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

give it away?” she kidded, cradling his
cheek and giving him a long kiss. Her fingernail scraped against his jaw,
teasing him.
    He could kiss her forever. She tasted like coffee, giving him a
jolt with every darting lick of her tongue against his lips. “What were you and
Coach talking about?” he asked when they drew apart.
    Madison leaned against him. “He asked me if I was a member of
the club and I said that I wasn’t a swimmer like you. He was nice enough to say
that he was pleased you met a girl like me because he was starting to worry
about you.” She gave him a sly sideways glance.
    Aaron groaned inwardly. “They work us to the bone and then
wonder why it’s so hard for us to be in serious relationships,” he grumbled.
“Coach wasn’t too happy with my drill work today. He thinks I haven’t been
conditioning enough.”
    A look of worry crossed Madison’s face. “I’m sorry! Is it
because of me? But we hit the gym often—”
    He kissed the top of her head. “Hey. Don’t worry about it. He’s
just in a bad mood because we’re going to start tapering off practice. That’s
the break we get before a competition, so we’re relaxed. Maybe Coach is already
missing yelling at us so he’s trying to make up for it.”
    “I don’t want to get you in trouble,” she murmured, snuggling
closer, making Aaron not want to move from his spot at all. “But I know you
work harder than anyone. You’d be doing drills in that water if I weren’t here.
He’s probably just as proud as your dad is.”
    He wasn’t too sure about that. His dad had been a competitive
swimmer once and he still kept a close eye on his training. It seemed to be the
only thing they talked about. He’d be all over Aaron’s case whenever he did
something that wasn’t part of the plan. Just once Aaron wished someone could
show up to his meets and not judge him for underperforming. Madison’s family
wasn’t in LA, but at least they had kept a close bond. “How was your day?” he asked, immediately
changing the subject. He remembered her texting him earlier about a go-see.
“How did the casting go?”
    “Which one? The mall runway show? The
commercial? The fashion house looking for a new fit model? Three jobs and I didn’t book a single one,” Madison sighed. “Oh, sure I got a ‘you-fit-our-look-we-can-use-you-next-time,’ but at the end of the day, that just comes down to one fat zero. I mean , they needed someone’s back for that commercial! You’d
think I had a decent back—”
    “Mighty fine back,” Aaron interjected, kissing her shoulder but
that didn’t deter her from her rant.
    “Apparently, I don’t have the right dimples of Venus.”
    “What are dimples of Venus?”
    “My point exactly.” She shook her head. “I had really hoped
that after the Stroke campaign, offers would be coming in. I know it hasn’t
been released but...”
    Aaron frowned. He hated seeing her sound defeated. She was
usually much sassier than this. “I can’t imagine anyone saying no to you.”
    That got her to roll her eyes but the smile on her face was
more tender than sarcastic. “You’re probably the only one who’ll say that.” She
sighed again. “I always like being in control and feeling like I can handle
things. Modeling and acting really isn’t for the faint-hearted. It makes you so
vulnerable. You face so many rejections in one day that sometimes you wish you
could just weigh and grind coffee beans your whole life. But I want to make
something of myself, Aaron,” she said. “Seeing you work so hard pushes me to
work harder, too.”
    He liked that she was getting vulnerable around him, that she
wasn’t afraid to share her thoughts. But he didn’t want to tell her that
because it might spook her. “I know you’ll keep at it,” he said instead.
“You’ve got a fire in you that nobody can put out.”
    Madison’s phone rang suddenly and she nearly jumped. “It’s
Elliott,” she told him. “I’ll need to take