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“It’s okay, I’m sure once your adrenaline wears off, you will be okay. Their swim is up soon,” he reassured me, clearly accepting my answer.
I sighed before heading over to the second pool. My dad had drilled into me as long as I could remember that a swim down was the most important part of the process. Lactic acid could end your career, was what he’d always told me. I didn’t know what that meant until I was much older, but I still heeded his advice.
Once I was content with my swim down, and because I heard the announcer call for the men’s 100 metre butterfly, I climbed out of the pool pulling my towel on so I could go and watch Tyler and Reece’s event.
Returning to stand with my club mates, I waited in anticipation to see him. He walked out confidently. I scanned him from a distance, licking my lips as I appreciated his muscles. I watched his every move as he prepared, I had become accustomed to seeing him up close. From a distance though, I could see so much more. I had known for a while this wasn’t just sex, but in this moment, my heart had realised it too.
I watched his swim, my heart in my throat the entire race. He’d placed third in his backcrawl race but only the top two qualified automatically. Coming into the final fifteen metres, four of them were in close contention. This wasn’t the type of race where stamina was likely to run out, no, it was going to be close.
Reaching out, I grabbed my dad’s hand, and he just glanced at me with a confused expression. His attention was also on the pool and the race. They all touched the wall, but I couldn’t see an obvious winner from the pool. It was all reliant on the timing board now. I grasped my dad’s hand tighter, certain my reactions had alerted him that something was going on between us.
The times came up on the board and… He had won by a tiny margin. Up on the balls of my feet, I couldn’t wait to greet him. I watched him climb out of the pool and the water slide down his body.
Subconsciously, I licked my lips at the sight of him, unable to help my desire for him. Claire stood beside me, obviously deciding I needed encouragement. “Go get your man. Congratulate him.”
I nodded while still staring along the poolside at him. She was right, I needed to go and get him. It was time for our relationship to be public. My legs finally started to work as I began walking up the poolside towards Tyler. I was certain this man would be my future, I just hoped he felt the same way.
Meeting him halfway along the pool, I could feel my dad’s curious eyes burning into the back of my head. Based on the expression of fear in Tyler’s eyes, I was convinced I was right. But I didn’t care.
“Congratulations, Tyler,” I greeted him before wrapping my arms tightly around his neck. My hug just didn’t feel intimate enough so I jumped up and curled my legs around his hips.
A surprised grunt left his lips, but I quickly silenced him as I pressed my lips firmly against his. His hands slid up and tangled into my ponytail, pulling my head back slightly to give him a better angle.
For the first time in a long time, everything felt like it was clicking into place.
10 Tyler
“Tyler Anderson, put my daughter down this instant. I told you to stay away from her. This is the opposite of that.” Coach Hughes' voice was like a bucket of ice-cold water poured over us.
I pulled away from Cassie to be met by the beet-red face of the man, with his hands clenched tightly down by his side. Unclasping her body from mine, I set her down on the ground. I attempted not to look at her as tears welled in her eyes.
I failed as my eyes connected with hers, my heart squeezed in my chest, and an overwhelming urge to protect her washed over me. I wrapped her in my arms gently, holding her head against my chest. This woman was not the one I was going to let go because her father didn’t want us to be together. Christ, what sort of man would I be if that was enough to scare me away from the woman I was falling in love with?
“Coach, I know what you said, but from the moment I met your daughter, I felt whole. I’ve been falling for her since that first night but only now do I truly know what that means. I don’t want to say it to everyone here before I’ve said it to her, but you’re a smart man and I’m sure you know exactly what I mean. I’m not asking for your permission, but I would like your approval to ask Cassie to be my girlfriend.” Once I’d started, the words just kept tumbling from my mouth. Even I was sceptical of my courage right then.
I watched as his jaw dropped and the crowd began cheering around us. The noise was incredible. What I didn’t expect was for them to start chanting: “Say yes! Say yes! Say yes!”
Cassie still was hiding against my chest. I suspected she may have been embarrassed about this becoming a spectacle.
“Listen, Tyler, you seem like a kind man with decent intentions, but I need to hear this from my daughter. Cassandra, how do you feel about him?” His jaw clenched as he ground his teeth together, waiting for her to reply.
I attempted to control my facial expression at him calling her Cassandra. She’d told me before that only her mother had called her by her full name, and Cass hated it. She shuddered slightly as he regarded her sternly. “Dad, don’t call me that. I agree with everything he just said. We didn’t plan this, it just happened, but some things are just meant to be. I have been falling for him, too.”
“Sorry.” He rubbed his hand over his short stubble that had grown in the past two months. “Cass, before I agree to this, I have one more question. Are you happy with him?”
I was slightly afraid to hear her reaction, but when she spoke, I was relieved. “Dad, I’m the happiest I’ve ever been. Tyler is not like the others, I promise.”
He nodded. “Okay. Then the two of you have my approval. Don’t think we won’t have words about how you have gone about this, but if you’re happy, then I can’t stand in the way of that.” He glared at me as he finished talking. I acknowledged his words with a small nod. Once satisfied I had understood, he walked back to the team.
“I’m sorry that happened here, Tyler,” Cass said.
“Don’t worry, I’d planned it to happen here. I have something to ask you.”
“Do you?” she asked in surprise, tilting her head to the side curiously.
“Yes, Cassie. Will you be my girlfriend? You know, like officially.”
Tears welled in her eyes. “Of course I will.”
