“On my count,” Roger said.
“Why on his count?”Nico complained.
“Because he needs all the advantages,” Zee said.
“That’s not fair, let’s use my watch.”Roger held up his arm.
“Fine, the watch it is,” Nico said.“Too bad Coach couldn’t be here.”
“Zee would win for sure if Coach was here,” Nico said.
“If that was true, I would have won every time.You took that gold from me in my first race, Nico,” Zee said, the anger spiking his words.Back then he was a punk at his first Olympics, not yet mature enough to control his anger.
“Yeah but you came away with more hardware in the end.Take your marks, gentlemen,” Roger said.
They all took their positions on the wall, tense and waiting, taking a starting position as if it were a televised event.
Zee’s grip on the ledge was cool and slick, the tension in his muscles rippling and ready to go and he took a deep breath, muscles coiled yet effortless, ready to spring.
The buzz of Roger’s watch sent him off the wall as if it were a starting buzzer.His muscle memory took over as he drove backward, arms slicing through the water.
He kicked hard underwater, his dolphin kicks still technically perfect, the grind in his muscles intensifying as he silently demanded more with each stroke.
The burn crept into his shoulders, reminding him that he wasn’t twenty-five anymore, but he wasn’t going to give up.
Yeah, his pride was that fragile, but Zee didn’t care.
He wanted to show these guys up the way they did back in the day when they battled for milliseconds.
Splash flew as Roger came up hard, Nico pulling ahead.
Digging deep, he propelled himself through the water, determined to beat these guys.
Zee saw Nico slow and surged forward, focused on getting there first.
As he touched the wall, turning perfectly, he tucked his knees and planted his feet on the wall, and a surge of power rippled through him.
Ella was going to roll her eyes at him when he was sore and tired later, but for now, he powered through, his lungs burning.
His arms ached, and he couldn’t reach further for the water.
He saw Roger still ahead.
Dammit, he wasn’t going to catch him.
But he reached for the wall just ahead of Roger.He pulled up, shaking the water from his face, resting his arms on the deck.
“We’re stupid fucks,” Roger said, clapping Zee on the back, breathing just as hard.
“Yeah.But Nico’s buying breakfast.”
“I’ll take it.Just wish we had filmed it to put it on social media.Wouldn’t that have been a kick?”Nico said.
“Damn, I have to sit down,” Roger said.He hauled himself out of the pool, and Zee followed him to the pool deck.
“Come on, admit that was fun,” Zee said, drying off.
“Hell, it was fun, but my body is going to hate me tomorrow.Zee, what are you doing with all this property?”Roger asked.
