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RYAN
My conversationwith Harper is still on my mind days later. At this point, my brain is pretty much maxed out with swimming and Harper. That woman has officially taken residence in my mind, and I have no regrets. It might not always be appropriate while I’m at the pool or at the gym like right now, but what can I say? I like thinking about her.
I finish a set of pull-ups and notice Noah a few feet away.
His gaze stays on me when I walk toward him.
“Hey.” I take off the weighted vest and inhale deeply.
“Hey.” He hands me a towel and gives me a moment to catch my breath.
Pull-ups with dozens of pounds strapped to your upper body are killer. But so damn effective for my performance in the water. And that’s what it comes down to. That’s why I’m here. That’s why we’re all here, even though Jace and Hunter are missing today.
When I met the guys at swim camp, I was in my early twenties, and they were all gangly teenagers. Despite that, I immediately recognized the same fire in their eyes I’ve always had in mine, as well. Not everyone has it and not everyone will get it. In our case, it helped us form a bond that’s still strong after over a decade of friendship and competitions.
Noah was fifteen. A happy teenager. Cocky and a bit of a clown. The next time I went back to camp a few years later, Hunter and Jace were still the same cocky assholes, but Noah had changed. He’s never told anyone why, and he made it clear he didn’t want to talk about it.
Since I’m much older than him, I took him aside one day and told him I was there for him if he needed to talk. He nodded, thanked me, and that was it.
Now, he’s a mixture of the old and new Noah. Still more on the quiet side compared to before, but some of his humor shines through on occasion. It’s more passive than it used to be, but it’s definitely there.
He’s a good friend, always has been.
Fantastic swimmer, epic freestyle.
Observant as all hell.
And somehow, somehow, I know that’s going to bite me in the ass.
His chin tips up. “Something’s been going on with you.”
Not a question. A damn observation. Shit.
We stare at each other, and I look around the gym. The closest people are out of earshot.
I let my head drop, my fingers biting into my waist. My heart’s still trying to calm down. Or is it speeding up again?
“Yes.” That’s all I say. Am I ready to say more? Am I ready to scream it from the rooftops I got someone pregnant? Someone I actually like? Yes, things have been going fast, but they feel right.
My dad always says he was smitten with my mom from the moment he first saw her. “Her beauty was out of this world. It’s like someone put a spotlight on her so I could see her better. I wanted to whisk her away and never let her go.” He’s always been a smooth talker and a romantic. I definitely didn’t get that from him.
But maybe I understand him a little better now.
Is that how I feel about Harper?
It’s been almost two months since we first met, five weeks since she stood in front of my door. We’ve been talking one way or another for weeks now. Daily. Most days I wake up to a text from her and fall asleep to one or with her voice in my ear. I don’t think I’ve ever talked this much to a woman in any of my previous relationships.
“Want to talk about it?” Noah tilts his head to the side, his gaze never leaving me. “Might be safer than trying to work out whatever’s going on with the equipment and getting hurt in the process.”
He’s got a point. I might have overdone it a bit today, and the last thing I need is to get hurt.
“Let’s sit down for this.” I point toward the mats in the corner and walk over to them.
We both sit and drink some of our water.
I lean back against the wall and look at one of my best friends. “You remember how I spent New Year’s in New York?”
“Yeah. You had that sponsor’s party, right?”
