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“Ruse,” Elia corrected. “I thought we were calling it a ruse.”

“That’s what you’re calling it, my friend. I think I’ll call it illicit.” Kamryn giggled, not sure what was getting into her. She hadn’t felt this relaxed in a long time. Nor had she enjoyed herself in even longer.

“Now that might push the envelope too much.”

“No, no, I don’t think it does.” Kamryn leaned forward, making eye contact with Elia. “The definition ofillicitis something forbidden. And I do think that fake-dating my former teacher while I’m her boss probably falls well within that definition.”

Elia mimicked Kamryn’s pose, her voice lowering to barely above a whisper, “I told you that I wasn’t a good choice for the ethics team for a reason.”

Kamryn’s heart thumped hard, and her gaze dropped immediately to Elia’s lips. She’d done that before and regretted it. But she wasn’t sure she would regret it if she kissed Elia again. The air intensified with tension, and Kamryn could barely keep one foot in the verbal game that she’d most definitely started.

Elia hummed, her lips pressing into a thin line. “I’ll see you at practice on Tuesday. Don’t forget about our mock meet next weekend.” Without another word, Elia stood up and brushed her hands down her thighs. “Thank you for allowing me to apologize.”

Kamryn put her hand out to the side and nodded. “You allowed me to apologize and grovel. It’s only fair that I should return the favor.”

Elia laughed lightly, a full-mouthed grin with teeth reflecting her happiness with the moment. “See you soon, Kam.”

twelve

Elia’s ears buzzed with the echo of voices. The mock meet had gone perfectly. She couldn’t have expected her students, even the new ones, to do any better than they had. She sighed as she relaxed onto the hotel room bed and closed her eyes.

She just needed a little bit of quiet.

The adrenaline running through her body was something she craved, and she enjoyed it so much. It had been her ever-present companion all day, and even through dinner when they were all eating and finishing up their meal.

The kids had it too.

Even Kamryn had been smiling more than she usually did, and Elia hadn’t seen her pick up her laptop to get office work done all day. Although she had taken a couple of phone calls during some of the breaks.

Elia was enjoying the silence in her room. She’d needed this to come down from the high of the competition.

Four rapid knocks at her door startled her.

She winced and whined to herself as she pulled her weary legs over the edge of the bed and stood up on them, her feet bare on the carpeted floor. Though she wasn’t about to put shoes on either. Her feet were more sore than her legs.

Pushing her face close to the door and looking out the peephole, she was surprised to find Kamryn on the other side. She’d expected a student, someone who needed her for something. Then again, she wasn’t used to having another faculty member with her on these trips. Just the parent volunteers.

Sliding the lock, Elia opened the door and canted her head to the side. “Is something wrong?”

“Nothing.” Kamryn frowned, her gaze dropping from Elia’s face, down her body in a slow perusal until she landed on Elia’s bare toes and flicked back up. “Nothing’s wrong.”

“What do you need, then?” Elia kept her hand on the door, not sure if she wanted to permit Kamryn into the room. It wasn’t something that she was generally opposed to, but there was something so personal about the space being hers, somewhere she could unwind and not think about anyone or anything else.

“I just thought…” Kamryn trailed off, glancing down the hallway when another door opened and closed, and they heard giggling laughter that they knew was from their students. “I should probably go check on that.”

“They’re fine.” The sudden possibility of Kamryn walking away made Elia’s shoulders tighten. She didn’t want Kamryn to leave—not yet, not until she had some answers. “What did you need, Kam?”

“I don’t need anything.” Kamryn took a step back.

Elia shot her hand out and pressed it to Kamryn’s wrist, noticing far too late that Kamryn was holding a small brown paper bag in between her fingers. “What’s this?”

“What I thought you might enjoy.” Kamryn pulled her lip between her teeth and shook her head, her cheeks reddening with embarrassment.

“Come on in.” Elia held the door open, letting Kamryn walk right by her. The hotel room door slammed shut a bit louder than she anticipated, causing her to jump slightly from the noise.

Giving Kamryn the chance to sit in the single chair in the room, Elia sat on the edge of the mattress, her hands on either side of her. Elia didn’t take her gaze from Kamryn as she plopped down next to her on the bed and handed over the bag.

“So what’s inside? Contraband?”