“Like I said, it was all a joke.”
Ridge nudged me with his shoulder. “So what’s your next move? You going back to the library?”
“I don’t exactly have time to wait around for her to appear.”
“Then make time,” Ledger said, dead serious for once. “You’re already at Wilson every day. The library’s across the street. It’s obvious you have a thing for her.”
Ridge snapped his fingers, eyes gleaming. “Better yet—invite her to the meet this weekend. Girls eat up that Olympic-hopeful stuff. Free ticket, loud crowd, you looking like Aquaman. Win-win.”
I shook my head, half exasperated, half amused. They had no clue what Livvi would like. I was pretty sure it wasn’t loud crowds and Aquaman. “You two are ridiculous.”
“Ridiculous?” Ledger repeated. “No, ridiculous would be you not asking her.”
Ridge leaned back on the bench, smug as ever. “Face it, bro. Library Girl deserves at least an invite. If she shows, maybe she’s interested. If not—no harm done. But if you don’t try, you’ll never know.”
I didn’t respond, but the idea lodged itself in the back of my head and refused to move.
Invite her to the meet. Simple. At least in theory. But in practice? My life wasn’t simple. Between training, my dad breathing down my neck, and the pressure of this being my last shot at making the Olympic team, adding in a woman felt reckless. I didn’t need anything or anyone distracting me from my goal.
I already felt stretched thin. Swimming consumed almost every hour of my day. The slivers of time I did have left, I poured into writing—into building the fantasy world that had been clawing at me for years. And then there wasReadToLiv. Our late-night messages, her sarcastic jokes and surprising honesty—they’d become something I looked forward to more than I should probably admit. Maybe even something I was starting to crush on.
So the idea of chasing after another woman on top of all that? Insane. It felt disloyal, even ifReadToLivand I were only words on a screen. And yet …
The thought of Library Girl—of Livvi—sitting in the stands at my meet sent a spark of adrenaline through me that had nothing to do with competition. I could almost picture her leaning forward as the buzzer went off, her eyes tracking me through the water.
Dang it. I didn’t have time for this. Didn’t have room for it. But wanting her there? That was a harder truth to ignore.
I told myself I’d forget about it, brush it off like I always did. But walking out of the locker room, I knew the truth.
I was already picturing her there.
CHAPTER 7
LIVVI
Iclimbed the stairs to the top floor of the library. Turning down the last aisle of books, I froze.
A light shone from the small alcove ahead, the door to my hidden study room wide open.
No. Absolutely not.
I had thought for sure he’d been joking. Especially since it had been a week since our ab-video encounter.
I marched down the aisle, my flats clicking against the tile like punctuation marks to my irritation. Stopping short in the doorway, I found Talon Everhart—six feet, three inches of smug swimmer—typing quickly on his laptop like he owned the place.
“Livvi,” he said in that stupidly sexy voice of his, dimple flashing. “I was wondering when you were finally going to show up.”
“Why?” I demanded, hands on my hips. “Why do you insist on sharing this room with me?”
“I told you.” He shrugged, like this wasn’t some kindof crime against my sanctuary. “I like it back here. It’s quiet. No people.”
“Except for me,” I shot back. “In case you forgot—I’m a person.”
His gaze skimmed across me, lingering in a way that sent heat rushing up my neck, before returning to my face. “Yeah, but I like you.”
My cheeks went nuclear. The way his eyes had taken me in and the way those five words seemed to land like a direct hit—it wasn’t fair.
“Well, maybe I don’t like you,” I said, but the wobble in my conviction gave me away.
