In the Fast Lane (Fast Series Book 1) (23 page)

Jessi had made it into the medal round, but barely. She was in the second slowest lane for finals. Dalton’s body thrummed with anticipation. The swimmers were lining up at the blocks now. Sawyer was on the main deck. Dalton was in the coaches’ stand, sitting with the rest of the coaches. He felt trapped. His heart was racing, maybe just as fast as Jessi’s might be. This was what they had worked for. This moment. This one last time to take it all. It was going to be tough, but if anyone could pull this off, it was Jessi.

The horn went off, and the swimmers dove into the pool. Jessi’s stroke wasn’t flawless, but it was better than the previous heat.

She stayed with the pack for the first fifty. Neck and neck with a swimmer from Germany, Jessi paced herself just like they’d discussed. The second she hit the wall to start the next fifty yards, Dalton got up from his seat.

This was it. He couldn’t stay in one place. His blood was rushing through his veins as he waited for what he knew was coming next. Jessi and the German swimmer started to pull away from the rest of the pack. They pushed themselves for the next fifty meters. It was impossible to determine who had the upper hand. They came to the wall in a flood of water. Dalton couldn’t tell who’d hit first. He jerked his head toward the scoreboard and nearly lost his legs. Jessi had come in second.

Dalton blew out a long breath and sat. He scrubbed his hands over his face, then looked down at the pool. Jessi was hugging the winner. She had a smile on her face, but she was fighting for it. Her disappointment was obvious. He knew that feeling well. He’d failed her. Just like he’d failed himself. Dalton shook his head. He was the only one capable of tarnishing something so golden as Jessi Pruitt.

“You did good, Jess. Shake it off. You’ve got three more chances.” Sawyer patted her on the back.

“Yeah.” She kept walking. Sawyer didn’t follow. He knew better. She needed to be alone.

Rounding the corner, she bumped into Dalton. Bouncing off him, she kept moving down the hall. “Sorry. Looks like you came up second again,” she threw over her shoulder.

“Jessi, don’t. This isn’t over.”

“Leave me alone.” She picked up her pace, praying Dalton didn’t try to follow her.

When she was confident he’d taken the hint, Jessi went back to the swimmers’ room to prepare for her next qualifying heat. She had three hours to figure things out. She didn’t have a solution. All she had was the hope that inspiration would come sooner rather than later.

For the first half hour, she paced. For the next, she sat and envisioned her stroke. Then, of all the things she didn’t need, she heard Dalton’s voice. Her eyes snapped to the television monitor on the wall. With Sawyer busy with other things, Dalton was in charge of press conferences. He was currently front and center, fielding questions from eager reporters.

“Coach McKinney, the team is looking good. What can you tell us about Jessi Pruitt?”

“She swam well and won a medal.”

“Are you disappointed with the silver?”

“Of course not. Winning a silver medal is a huge accomplishment.”

Jessi snorted. What a fucking line of bullshit.

“But Pruitt was expected to win gold.”

“Nothing is a given at the Olympics. You all know that,” Dalton replied smoothly.

“Any chance your relationship with Pruitt affected her swimming?”

Dalton gave a hard stare at the man who’d asked the question. Jessi sort of wished the reporter was in camera view so she could watch him squirm.

“The only relationship between Jessi Pruitt and myself is a professional one,” Dalton answered coolly.

“So the rumors that came out last week aren’t true?”

“I can’t say, since I don’t know what you heard, but I can tell you that Jessi and I have known each other for a long time. We’ve been teammates, friends, and now we work together. That’s all I can say about that.”

“But—”

“Can we keep the questions focused on swimming? This is the Olympics. Let’s talk about the skill and performance of the athletes. You’re all sports reporters. This isn’t the entertainment beat.”

Jessi glanced around the room. A few people were looking at her, but mostly everyone was pretending to be extremely interested in other things. Well, he hadn’t lied. They had been all of those things—teammates, friends, and co-workers. They’d also been lovers. Apparently, that part was only a side note to Dalton. She hadn’t wanted him to expose their love life, but there was a part of her that had hoped he would declare himself.

Jessi was disgusted with herself. When had Dalton McKinney ever done a damn thing for her? She should thank him. He’d given her some inspiration. Jessi focused her anger and pain toward swimming. She closed her eyes and imagined her stroke, but unlike her last race, she envisioned herself kicking ass.

Chapter 25

The announcers called the names for the next heat. Jessi was up. Dalton watched from his place in the stands. Sawyer had made his way to the coaches’ stand and took a seat next to him.

