Personal Best by Sean Michael

Author:Sean Michael [Michael, Sean]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: gay romance
ISBN: 978-1-64080-560-6
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Published: 2018-06-07T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

WOW. THE US Open.

Wow.

He didn’t belong here.

Not yet.

But Jessy insisted, so they got on a plane and signed up and shit and here he was.

With famous guys.

And he knew he was going to get a cold. He could feel it in the back of his throat, in his joints.

Maybe it was nerves.

Maybe it was bad luck.

Maybe it was fate saying he didn’t belong here.

Jessy landed his hands on Mike’s shoulders, rubbing. “You’re not thinking about the wall, Mike.”

“How do you know?” How did he always know?

Jessy chuckled. “Body language.”

“You know I can’t beat these guys, right? You won’t be upset?”

“I don’t want you to beat them. I want you to beat yourself.”

He chuckled at the thought. “Perv.”

Coach snorted. “Brat. Now you focus on the wall. I expect a lot of personal bests here, Mike. The US Open? This is where you push yourself to do your best.”

Mike nodded. Yeah. He knew. He also knew no cold meds, no sinus meds. No failing the drug tests. No caffeine. No chocolate. No pizza. No nothing.

Not even sex.

Or advanced snuggling.

Why was he swimming again?

Coach’s breath was warm against his neck, his ear. “The wall, Mike.” The words were little more than a growl, and Jessy slapped his ass.

“Right.” He jumped, blushing dark. “Hardass.”

“You know it.”

Coach stayed with him, rubbing his shoulders, until they announced the first heat of the men’s two hundred freestyle. “The wall, Mike.”

Mike nodded. “Yeah.”

He shrugged out of his jacket. The wall. Yeah. He could do that.

The smell of the chlorine sort of eased him somehow, cleared his sinuses, and he got up on the blocks, lane three. Ready to swim.

The buzzer sounded and he dove in. He pushed hard, forcing himself to give everything and then a little more. It was just a heat, but they only took the top two for the finals and….

The wall, Mike.

The fucking wall.

He took the first turn and pushed on, focusing on it now, not thinking of anything except getting to the wall faster than he ever had before. He could hear Jessy’s voice in his head, urging him on.

Second turn. Third and home. Hit the wall. Do it. Come on. Fuck.

He did, breathing so hard he couldn’t even see, couldn’t think.

The crowd wasn’t huge on this first day, but it made a lot of noise as he hit the last wall, popping up to look at the numbers. Holy fuck—he’d taken second place and a personal best at that.

Dude.

He’d made the finals.

He pulled himself out of the water, Jason from the next lane clapping him on the back. “Great race, man.”

He found Coach, Jessy beaming at him. He was given two thumbs-up, Coach staying back a bit, letting him accept the congratulations of the other swimmers.

Brandon, a veteran on the national team who’d taken first place, shook his hand. “Good race, kid.”

“Thanks.” He blushed, nodded. “Congratulations.”

“You too, man. See you in the finals.”

Coach and Coach Samuels came up to him, each clapping him on a shoulder. He grinned, not sure exactly what to say, what to do, because, wow.

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