Page 20 of Swimming for Seduction

“You’re up, Ricki,” my coach says, pulling my attention to doorway. “You’ve got five minutes to be on the block for the 50 meter breaststroke.”

I grab my towel and follow her to the pool side, trying to keep my focus on the competitors. Tyler’s familiar wolf-whistle pulls my attention to the stands and I freeze. Sitting next to him are his cousin with her two boyfriendsandBrady with his new wife. I’m dumbstruck seeing so many people here for me. Never mind one of them being the brother I can’t wait to know.

When my coach snaps at me to get to my block, I wave and rush to my starting position just as the gunshot rings out, starting the event. I dive into the water, getting as much momentum as possible before lunging to the surface. The breaststroke isn’t as fast as freestyle, but it requires controlled strength that I’ve been working on building this year. I tune everything else out as I make my way to the far end of the pool before any of the other swimmers. I can hear cheers over the whooshing in my head as I catch my breath, and I lift myself out of the pool with a smile.

Tyler is waiting forme outside the locker room after my second win of the day. He congratulates me with a smile, butit’s tentative and I can tell he’s nervous about my reaction to the influx in spectators.

“I should punish you for springing them on me like that,” I say teasingly as I push him against the wall before kissing him.

He relaxes into the kiss, letting me guide the speed and intensity until I pull back and use my thumb to wipe away the moisture on his bottom lip.

“If that’s your idea of a punishment, I’ll misbehave more often,” he says before leaning in for another quick kiss as he takes my hand.

“Oh, that?” I shrug. “No. That was a celebration kiss. I’ll think of something super creative for your punishment.” I look around as we walk down the hall toward the exit, trying not to be obvious in my hope that Tyler isn’t the only one left from my cheering section.

“They went outside to the parking lot,” he answers my unspoken question. “We were all hoping to take you out to dinner to celebrate your wins…and the end of your season.” Tyler stops walking, giving me a chance to process his words. “But if you’re not ready, I can tell them to leave.”

“I’m ready,” I huff out in a rush. “I just want my next meeting with Brady to go better than last time.”

“That’s a pretty low bar,” Tyler mumbles before raising his voice with excitement. “But this will be great!”

I grip his hand tighter as we continue our walk to the parking lot where I see them all waiting for me. Brady is pacing between Tyler’s truck and a large SUV, looking as nervous as I feel, and I remember that I’m not the only one with something to lose if this doesn’t work out. But we have so much more to gain if it does.

Tyler

My eyes connect with Devon’s and I nod toward Brady, but Devon just shrugs at my silent question. He doesn’t know how this is going to go any more than I do. We’re both just hoping it doesn’t blow up in our faces since we’re the ones that teamed up on this sibling reunion mission.

Ricki squeezes my hand again before releasing it to walk toward her brother as I make my way to stand behind my truck with my cousin and her boyfriends. We watch as Brady stops pacing and looks down at Ricki with a mixture of apprehension and hope. We’re close enough to hear them as they reintroduce themselves and Brady tentatively congratulates Ricki on winning her events today.

“I hope you know what you’re getting yourself into, Bobby,” Tracey whispers. “Ricki seems like she’s a handful.”

“Oh, she is,” I say with a chuckle.

“Wait!” Devon says much louder, drawing everyone’s attention. “Ricki.” He points at Ricki. “Bobby.” He points at me before letting out a guffaw as we all look at him confused.

“Shake and Bake!” Brady laughs as his shoulders lose their awkward tension.

We all laugh at the reference ofTalladega Nights. The movie is older than all of us by several years, but we’ve all seen it plenty of times. All of us except Ricki apparently since she’s looking at us like we’ve all gone crazy.

“Ricky and Bobby are a racing team in a comedy movie,” Brady explains. “Their tag line is ‘shake and bake’ and it’s fuckinghilarious.” When she still doesn’t look convinced, he asks, “You know who Will Ferrell is, right?” When she shakes her head, he thinks for a second before asking, “Elf?”

“Oh, that’s my favorite Christmas movie!” she says, finally loosening up. “I love that guy, but I’ve never seen the racing movie with him in it.”

“Well, I guess we’re having movie night after dinner.” Devon claps his hands loudly. “You have to watch it so you get the reference of your new nickname. Because I will forever call you and Tyler ‘Shake and Bake’ whenever I see you together.”

“Leave it to you to break down all the awkward tension, big guy,” Joey says with a proud smile as he looks up at Devon. “Can we go eat now? I’m fuckin’ hungry.”

We all laugh before agreeing to meet up at TG’s Happy Hour. I open the passenger door of my truck for Ricki, and she looks at me with a teary-eyed smile before climbing in.

“Thank you,” she says when I take the driver’s seat and start the engine.

“Does that mean I’m not getting my punishment?” I ask with mock disappointment as I pull out onto the road.

“No.” She scoffs. “But if keep being a good boy, you’ll get a reward, too.”

I let out a groan as I reach down to adjust myself in my jeans. I still have to get through dinner and who knows what else at TGs before movie night with the group. I’m tempted to tell her that’s punishment enough, but then I’d have to admit that seeing how happy she is at the thought of spending time with her brother is the best reward.

Chapter 19

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