Page 11

It’s opening ceremony night, but the Australian swimmers sit out the ceremony together so we can concentrate on our heats tomorrow. Spending hours in a lineup and then on the oval standing around while taking in the atmosphere would be a lot of fun. Yet we need to rest and prepare for our heats as they start first thing in the morning. So we’re all just watching the ceremony in the Athletes’ Services Area lounge.

The awesome foursome is set up on a lounge in front of a television, surrounded by the rest of the Australian swimmers. We’re all here, and it’s nice to sit as a team and just hang out for a while.

The ceremony began a while ago. Everyone’s enthralled. My eyes keep shifting from the screens to Coby as I sit next to him. That pull toward him hasn’t shifted. Being with him for the last three days has been great, but the attraction is only becoming stronger. My eyes flick down to his hand on his knees, and I’m so conflicted about my emotions right now. I need to focus on my swimming. Coby and I both have heats, and Coby has his final tomorrow. I need to focus my energy on a medal, not getting the man. But I still can’t stop staring at his strong hand.

Everyone starts laughing, and it pulls me from my thoughts as I spy men dressed as kangaroos on stilts, jumping around like they’re boxing each other. I turn to Coby, who’s smiling brightly.

Dammit. I can’t hold back any longer. My hand moves almost on its own, reaching for his. The moment our skin touches, a spark ignites, sending a jolt straight to my chest. He turns to me, his gaze locking onto mine as I lace our fingers together.

His smile falters, his expression softening as he studies me. A flicker of vulnerability crosses his face. He swallows hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing, and I nod—a silent agreement, a truce, a surrender.

Coby’s lips twitch into a sly smile before he winks, pulling my hand gently onto his lap. Then, as if nothing monumental just happened, he shifts his attention back to the ceremony.

No words pass between us. We don’t need them. The connection is there, strong and undeniable. It never left. But now, more than ever, we know we need to find a way to make it work—to find a balance that won’t break us again.

I chew my bottom lip, my nerves tangling with anticipation. Coby’s thumb brushes over my hand, a comforting gesture that steadies me. I glance at him briefly before turning back to the screen just in time to see Kyle Watley entering the stadium.

He’s perched on a float shaped like a massive, curling wave, its shimmering surface reflecting the stadium lights. The float glides gracefully, circling the Olympic Stadium in a spectacle of artistry and engineering.

Kyle grabs a hose and pulls a lever. A stream of liquid shoots skyward, but halfway up, it transforms—igniting into a cascade of flames. Gasps ripple through the crowd, the awe palpable even through the screen.

The fiery stream arcs magnificently before striking the Cauldron, igniting the Olympic Flame in a blaze of glory. The crowd erupts into cheers, the stadium alive with wonder.

I blink, amazed. Technology has come so far, blending creativity and innovation into a moment that feels nothing short of magical.

Everyone cheers—the Olympics have arrived.

This is actually happening.

I’m here, and tomorrow, I will start my race for gold.

The energy surging from Coby’s hand is making my stomach flutter. My spine is tingling, and my heart is pounding. My mind races to all the possibilities that could happen over the days that we’re here, and my temperature spikes as I flush. My breathing hitches as his thumb continues to graze over my clammy skin. This is becoming a little too much energy overload. The chemistry oozing between us is buzzing, and as they start the march of the athletes on the screen, I can’t stand the sizzling anymore. So I pull my hand from Coby’s and stand. I mouth, bathroom , and Coby tilts his head as I dash off. Bursting inside, I slam the door behind me with a resounding bang, desperate for water.

I need to cool down.

I’m boiling hot, and it’s all because of Coby.

Thoughts a friend shouldn’t be having.

Moving to the sink, I force on the cold water tap and splash the liquid on my face as I lean over the sink. The refreshing coolness hits my skin, and it eases the heat slightly as I take in deep breaths while trying to regain some strength. I run the water up my arms and close my eyes, just breathing.

“Get a grip, Lacy!” I murmur to myself.

Opening my eyes, I grab some paper towel and dry myself off, throw it in the bin, and take one last breath before heading back out. As I exit the bathroom, I note Coby waiting in the hall, and I break out into goose bumps.

Shit!

My breaths come fast as he inspects me.

He furrows his brows. “Are you okay?”

“ Fine .” It comes out at a higher pitch than I meant it to. Geez, get a grip, girl!

He steps closer, and I step backward. I hit the wall. He zeroes in, placing his hands on either side of my face. I stutter as he gazes upon my lips and inches closer. That spark fires off in every direction, and everything tells me to lean forward, but I have one thought. Focus.

“I’ve missed you,” he murmurs, still staring at my lips.

My breathing hitches as his body connects with mine, and I gasp. His hard muscles push against me, stirring something much larger than I like inside me. “Coby… we have to keep focused. You have a possible final tomorrow.”

