Free Between Heats (Downtown Aquatics Book 1) by Laney Castro Page A

“When the owner of the bath house in their town died, and the guy had
to prepare the body in front of the family. I liked that he really earned the
respect of his wife and of their small town, for a job he had learned to value
as well. Thought that was pretty cool.”
    Madison looked at him, mouth open in surprise. “B-But you were
sleeping!”
    “I was?” Aaron asked, a sheepish smile on his face.
    Realization coursed through her. “You’ve already seen it!” Of course he had. He seemed like the
type to get into Japanese culture—food, music and film. “Why didn’t you say something?”
    “Well, you seemed you wanted to watch it,” he said, ducking his
head and staring at his orange smoothie. “And I still wanted to spend time with
you,” he said in a low voice. “I’m sorry I dozed off though.”
    Damn this man. He was adorable and sweet, and she felt an unfamiliar tug inside of her, and it
warmed her to her toes. There was something with what he said and how he said
it that made her want to hug him and kiss him. And just be with him. She
settled with leaning forward as well, their heads almost touching, the
lingering smell of chlorine already so familiar, and she smiled at him shyly.
    “Thank you,” she said softly. For what exactly, she didn’t
know.
     
     
     

Chapter
Fourteen
    “Hey, Harding, we’re hitting Papa Mel’s,” Craig Parker, one
of the younger guys on the team, invited him after practice one afternoon. He
had his leg stretched out for a massage from one of the club’s therapists. “You
coming?”
    He opened his mouth but his teammate and oldest friend Patrick
Donoghue beat him to it. “C’mon, Parker, don’t tell me you didn’t see the hottie who came to pick Aaron up. He’s not going to line up
saying ‘Bros before — ’ ”
    “Can it, Donoghue,” Aaron sniped good-naturedly. He and the
rest of the guys trash-talked each other a lot, but the truth was they were a
pretty tight team. People always thought swimming was an individual sport, but
that was before they realized that swimmers spent so many hours together,
working and training like a unit. He couldn’t imagine swimming with a different
bunch even if they talked smack about each other. “Besides, it’s no contest.
Your ugly mug’s got nothing on her.”
    “Dude, if your reaction time’s any
indication, I’m guessing the lady’s not all satisfied in bed,” Patrick quipped,
upping the ante.
    Aaron shook his head, grinning. He had showered in record time
because Madison had dropped by and he didn’t want to waste any more time
trading wisecracks with the rest of the guys. All he had on today were jeans
and a plain black shirt, but Madison hadn’t sounded like she wanted to go
anywhere fancy. Still, if he wanted to get the night started, he had to get
going. He grabbed his bag from his locker. “The next time you guys take a dig
at my reaction time, it’ll be because I’ve kept you out of a podium finish,” he
countered. They always got a little competitive around meet time. “See you
tomorrow, ladies.”
    Aaron ignored the jeers and shouts from the rest of the guys as
he hurried over to where Madison sat talking to Coach Didion. She was talking
animatedly and flailing her arms, and he could only guess that she was talking
about swimming. Coach Didion bade them farewell when Aaron came jogging up.
    “Hey, hotshot,” Madison said with a lazy grin as he leaned down
to kiss her. “The water’s so tempting that I want to jump right in.”
    Damn. The thought of her in the pool was enough to heat him up.
“Why don’t you? I can join you.”
    She laughed. “I’m not sure I should.   You know our history with pools. I’d
rather just sit here safely where I’m guaranteed not to get thrown out.”
    Aaron sat down beside her and threw an arm over her shoulders,
giving her a reason to nuzzle closer. He breathed in her familiar aroma. “Did
you come from the cafe?” he asked.
    “Did my eau de caffeine