Alex
Okay.
I stared at the screen. My thumb hovering. This was the kind of thing I didn't say out loud. Not to Tyler, not to Noah, not to anyone. Because saying it made it real and real things could be taken away.
Liam
I want that.
Alex
U23?
Liam
All of it. The camps. The national team. The whole thing.
I sent it before I could delete it.
Liam
I want to go to the Olympics.
The screen sat there. Just those words glowing back at me. The biggest thing I'd ever admitted to another person. The dream I kept locked in the back of my head because guys from my side of the river didn't get to want things that big. We wantedscholarships. We wanted to graduate. We wanted jobs that paid enough to help our moms.
But I wanted it. I'd always wanted it. And I'd never told anyone because wanting it felt like asking to be disappointed.
Alex
I know.
Liam
What do you mean you know?
Alex
I've watched you row for two years, Liam… you train like you're running out of time. That's not someone who just wants to win a college race.
My throat went tight.
Alex
You're good enough. You know that right?
Liam
I don't know that.
Alex
I do. Hale does. That's why he pushed us so hard today. He sees it too.
Liam
If I don't make it I'm just a guy with a rowing scholarship and no plan B.
Alex