He smirks. “I only need one thing for good luck.”

“What’s that?” I whisper as he inches closer and closer.

“The taste of your lips.” He crashes his lips to mine, pressing his body into me firmly. It’s everything.

I run my fingers through his hair as his tongue syncs with mine. My heart flutters, and my body tingles as I hear fireworks going off at Olympic Stadium . Or is that inside my head?

Coby grinds his hips into me as he kisses me passionately against the wall. This is what’s been missing from my life—Coby kissing me. Why did I stop this from happening? I run my hands through his hair and pull him to me as he fingers the back of my top. His warm skin sets my back on fire. Instinctively, I wrap my leg around him while he pushes his hips in closer, grinding his erection against my pussy.

I moan. Our tongues go rogue, kissing frantically. I don’t even care who’s around. I’m losing myself in him. I’ve never been more right about anything in my life.

“Ahem…” Someone clears their throat, making me pull back. Coby turns to the side, and I drop my leg in embarrassment. I catch Addison gawking at us. We pull apart completely while Addi bites her lip and walks past us to the bathroom door.

“Sorry.” She rushes through.

Coby starts to chuckle, rearranging his cock in his pants.

“That’s not funny. We can get in trouble if she says anything,” I scold.

Coby steps back to me and grabs my hand. “Who? Addi? No way, she’s awesome. It was worth it.” His thumb grazes over my skin again in an attempt to calm my nerves. It does, but only slightly.

Coby pulls me to his side. “We can’t get involved right now. We have to be focused. But after our events, I want to make this up to you,” he croons, gazing into my eyes. They portray nothing but pure honesty.

I smile. “You do?”

He nods. “I do. But fuck is it going to be hard keeping my hands off you for eight days.”

Giggling, I tilt my head. “Who says I’ll let you put your hands on me after eight days?”

“Something about your expression is betraying you. I know you want to rip all my clothes off.”

I shake my head. “You’re too confident.”

“Only with you. C’mon, we better get back, or East and Caro will spread rumours.”

“True story.”

He takes my hand, and we step back toward the lounge while I try to calm my breathing.

That Coby envisions a future for us excites me, but we have to get through the Games first.

Caro looks up at us and then down to our linked hands. She grins up at me but doesn’t make a fuss about it for a change, for which I’m grateful. Instead, Caro turns back to face the television with a great big cheeky grin on her face as Coby and I sit back down on the lounge.

We spend the next couple of hours joking around. Coby finds a way to touch me, as usual. Not that I mind because every time he caresses me, I burn.

The guys walk us back to our unit at the end of the evening. I guess I’m not surprised. East and Caro are obviously a thing, and Coby and I are… whatever we are. It was the natural course.

East and Caro are down the hall saying their goodbyes while Coby and I are standing by the door. Guys technically aren’t allowed, but Coby tends to like to bend the rules.

“So, I had a great time tonight,” he begins.

I lean against the wall. “Me too. It’s good to be on the same page again.”

He licks his lips and smiles leaning in toward me. “We have to focus, but just one more,” he murmurs and presses his lips to mine. Smiling against his lips, I kiss him back, and that spark doesn’t disappoint. My hand runs up through his hair as we kiss—it’s full of passion, but it’s not as heated as our previous kiss. This one is delicate and calm. Coby pulls back, his forehead leaning against mine. Even though it was a gentle kiss, we’re still breathless.

“I’ll never get sick of that.”

Smiling, I lick my lips, wanting to savour his taste. “Me neither.”

“Have a good night, Butterfly. I’ll see you bright and early tomorrow morning.”

I lean forward, pecking his lips quickly one more time, and he smiles against my lips. East and Caro come down, chuckling but doing their best to be quiet.

“Mate, we better go. If we get caught, we could get in the shit,” East whines.

Coby pulls away from me reluctantly and then lets me go, nodding toward East.

“Yeah, okay. See you tomorrow. Night girls,” Coby chirps.

As I wrap my arms around myself, he and East turn and race off out of sight.

Caro opens our unit, and we walk inside. I close the door behind me as she continues into the unit, and I lean against the door and just breathe.

“Whore,” Caro mutters.

I chuckle. “Shut up…”

She turns and rushes back over to me, opening her arms and pulling me to her in a tight hug.

“My God, I’m so glad you’ve seen the light,” Caro murmurs in my ear as she swirls me from side to side.

“Me too. Kissing him is so… so perfect.”

She giggles and pulls back from me. “I’m proud of you.” She gives me a quick smile, then turns me, slapping my arse and pushing me forward toward my room. “But we have got to go to bed. You have a race tomorrow!”

Chuckling to myself, I fake a salute. “Yes, Mum.”

“Well, one of us has to be an adult in this relationship.”

I scoff. “And that certainly isn’t you.”

