WATER WAS PEACEFUL. Water was purpose. Water was all.
Preston found a sense of contentment and clarity when he swam. It was as if nothing could touch him. At the same time, water was his battlefield. His arms and legs transformed into lethal weapons, propelling him with a single-minded purpose. All his muscles were attuned to what his brain wanted, which was to win. To dominate. In a particularly fierce fight—like the one he was currently in—he focused on the only vital thing in that moment: breathing control.
It began with a sharp inhalation. A short hold that provided much-needed oxygen to his limbs. A quick exhale to expend the CO2. And beginning again with another inhale as he crested the surface. A beautiful cycle that drove him until he reached the edge of the vast expanse fifty meters created.
At the end of the red five-meter marker, he tucked over and under until he faced the direction he had come from. He’d done it so many times during the course of his swimming career that he no longer had to think as his feet touched the opposite wall. Muscle memory kicked in and he was thrust forward—a speeding torpedo headed for home.
Why he’d insisted on swimming freestyle was totally beyond him. It shouldn’t have taken Nathan coming down from the bleachers to remind him what he was the best at. The reason he had gotten the invitation to try out in front of the infamous Bobby Bennett in the first place was that he was a record-breaking butterfly champion, shattering statewide and countrywide lap times as if they were merely a suggestion.
With his height and arm length, fifty seconds was all he needed to finish a hundred-meter heat. His best time came at just over forty-nine, but he’d already been swimming all day. As long as he came in first, lap time mattered little at this stage.
He pushed all his regrets out of his mind and channeled his frustration into flying across the pool. Breathing through each stroke, he didn’t worry about his competition. They all knew him by reputation. The swimming world wasn’t all that big. And he would crush them. Without mercy.
In his periphery, the five-meter red buoys bobbed.
With each new breath he inhaled, he counted down. With the last rotation of his arms, he shifted all his strength to his legs for one final dolphin kick.
His palms made contact with tile.
Like a bullet out of a gun, relief shot through him. Pulling off his goggles and cap, his gaze scanned the digital board. He was a full two seconds ahead of second place. And most gratifying of all was his shattering of the current world record set in the last Olympics. He roared in triumph.
The swimmer in lane five slapped his shoulder, calling him a beast. He was beyond hearing anything else when he noticed Coach Bennett staring straight at him. It was like looking at the face of God. Certainly for swimmers.
That caught his attention, Preston thought.
Satisfied, and maybe a little too full of himself, he pushed out of the pool. With the number of swimmers participating that day, the organizers had to divide tryouts into several races. He would swim in another hundred-meter, then a couple of two-hundred-meter heats.
Regaining his confidence, Preston padded toward one of the showerheads lining the wall and rinsed off. Ten minutes until he would be back in the water.
* * *
In all the excitement, Nathan hadn’t noticed his phone ringing until the crowd quieted down. He did a quick search and found Preston resting in the Jacuzzi, chatting up other swimmers. His heart lurched.
In his mind he could already imagine the attention Preston would get when his career took off. Could Nathan really stand aside while someone else captured Preston’s heart? Nathan wasn’t blind to the lustful stares Preston had been getting.
But in the movies, when a friend fell in love with a friend, it usually spelled the end of the friendship. The thought of having feelings for Preston beyond the platonic scared the Prada loafers off him. There were two points for potential disaster that he could see so far.
One: Nathan could find the courage to finally confess, risking their friendship. What if Preston didn’t feel the same way?
Two: If Nathan managed to keep his feelings to himself, there was a great chance he would lose Preston anyway. If he didn’t speak up, there was no guarantee he ever would.
Again his phone rang, jarring him away from the impossible knot he found himself in. Lose-lose didn’t even come close to describing his situation. Ah, crap.
Instead of answering the call right away, he eased out of the bleachers. There was no way he was talking to whoever it was from inside the facility. He might as well be at a rock concert for all the noise.
Too bad the call ended just as he stepped outside into the unseasonably chilly early autumn air. It was the kind of cold people got sick from. Biting. Relentless. Unforgiving. And it wasn’t even the dead of winter yet.
As chills reached into his skin and rattled his bones, he found himself silently thanking the universe that he didn’t live in Colorado. His body wasn’t made for subzero temperatures. And he would rather die than wear a parka. Not flattering at all. Although Preston did look good in a knit beanie.
It was with that tantalizing image that he returned the video call. The face of a gorgeous blond popped onto the screen almost immediately.
“Hi, honey,” she said cheerfully. “What’s got you smiling like a loon?”
All the blood in his body seemed to rush to his head. “Mom!”
That was the last time he was making a call without checking caller ID first. Stella Clark-Parker was a perceptive woman in a petite package. Natasha was the spitting image of her, except with the signature Parker dark hair and blue eyes.
“I called because I thought you’d like to know that Eleanor will be hosting the Society of Dodge Cove Matrons luncheon this year,” she said in that singsong voice of hers.
It was finally Preston’s mother’s turn. Excellent. Nathan’s mind immediately clicked into party-planning mode. The DoCo Matrons luncheon was easily the biggest event of the year. To host it was a huge honor and an almost impossible undertaking. It was a big get for party planners. With all the matriarchs in attendance, the success of the event could put a planner’s name on the map. This was it. This was Nathan’s chance to make a career out of his dream. Time to slay his dragon.