“Press conference went well,” he said.

Dalton nodded. “Yep.” He’d felt like the biggest asshole in front of those reporters.

“You danced around the relationship nicely.”

“If they want to dig deeper, they can. Allie can handle it from there. It doesn’t matter to me.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because I’m done.”

“So you’re quitting?” Sawyer raised his eyebrows.

“When I’m finished here, I’ll go back to my construction business.”

“Well,” Sawyer turned his attention to the pool. “Isn’t that predictable?”

“What the fuck does that mean?” Dalton glared at Sawyer.

“Just that you always give up whenever things get hard. Gonna start partying all night again, too?”

“Fuck you.”

“Stop being a drama queen and act like a damn adult for once. You fucked up. So did Jessi. This isn’t all about you, you know.”

“The hell it isn’t.”

“You can’t be responsible for everything that woman does and feels. She’s capable of handling herself.”

“Then why bring me in to coach her in the first place?”

“Because you’re the best, and Jessi deserves the best. We needed to win. You could help us with that. You’ll note, these Games aren’t over. By the way, I saw your swimmer earlier. She’s ready. I’ve got a feeling these next couple of races are going to be fun to watch.”

He wasn’t wrong. Jessi walked to her lane with the look of a woman ready to win. She took the block and positioned herself for the qualifying heat. When the horn sounded, she dove off the block and never looked back. She won the heat and logged the fastest time for the final event.

“Go talk to her. Get her ready for finals. Tell her she did a good job,” Sawyer told him when qualifying was over.

“Shouldn’t you do that?”

“Maybe, but I’ve got a lot to do. I think it would mean more coming from you, anyway.”

Dalton wasn’t so sure but set off to find Jessi. She was sitting in the hot tub, relaxing sore muscles. “You did good, Jess.”

“Thanks. So did you.” She didn’t look up at him.

“What do you mean?”

“You had a great press conference. Didn’t miss a beat.”

Shit.
“Jessi, you know why I had to do that.”

“Oh, yeah. No worries. It’s all for best. This is about swimming and winning gold, right?”

“Jessi...”

“No, seriously.
This is about swimming and winning gold.
” She finally looked up at him. “That is all I care about at the moment, Dalton.”

“Point taken. I’ll be walking the deck if you need me.”

Jessi dismissed him by turning her gaze to the monitors above the hot tub. He walked away to do his job. If this swimmer didn’t need him, there were others that did.

Jessi had five races left in her Olympic career. There was only one that mattered, and that was the one she was lining up for. The rest would come when they came—one race at a time. She slipped on her goggles and adjusted her cap.

The horn blew. She pushed off the block with legs that had been carefully training for this moment. Her arch was perfect, her entry flawless. She set her rhythm, making her arms and legs work in symmetry. She forgot all the advice that had been given to her over the last year. This was her race. She’d swim it however the hell she wanted to.

She didn’t waste any time glancing to other lanes. She didn’t give a good goddamn where her competitors were, as long as they were behind her. This was about her, the water, and the gold medal.

She hit her final fifty and gave it everything she had. Her body responded. There was no pain or exhaustion. She hit the wall with all she had.

The high caused by the adrenaline pumping through her veins made her dizzy. It took a moment for her eyes to focus. She could hear the roaring of the crowd beginning to override the sound of her pulsing blood. Finally, she turned and looked at the scoreboard.

Her name was listed first, next to the letters W.R. She’d just won a world-fucking-record! She fell back into the water. Opening her eyes to the blue universe surrounding her, she grinned and propelled herself out of the water, arms raised in triumph. The facility erupted in raucous cheers.

Jessi looked through the stands and found Sawyer and Dalton. They were both beaming. Suddenly, her fellow swimmers were surrounding her, each patting her head as they swam by her. When they all passed, she ducked under the lanes to make her way out of the pool.

Unlike her last race, she was ushered straight to a reporter.

“Jessi Pruitt, how does it feel to win a world record?”

“I can’t believe this is happening!” she replied honestly.

“Was it a tough race?”

“Probably, but I wanted it so bad, I just focused on my stroke and swimming. I don’t remember much, other than going as hard as I could. I’m going to feel that later.” She grinned at the reporter.

“Well, congratulations. A win well-earned.”

Jessi dismissed herself. Looking back to the stands, she saw Sawyer, already making marks on his clipboard. The seat next to him was empty.