She laughs. “Hashtag truth.”

I turn back to face her. “Did you just say hashtag?”

“Yeah?”

“Yep, you’re so not the adult.”

“Go to bed and have wet dreams about Coby,” she teases.

***

After having breakfast in the cafeteria with Caro and her trying to settle my nerves, I’m now in the marshalling area with all the other girls, including the English swimmer from the unit next door and her roommate slash slave Anna. I am going to try to speak with her again. You never know, the first time may have been nerves or something. The benefit of the doubt and all!

Walking up to her, I stand tall.

She scowls. “Oh, it’s the convict.”

Guess not!

Tilting my head, I try to shrug it off and plaster on a fake smile. “Actually, the name’s Lacy. It’s nice to meet you…” I pause.

She raises her eyebrow and chortles. “Oh, you actually don’t know who I am. Wow! You do have a small mind. I’m Marta Botwright, and you’ll be the convict swimming in my wake.”

A surprised laugh escapes me. “Right, well, nice to see that frosty weather over in England has frozen your soul.”

I turn, hearing Marta scoff as I walk away. “Did you hear that wretched girl, Anna? She can’t talk to me like that?”

“I think I just did,” I call.

Katie walks up to me as I sigh, awaiting another round of abuse.

“That Marta’s a real uptight bitch, hey?” Katie offers out of nowhere.

“Yeah, she’s certainly got something shoved up her tight arse.”

“Well, us Aussies have to knock her out of the running, okay? We may not see eye to eye, but let’s play this out as two enemies coming together to face a bigger foe.”

I chuckle slightly. “Are you a fan of Sci-Fi or something?”

“Lacy, I’m serious! We have to knock her out.”

“Agreed. Let’s out swim the snobby bitch.”

She smiles, and a marshal walks in, telling us to line up.

Marta’s in lane five, I’m in four, and Katie’s in six.

We walk out to the poolside and take our positions by the seats. The crowd is huge, and not only will I have my home team cheering for me, but all of Australia. Even though I have all this support, it doesn’t stop me from being super nervous. This is the fucking Olympics we’re talking about, and now that I’m here in the Olympic Swimming Centre taking in the atmosphere, my stomach is churning.

I glance up into the stadium to see Caro, East, and the Hughes all there to cheer me on. I watch as they announce Marta. She works up the crowd, smiling and waving like she owns the swimming stadium. She makes a fool of herself, but the crowd eats it up.

I turn to Katie, who rolls her eyes, making me giggle. I wish Coby were here to give me the extra endorphins I need, but he’s up after me, so he’ll be in the marshalling area right now watching on the screen.

My name’s called out, distracting me from my racing thoughts. The stadium erupts in cheers. Turning back, I take off my outer clothes, leaving me in my swimwear, and adjust my blue goggles and caps. Swinging my arms around in big circles, I want to make sure I have the right blood flow through my joints and muscles for this swim. My shoulder is back to one hundred per cent since Katie pushed me into the chairs, thank God. But I still need to make an effort to have every bit of blood pumping in the right spots before I hit the water. My stomach flutters, but I have to push through. I can’t let my nerves unsettle me. This is only the first hurdle, and I have so many more to jump while I’m here.

Wiping my sweaty palms on my suit, I step up to the starting block before the start signal goes off. My heart is racing so fast I can hardly think, but I keep my mind in check by thinking the same thing. Swim from the heart. Calming myself down, I step up on the starting block. As the ringing in my ears grows louder, I push it aside and breathe.

“Take your mark.”

Bending down, a lump forms in my throat. I swallow it down and focus all my thoughts on hearing that starting signal. It sounds, and I use all my strength to leap off the block and dive headfirst into the water. It hits my face like a breath of fresh air, and instantly, I light that match. Staying under for as long as I can, I swivel my body up and down like a dolphin gliding through the water.

When the need for air becomes too much, I rise to the top and take in a lung full of much-needed oxygen. I pull my arms over my body and slam them back down into the clear blue water. I’m pushing it. I need to push as hard as I can to qualify because I’m up against the best. The top swimmers in the world are here, so I need to pull out all the stops. I swim hard, so hard my body is already aching, but I don’t take in what’s happening around me. I don’t want to become distracted.

I dive down, hitting the wall and turn, swimming for the final fifty. My lungs are burning, but I’m giving it all I’ve got. Stroke for stroke through the water. My muscles freeze, but I push through the pain. I gasp every time I bob up through the water. The end is just in sight. I dive down, giving it my all as I lunge for the wall then slam the tiles. I bob up through the liquid, taking in much-needed air before I scan the board—Marta first, then me, then Katie.

