windows. I feel like I won a battle by default. It’s not the main wall, but it is the one at the end of the pool. Liam’s designs already call for quite a few windows, but still, it’s a big ask, and I’m stunned when Bryce agrees.
He only let me show him one reference photo and I had ten ready.
I eye him warily. “That was way too easy. Did Josie or Mia tell you I was going to talk to you about this?”
I’d brought it up at dinner the other night, explaining how I still think we need more natural light. They both agreed and then proceeded to let me show them all ten of my reference photos before insisting on talking to Bryce again. If I can’t have one huge wall of windows, why not compromise for a smaller one?
He shook his head. “No, I think it’s a great solution. It’s not that I hated the idea of the windows on the west wall; I just worried about the sun. You have a great eye for design, Kat.”
I want to take the compliment and the win, but I know better than that. While I don’t think he’s lying to me, there’s something more to it than that. “You want something, Bryce Clark. What is it?”
“Nothing!” he stresses, holding his hands up in defense.
Unconvinced, I cross my arms over my chest. “I’m not buying it. What do you want?”
He holds my gaze for two seconds before he folds. “All right, fine. Don’t look so smug.”
I try and fail to wipe the smirk off my face. “Okay, out with it.”
“Do you have anything going on this weekend?” he asks. “From Thursday through Sunday afternoon.”
Bryce has never once asked me something like that. “Um, no.” I frown. “Not that I know of. Why?”
“Great!” He claps his hands together like he’s forming some sort of evil plan and, I must admit, I’m a little afraid. Maybe I shouldn’t have pushed him so hard. “That means you can come with us to the meet!”
“Meet?” My eyes are wide in surprise. “What meet? And where?”
“Josie, Mia, and I are all going up to Greensboro this weekend. There’s a pro meet and Carter’s competing, so we thought we’d go support him.”
I’m still not sure how I fit into this whole plan, but my heartrate quickens at the idea of being in the same city as Carter. Am I ready for that? Either this man will live up to the crazy fantasy I’ve created, and we’ll have an even bigger problem than we already have. Or he won’t and things will go on like normal. Either way, I’ll have to face him, eventually.
And where does this fantasy I’ve built up leave me with my current relationship? I’m not cheating, not even emotionally, but it feels like I’m doing something wrong. If Carter does live up to that fantasy, and tis becomes something more real and harder to ignore, where do I go then?
“We’ll head out on Thursday afternoon,” Bryce continues, “and come back on Sunday afternoon. We figured you and Mia could bunk together. Does that work for you?”
“Sure.” I nod along with the plans. “I’m not sure why you want me there, though.”
“I think it’d be a great opportunity to see what a functioning natatorium looks like.” He makes a good point, and I had been the one telling him that I was interested in learning more about the sport. “You can see what works and what doesn’t work—ask us questions if you have them. Plus, you’ve been working here for a month and a half. Don’t you think it’s about time you meet Carter?”
If only he knew that was the part I was less unsure about than anything else.
“Does he know I’m coming?” I ask, not wanting to run the risk of Bryce somehow clueing in on what I’m thinking. “I don’t want to catch him off guard. A swim meet is technically his place of work.”
“I’ll let him know,” Bryce assures me, like it’s no big deal. Which, to him, it’s not. To me, I feel like I’m about to meet some mystical prince in a storybook. Isn’t there some saying about not meeting your heroes because they never live up to your expectations? Is it true with men? “He’ll be excited to meet you. So, what do you say? Are you in?”
“Sure.” I grin because there’s really no reason to say no. “Sounds like fun.”
“W elcome to your first swim meet!” Josie’s grinning at me, her arms spread wide before her like she’s showing me the whole world.
But all that’s in front of us is a pool. Granted, it’s a packed pool, but still just a pool. I try to take in all the chaos happening in the water, the different voices fighting to be heard over the noise, and wonder how this isn’t making anyone else anxious. Coaches are pacing the deck, swimmers are packed into the lanes like sardines, and there’s so much whistling.
Then again, this is their world, so I’m sure they’re used to it. I’m more out of my element than ever before.
“I’m not really sure what I’m supposed to be looking at,” I finally admit.
Josie, Bryce, and Mia all have an ease about them that’s different from anything I’ve ever seen before. They’re in control here; they know what to do, who to speak to, and what’s expected of them. Their confidence should be reassuring, but it’s making my uncertainty worse.
“This isn’t supposed to be a fun weekend away.” Bryce is all business, as he turns his attention to me. “This is an opportunity for you to see a building like ours in use. The way we want it utilized. Figure out what’s working and what’s not. Maybe talk to some swimmers.”
My eyes widen, cheeks flushing as a guy in a tiny speedo walks by. “You want me to talk to them?” Why has my voice gotten so much higher? “Why?”
His eyes narrow at me. “Because no one knows what a pool needs and doesn’t need more than a swimmer. Is that going to be a problem?”
Another guy walks by. This one is in low-riding shorts but no shirt. Does anyone in this sport ever wear clothes?
Josie laughs. “Lighten up, Bryce. She’s never been to a swim meet before.”
Mia is also grinning at us in amusement. “Yeah, it took your girlfriend several before she could talk to anyone without blushing.”
Josie gasps, turning to her best friend like some secret had just been revealed. “Mia!” she hisses her name under her breath, and I feel the smallest bit better.