“Has she met with planners already?” he asked, rubbing his lips.
“I hear the vetting begins tomorrow and will last all week. There’s already a line despite Eleanor’s reputation.” His mother’s eyes twinkled. “I know that look.”
“Preston and I will be back in DoCo tomorrow. Can you get me a meeting with her the day after? That will give me enough time to prepare a proper proposal.”
“I can definitely do that.” Concern replaced her amusement. “But are you sure about this? I mean … you are just coming off planning Caleb’s birthday.”
“No time like the present to make a splash. Can you imagine what getting this event will mean for my future?”
“Of course. One recommendation from Eleanor can set you up for life. But there will always be parties to plan, hon.”
Nathan’s eyebrows came together. “I don’t get where you’re going with this.”
“Just because Caleb decided not to take his gap year doesn’t mean you can’t take yours. It took you months to plan it. Why not go on the trip and come back refreshed and inspired?”
“Mom…” His heart softened at the earnest concern that settled on her beautiful face. He suddenly felt the urge to hug her. “I know where you’re coming from. Honest. I just can’t let this opportunity pass. I already have several ideas that I think she’ll like.”
“Are you sure—”
“I’m sure,” he cut her off gently. “Plus, I need to be in DoCo for Preston. I get the feeling it’ll be a rough month for him after today.”
“How are the tryouts going?” she asked.
Nathan sent up a silent prayer of thanks that his mother didn’t push the vacation issue further. “Oh, you know. It started off slow when Preston got it into his head that he had to swim freestyle.”
“But fly is what he’s best at.”
“That’s exactly what I told him!”
“And because of that he won, right?”
“Of course. He’s resting up for the next heat now.”
“Will you know the results today?”
“That’s what I meant about a rough month ahead.” He recalled what was written on the invite. “Today is for observation. Videos of the heats are recorded, and every swimmer’s performance will be evaluated. It’ll take them a while to comb through everything, so the soonest we can expect results is late September or early October.”
“That’s weeks away.” She pouted, bringing a youthfulness to her features that seemed to make her glow from the inside out. “Preston’s not going to sleep a wink the whole of September until those results are in.” She clapped her hands together once. “Oh, I have the best idea ever!”
Chills of a different kind ran down his spine. “I’m suddenly afraid to ask.”
“Take him to Europe.”
“What?” He felt his throat tighten.
“We all know Preston has a tendency to obsess. That boy has nothing but swimming on the brain. You wouldn’t want him to injure himself from overtraining again, would you?”
“Way to fight dirty, Mother.” Yet Nathan couldn’t stop the exasperated smile from forming on his lips.
Then she put on her serious-mom face, which never failed to make him chuckle. “This way you can take that vacation you obviously need and Preston is distracted from thinking about the results too much. It’s a win-win in my book.”
Nathan straightened to his full height and squared his shoulders. “I know you mean well, and I love you with all my heart, but I have to put the kibosh on your scheming. Preston isn’t a little boy anymore. He knows better than to overtrain. And I will be there keeping an eye on him in between planning this luncheon.”
“You really want this, don’t you?”
He wasn’t exactly sure what she meant, but he nodded anyway.
She tsked. “And to think, Europe is so romantic this time of year.”
“Mom!” His cheeks burned like the pits of Hades.
“Did you really think you could hide it from me?”
He shook his head in defeat. “Is it too much to ask that I keep this to myself?”
“To be honest, I don’t know why it took you this long to realize it. Just looking at the two of you, it’s obvious.”
“I don’t know about that.”
Her shining hazel eyes widened into perfect marbles. “Oh?”
“I don’t think Preston feels the same way.” There. He’d said it.
“Oh, honey,” she chuckled, “he thinks about swimming and nothing else, so of course it will take him time to actually realize what his heart already knows. But if you take his focus away from the pool, I’m sure he’ll catch up. Eventually.”
As much as Nathan wanted to believe her, he couldn’t bring himself to. “Life’s not that easy, Mom.”
“Of course not. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have fun while untangling the knots.”
“I don’t think I’m willing to sacrifice years of friendship for that.”
“If Preston stops being your friend just because you love him, then he wasn’t really your friend to begin with.”
Instead of arguing with her, he smiled and said, “I love you.”
Almost instantly after he uttered those words she teared up, placing a hand on her trembling lips. “Oh. Oh. I love you too, baby. To the moon and back…”
“And everything in between,” he finished.
“Okay, go.” She fanned her pink face. “I’m sure you’ll want to see Preston kill it on the two-hundred-meter.”
He blew her a kiss. “See you tomorrow. And, Mom?”
“Hmm?”
“Thank you for telling me about the luncheon.”
“Anything for you, hon. But will you please consider the vacation? Take Preston, don’t take Preston … just consider it.”
“Sure.” The white lie came out seamlessly.
As much as the idea of Europe with Preston tickled him, he had more important things to do. The last thing he needed was rest when his future career was on the line.