I glance over at Katie, still trying to catch my breath. Marta celebrates as if she’s won the gold already, and I huff as Katie and I climb out of the pool. At least we both made it to the semis. Katie comes to my side and rolls her eyes before we walk back to the marshalling area. Suddenly, Katie and I are knocked apart as Marta pushes right between us, causing us both to nearly topple over. Luckily, we both caught our footing as we stare while watching Marta as she storms off.

“What a class act,” I say.

“I have a much stronger word to describe that. It too starts with c and ends in t,” Katie quips.

I gasp out a laugh as Katie turns and smiles at me.

We continue on our way to the marshalling area where Coby is lining up, so I quickly rush over to him, and he smiles at me. “Great swim, Butterfly.”

Shrugging, I purse my lips. “I can do better. But you smash it right now, okay?”

“Yes, ma’am, give me some good luck?”

Glancing around, I note the officials turning the other way, so I quickly peck his lips.

Coby smiles at me and exhales. “Just what I’ve needed all morning.”

“Electrify them, Eel!”

“Just for you.”

“400 Free, let’s go!” a marshal calls.

I raise my eyebrows. “You got this! I’ll be watching.”

“Cheer for me.”

I smile. “With everything I have.”

He winks and walks out. I turn and grab a seat right by the television in the marshalling area. 400m is an endurance race which you compete by swimming eight laps of the pool. It’s no wonder Coby is so fit. I watch as they summon him to the blocks. He waves to the home crowd. They cheer for him just like they did for me, and I smile as he takes off his shirt and reveals his well-defined stomach. I could seriously stand him in a corner and just stare at him all day.

My stomach flutters as his race is always a little different—he doesn’t have a semi like the rest of us. You have to qualify in this one to get through to the final. If he gets through, he’s in with a chance for a medal. And if you win a medal, then all sorts of things can happen, not just the glory of being an Olympic Champion, but contracts, sponsorship deals, you name it. All sorts of things come from winning a medal at the Olympic Games. It opens up doors to a whole new world, a completely amazing world. An elite club if you like. This race could mean so much for Coby.

He steps up to the starting block, and my stomach flips as I lean forward on my chair. This race is long, and so much can happen in just under four minutes and eight laps. The lead can change so many times—swimmers fade, then light the match. It’s all about who has the best endurance. And Coby has stamina. My cheeks heat at the memory as he bends down, taking his mark.

The room shifts to silence as the starting signal goes off, and he dives into the pool. My heart leaps into my throat as he stays under the water as is customary, but then he cuts through the water like a blade, finally coming up for air and turning his head to the right. He starts the windmill motion. His muscles flex and stretch with every movement—his body is built for swimming. His broad shoulders, his height, and his toned body—he’s the perfect specimen for an athlete.

He hits the wall in second place. I’m not worried. At this point, it’s only the first fifty. There’s another seven laps to go. I hate when the screen focuses in on one swimmer and not the whole bunch because then I can’t see Coby, and it makes me anxious, but soon the camera shot goes wide angle again, and I can see him. Taking a deep breath, I relax, watching as his perfect form and ease of stroke help him glide through the water effortlessly. He’s such a pro—there was never any doubt he’d make it here.

I get lost watching his muscles, stroke after stroke, turn after turn. He’s doing well, and I’m almost in a dazed state when the crowd fires up. I snap out of staring at his body, and scan the screen. He’s halfway back on his last fifty, and he’s neck and neck with another swimmer. Opening my eyes wide, I sit on the edge of my seat. He’s already made the final because, either way, he’s coming in first or second, but it would be great for him to qualify in first.

“C’mon, Cobes,” I murmur. He pulls away just slightly, just enough to be an arm’s length in front of the other swimmer while I bounce on my seat. He reaches under and slams against the wall, coming in first at 3:41:07. I jump out of my seat and clap—he was so close to beating the Commonwealth Record.

I pace the floor, waiting for him. I want to be here when he comes in, so I watch him approach and bounce on my toes as he races up to me, pulling me in for a tight hug. I pull back and kiss him quickly, very quickly—we don’t want to be seen fraternising, or we could get in trouble.

“I’m so proud of you,” I say.

He lets me go, and we walk to the back of the room. “It was all that good luck you gave me beforehand.”

I scoff, shaking my head. “It’s all your hard work and determination, Coby. You earned this.”

His hands slide up and down my arms, sending warmth through my chilled skin. “You’re freezing,” he murmurs, concern lacing his voice. “Let’s get changed. Meet me in the athletes’ area after you’ve had a hot shower. Warm up, okay? Your arms feel like ice.”

A small laugh escapes me as I nod. “Okay. I’ll see you soon.”

Coby leans in, resting his forehead gently against mine. His smile is soft, unspoken words lingering in the moment between us.

Then, as if reluctant to let go, he steps back, releasing me. We head to our respective change rooms, the warmth of his touch still lingering on my skin—a comfort in the stillness of the moment.