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My phone dinged again, but I ignored it, shoving down the little surge of guilt that accompanied that sound. Ethan had texted me just before I left the house, asking if I wanted to hang out. As a general rule, we didn’t lie to each other. But something felt wrong about telling him I was going to Carson’s meet. And if I’d told him and he wanted to go, then what? Carson made it pretty clear without saying so that he wanted me to come alone.
He wanted me. All to himself. And how could I argue with that?
I wasn’t doing anything wrong, I told myself as I waited for Carson’s relays. I was allowed to have a life outside of Ethan. Even he had plans to officially ask Beth out over winter break, and then he’d be so preoccupied, I’d hardly see him.
By the time I arrived at the meet, junior varsity had already finished swimming. I sat through girls varsity, and when they finished their final relay, I knew the boys varsity was finally about to start, which meant Carson would be up soon.
I searched for him in the team seats by the pool, but there was no sight of him. It wasn’t more than a minute later, however, when I felt a small tug on the messy braid trailing over my shoulder and turned.
Carson smiled at me. “Having fun?”
“Yeah,” I said, and I hardly recognized my own voice. It was soft and breathless.
The Wild Cats warm-up suit he wore brought out the blue in his eyes, and there was an energy there I had never seen before, one that I was sure had to do with the race. As he ran a hand through his messy, dark hair, he laughed. “Liar. I’m sure you’re bored.”
“Brooks!” His coach yelled from across the pool, where he stood, clipboard in hand.
Carson rolled his eyes. “That man keeps tabs on me like I’m his kid.”
“Well, they can’t be missing their star swimmer, now can they?”
His eyes glittered, and he slapped a hand to his chest. “Is that a compliment coming from Mia Randalls?”
“Maybe.”
“Or is she just flirting with me?” He tapped the underside of my baseball cap, smiling. “I’d better go.” Carson grinned as he backed away, watching me the whole time. “Tell Mom I said hi,” he hollered, then winked and walked off.
I watched as he made his way to the coach and listened to something he was saying as he undressed, taking off his zip-up jacket first. He stretched his muscular arms, crossing them back and forth across his chest, warming up. All his muscles flickered with the movement, and I was so mesmerized by his washboard stomach, it took me a second to notice he had removed his warm-up pants, revealing the tight Wild Cat swim shorts. Of course Carson took that moment to catch my eye, and his grin turned to a self-satisfied smirk.
Biting my lip, I averted my gaze, even as my cheeks caught fire. Behind me, someone cleared their throat, then tapped me on the shoulder. “Hey, honey. I didn’t know you’d be here.”
Startled, I glanced to the sound of Mrs. Brooks.
“Oh, hi, Mrs. Brooks.”
“What a nice surprise,” Mrs. Brooks said as she left her husband to take a seat next to me.
Carson’s words registered. Say hi to my mom. He had known Mr. and Mrs. Brooks were sitting close by. He wanted them to know I was there, and something about that made me feel special. I wasn’t just another friend watching him race.
“I’m so glad we made it. We got stuck behind an accident, serves us right for waiting until varsity was up. Did Carson ask you to come?” She smiled, glancing at her son.
In other words, she was trying to find out if I was there for Carson or someone else. I nodded and smiled, reminding myself they were still Ethan’s parents. They liked me. “Yeah.”
A glimmer of something passed through her eyes. “That’s wonderful, honey.” She patted my leg, and I found myself hoping she didn’t ask about Ethan. “Your little project must be going well then, huh?” she asked.
“Yeah, it’s been kind of fun, actually.”
“It’s so nice, you two volunteering your time like that.”
I smiled, thinking of that day at dinner when Carson and I goaded each other. Clearly, she was never told the truth.
She leaned ove
r and bumped my shoulder. “You know, Carson’s always been so fond of you. It’s nice to finally see you two spending some time together.”
My gaze shifted back to Carson, who was now uber-focused, his attention trained on the water. The first boys relay had started, and Carson didn’t waste a second. Instead of relaxing until it was his turn at the podium, he studied the other swimmers as they raced.
The next thirty minutes passed quickly with me squeezing Mrs. Brooks’ hand as Carson swam. He competed in two relays in which he won and stood on the block, waiting for the starting call of his final race.
