“Me too,” Seb adds. “I need to get started on a history essay. The Romans were weird. This Suetonius guy. He knows way too much about the sex lives of the Caesars.”
Austin chuckles as they split from the rest of the group to walk back to ouraccomodation.
“Are they a thing?” Kath whispers to me as we follow the rest of the group to the chosen breakfast destination.
“What? Who?” I hold out my hand to take her backpack from her.
“Seb and Austin?”
“What?” I turn, baffled, watching the two of them walking away. Austin’s arm is slung over Seb’s back. But they always walk like that. Seb reaches across to mess with Austin’s hair and I can hear him laugh.
“Nothing,” she says quickly. “Sorry, I obviously misread that massively. How was training?”
I let her change the conversation, but I keep mulling it through in my mind. I’d know if they were a thing. We all would. Or am I so wrapped up in swimming that I’m oblivious to everything else?
***
“How are you feeling about the Olympics next year?” Kath asks as we drive to the beach after I finish my second breakfast.
“Excited,” I tell her, indicating to turn off the highway. “I haven’t made the team yet, but hopefully I will. If I do make it, you can come watch, right?”
“I wouldn’t miss it.”
I have to resist the urge to take her hand and squeeze it. She just got here, and I’m already missing her, anticipating the moment she leaves.
“Maybe we could take a trip after?” I suggest, and she gasps.
“Sam Fletcher, offering to take a break from training? I never thought I’d see the day.”
I chuckle. She’s right though. I can’t remember the last time I took a break from training.
“Just a week,” I clarify.
“Sounds perfect.” She smiles at me and reaches for the radio, flitting between the channels until she finds something she likes.
“I’ve decided I love country music.” She turns up the Tim McGraw song and starts to hum along slightly off key. Some things never change.
“One day we can do that road trip we talked about years ago, and we can listen to country music in bars across America,” I tell her.
“Two holiday suggestions in one day? Are you sure you’re feeling alright?”
I chuckle. “Maybe I’m just suffering from a rare case of relaxation-induced delirium.”
She’s about to say something, but the chorus of the song starts and she can’t resist joining in. My phone buzzes in my pocket. “Can you grab that out?” I ask. “You know the password, right? I just want to check that nothing’s changed with the training schedule. Someone mentioned a possible change in the morning session tomorrow.”
“Sure.” She reaches around the console and fishes around in my pocket. In hindsight, that was a very bad idea. My mind knows that she's off limits, but it seems that my body has a slightly different reaction to her hand right by my groin.
“Got it.” She sits back up and unlocks the phone.
Within seconds she’s laughing. “What?” I shoot her a confused look, and she just shakes her head around another fit of giggles.
“Who are the ‘Amphibi-bros’?” she manages to get out eventually. “Oh my god, I can barely say the name without cracking up. This sounds like some terrible superhero group. I have to tell Tom.”
I let out a sigh. I told them the name was stupid.
“The swimming group,” I explain. “Well, most of us. Those of us who do most of our training together. It’s AJ, Austin, Seb and some guysyou haven’t met.”
“This group is gold. Oh my god, look at these memes. Sam. What is this?” She’s laughing again.
