“Lane four started it.”
She laughed, then sobered slightly. “How are you feeling?”
I considered the question. “Nervous. Ready. Terrified. Fine.”
She nodded like that made perfect sense. “Good. Because if you implode, I fully plan to mock you lovingly.”
“Comforting,” I said dryly.
She reached up, straightening my swim cap. “You’re going to be great.”
Her voice was strong. Confident.
It got me in the zone more than any breathing exercise ever had.
Because when Roxie said things like that, she wasn’t trying to convince me—or herself. She wasn’t hyping me up or throwing blind optimism at the wall and hoping it stuck. She believed it. In the work I’d done. In the hours no one else saw. In the version of me that showed up whether the results were good or not.
I leaned closer, lowering my voice. “You know this means you’re officially my good luck charm, right?”
She smirked. “I refuse to take responsibility for your superstitions.”
“Too late,” I said. “You’re already on the list. Right between the left-goggle-first rule and not stepping on the black line.”
She rolled her eyes. “You swimmers are ridiculous.”
“And yet,” I said, “you married one.”
“Temporarily,” she said sweetly.
I lifted a brow. “Careful. I might start calling you my wife again.”
Her lips twitched, then softened. “I don’t mind.”
That—that—had my breath picking up speed. It was quiet and simple but honest.
I brushed my thumb along her wrist, feeling her pulse there, steady and warm. For a split second, the noise of the pool faded. The cameras. The stakes. The pressure I’d carried for so long.
All that mattered was this moment. The woman in front of me. The fact that she was here by choice.
“Hey,” she said gently, sensing the shift. “No matterwhat happens out there, you don’t owe anyone anything. You’ve already earned this.”
I swallowed. “Yeah.”
“Go get your swim on,” she added. “I’ll be right where you can see me.”
I nodded, backing toward the pool deck. “Don’t disappear.”
She smiled, soft and sure. “Never.”
My first raceday came faster than I wanted it to.
I sat in the call room, stretching, headphones on but no music playing. My leg bounced despite my best efforts to still it.
Then I felt her.
Roxie slipped into the seat beside me like she belonged, even though she technically wasn’t supposed to be there. I wasn’t sure how she had made it past security, but I also knew I shouldn’t put anything past Roxie getting what she wanted.
“Hey,” she whispered.
