Page 7 of Yesterday I Cared
Carter helps push some things off to the side, giving us more room. He doesn’t even attempt to find plates, instead grabbing a stack of napkins off the counter. On his way to grab beers, the excited sound of a barking at the backdoor cuts through our small talk.
Bryce stops by the door, looking over at me with a raised brow.
I nod. “Just donotfeed him any pizza.”
“Why?” Carter asks with an amused grin. “’Cause that’s your job?”
I roll my eyes, bending at the excited golden retriever puppy that comes barreling toward me. He’s a mess of fur, aggressive tail wagging, and four limbs that still don’t seem to work in any kind of synchronization. And he’s the best thing to happen to me in literal years.
“I never saw you as a dog person, Ronan, but this dude is cute.” Bryce sets an open beer in front of each of us. “Does Lezak know he has a dog named after him?”
My eyes roll. “I guarantee you I’m not the only person to have named a pet after him, but he did turn about seven different shades of red when I told him.”
Both Carter and Bryce burst into laughter, probably picturing the exact reaction the older Olympian had when I told him. Jason Lezak, a freestyler like me, pulled off one of the greatest comebacks the sport has ever seen. He anchored the men’s 4x100-meter freestyle at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. He’d been a full-body length behind France at the start of his leg and didn’t pull ahead until the final twenty-five meters. Team USA walked away with a gold medal and a new world record, and Lezak kind of went down in history.
“We told the girls about you joining the team yesterday.” Bryce’s swift change of subject nearly makes me choke on the bite of pizza I’d taken, but I can quickly wash it down with a swig of beer. “Mia seemed pretty upset about the news.”
The name sends a cold shiver down my spine. Out of everyone I’d known back when I was professionally swimming, she was the one I didn’t think I’d ever see again. At least, not in this capacity. Maybe in passing. Maybe at Bryce’s wedding if he ever got his head out of his ass and told Josie Martin, her best friend, how he felt (thankfully, he did). Being in the same world, the same life, as her again, was a weird feeling. Mostly because I’m not sure what happened.
How did we go from an amazing night of sex, followed by a year of talking whenever we could, to her randomly deciding to hate me a year later?
It became obvious no one knew anything about what happened between us in Omaha. If she had told Josie, I’m sure Bryce or Carter would have heard. Following Olympic Trials, I spent the next fewmonths constantly around the two men, and neither one of them said anything to me. No one in this group is necessarily great at minding their own business.
I know Bryce and Carter are going to be looking for answers, but those are answers I can’t give. She stopped talking to me a couple of days into the National Championship meet in Indianapolis a year later, but those first few encounters had been completely normal and then a wall of ice went up. One I could never chisel my way through.
And no one seemed to know what happened.
“Are we surprised by that?” I ask Bryce, who shrugs. “I’ve told you this before, and nothing has changed since. I don’t know what happened. She just got mad at me out of nowhere.”
“Which would seem strange for most people, but somehow, with Mia, it makes sense.” Both of us frown at Carter, who shrugs. “What? You know I love Mia, but if anyone is capable of hating someone and keeping those reasons completely to herself, it’s Mia.”
“Oh, she hates me now?” That’s news to me. In the past, it’s mostly been strong disdain and ignoring my existence. “Well, I guess that’s good to know.”
“‘Hate’ might be too strong of a word,” Bryce counters.
“And I was thinking it’s not strong enough.” Bryce shoots Carter a glare. “Again, we all know Mia, and the capabilities that woman has. She scares me, guys.”
Shaking his head, Bryce reaches for another piece of pizza. “Don’t pretend like you and her aren’t best friends.”
“Exactly, I’m on her good side, which means I know what it means to be on her bad side. That’s not something I’d really wish on anyone.”
I know exactly what Carter means. There was a time when I was on her good side. Something I’m not sure Bryce has ever known. It’s not that Mia is mean. It’s more that she’s a fierce force of nature andshe’s not to be messed with. She’s fiercely protective of the people she loves, and fiercely protective of her own heart. Those who are lucky enough to be let in get to see a whole other side of her. She always reminded me of a sunflower in the way it turns toward light when it’s ready to be nourished.
And when the light is on her, that woman shines brighter than anything I’ve ever seen.
“We wanted to give you a heads-up that things will probably be tense for a while,” Bryce finishes.
“Whatever, dude.” I’m attempting, and failing, to brush it off, but they don’t need to know that. “I’m here to do a job—help you build up Adair Swim Club and establish a scholarship fund. That’s what my focus is going to be on; I don’t want to get caught up in whatever drama is left over from the past.”
My plan for my time at Adair is to do what I’ve always done: accomplish the job I came here to do and move on. It’s never good to get feelings messed up with that.
On the Friday before I’m set to officially start as a coach at Adair Swim Club, Bryce and Carter decide to have me come in to meet the team of high school swimmers I’ll be working with. Their primary focus is earning scholarships to four-year universities with the hope their swimming career can take them further. These athletes either come from area schools that don’t have teams, or their swimming program isn’t taken as seriously as other sports.
Bryce assures me their drive, determination, and heart is there. I’m looking for love of the sport, too, though. Whether any athlete wantsto admit it or not, loving what you do is what gets you as far as you want to go.
I arrive at the club early Friday afternoon, wanting to take some time to get the lay of the land before meeting the kids that will be looking up to me.
As I approach the glass doors, I spot Josie standing at the front desk, chatting with someone. My steps slow as memories hit me. The last time I’d seen her, she’d barely been twenty-two. She’d still been shy and unsure around Bryce, trying to figure out her place in this world and in his heart. Now a confident woman stands in her place, looking at ease with who she is and where life has taken her.