“Wait, who else made you blush?” Bryce demands, looking between Mia and Josie. “It better not have been—”
Josie is quick to calm him down. “It wasn’t! It was just everyone. It takes time to get used to talking to half-naked people.”
So that answers my previous question about whether people wear clothes.
“Although she definitely blushed the first time we met Ronan O’Brien.”
Bryce gawks at his girlfriend and Josie goes back to glaring at her best friend.
Mia is completely indifferent, though. “Can you blame her, Bryce? The man was beautiful.”
I’m just lost. Completely and totally lost. I have no clue who they’re talking about, but I don’t miss the way Mia talks about him in the past tense. Which instantly pulls my focus from everything going on around me—clearly there’s some kind of history there. I’m not privy to the information and something tells me Mia wouldn’t give me any if I asked.
“He’s still beautiful,” Bryce relents with a sigh. “And I’m comfortable enough in my masculinity and sexuality to admit that.”
Josie pats his arm as Mia scoffs.
“I’m glad at least one person knows what he looks like,” she snarks. “He kind of fell off the face of the earth, didn’t he?”
His brow furrows. “What are you talking about? Ronan—”
“I see some seats,” Mia cuts him off. She doesn’t wait for a reply before she walks off.
Bryce says something to Josie about going to talk to someone, while I follow the dark-haired woman who brought up a topic she doesn’t want to talk about.
Josie catches up with me in a couple of strides, her arm linking with mine as she leans in. “Just so you know, that was Mia code for we are not talking about this .”
“I figured,” I admit. “What happened between her and this Ronan guy?”
Josie frowns, looking ahead at her friend who is climbing the bleachers. “No one knows. Bryce has asked Ronan and I’ve tried talking to her about it. She won’t budge.”
Josie releases my arm as she climbs up behind Mia. I follow suit, stunned there’s something these two inseparable friends have kept from one another. But I’m not going to ask Mia about it. If she doesn’t want Josie to know, she won’t tell someone who’s practically a stranger. I take my seat next to Josie, who has a stapled stack of papers in her hand, skimming what looks to be a long list of names, and look at the new view I have.
As I scan the deck, I’m realizing several things about the design at once. First, Bryce is right about the amount of seating they’ll need for spectators. We are early, but the benches are already crowded, some families basically in each other’s laps. Hopefully, with the amount of seating we’re installing, that won’t be a problem during any meet they host. Another thing I notice is how the windows are going to massively help with natural light. Right now, everything feels hazy under the too harsh florescent lighting.
I should talk to Bryce about the kind of lighting we’re putting in the pool.
As I type a note to myself, I feel a pair of eyes on me. When I look up, there are literally a hundred people around, but I keep looking until my eyes connect with someone else’s. He’s standing beside a starting block, looking directly at us with his mouth gaped open. He’s tall, but not quite as tall as Bryce, and he’s wearing the world’s tiniest speedo. Now we’re just staring at each other like two idiots who don’t know what they’re looking at.
Which makes sense because I’m not sure I do.
He’s living up the fantasies I’ve created in my head.
“Who are you—Oh, that’s Carter!” I can practically hear the smile in Josie’s voice and see the shadow of her arm moving in a wave, but I can’t look away. “The two of you haven’t met yet, right?”
I shake my head, and then my heart sinks at the thought of her calling him over. I grab her arm and wrench it down in what is a completely obvious gesture. She looks at me, startled.
“I cannot talk to him while he’s wearing a speedo,” I exclaim, hoping the panic seems legit. She doesn’t need to know I’m imagining watching water drops sliding down a well-toned, tanned chest. At this point, they both understand the relationship between Will and me is done. I’m just waiting to be back home to officially end it. I’d never act on my feelings toward Carter, but I also don’t think it’s smart to be that close to an attractive man when he’s basically naked. “You said it yourself. It’s weird talking to them when they’re wearing nothing.”
“He’s not wearing a speedo.” Josie laughs, shaking her head. I gawk at her, my eyes drifting back to where Carter stands, or stood. He’s disappeared off the deck. I don’t know what she calls a speedo, but that was it. “Speedo is a brand. What he was wearing is a brief.”
I look at Mia, wondering if Josie has completely lost it, but the other woman just nods and leans closer to be heard over the crowd. “It’s a common misconception that just kind of stuck. The suits they wear when they’re racing are called Jammers. Carter’s sponsorship is with another brand, so he’s wearing their version of a brief.”
I just blink, more confused now than I was ten minutes ago. Even the wardrobe needs translations and definitions. Could this sport get any more complicated?
“I was hoping he’d come say hello,” Josie replies, looking a little sad. “I know it’s weird seeing people like this, but it gets better, I promise.”
“Plus, Carter is the easiest person to talk to,” Mia adds. I want to tell her I already know that, but standing in front of him with all that skin on display and a brief that leaves nothing to the imagination would be dangerous to my heart and my sanity. “I don’t know where he went, though.”
I glance around the deck, noting that I don’t see him either, and am suddenly thankful for small blessings.
“Oh, well.” Josie shrugs. “He saw me wave. Maybe he went to find Bryce. I’m sure we’ll see him soon.”
Fucking hell , I internally groan. Hopefully, when he comes back, he’ll have more clothes on.