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Chapter 33: With the Big Boys

Kelsey walked slower and slower as they approached the pool, Jack noticed. He put a reassuring hand on her back. She hoisted her blue and yellow equipment bag on her shoulder and lowered her head, as if facing a daunting hurdle, which made Jack smile.

She turned to him at the gate. "How do I look?" she asked.

He took a breath, getting ready to tell her she looked outstanding, when he realized that wasn't what she meant. He looked her up and down carefully.

"You look fine," he reassured her. "Everything has faded, it's all gone, I promise." He nodded, and leaned in to kiss her, just below her ear.

She swallowed and nodded. "Okay. Let's go."

He put a hand on her shoulder, stopping her.

She turned around. "What?"

"You're so brave," he told her. "I really admire you." His voice was soft.

She blinked in surprise. "Thank you, Jack." She gave him a small smile that was so dazzling and glorious that it was nearly blinding for a split second.

They walked onto the pool deck, where a few people hailed Jack in a desultory fashion. There were people coming and going, and a few lanes were in use, but as Jack as predicted, no one really paid any attention to them.

They quickly pulled their clothes off and left them on the bleachers. Kelsey started to walk to lane one, but Jack redirected her toward the other end of the pool.

"You're going to be doing a lot of diving, missy thing, we need the deep end for that," he informed her.

Kelsey smiled at the nickname. She hadn't heard it in at least a month. She'd missed it. "Okay, Coach," she said, walking to the other end.

Jack grinned at her use of the title. They put their equipment down next to the starting block and sat on the edge, pulling on caps, setting out water and adjusting their goggles. Since Jack was so much faster, it made more sense to split the lane, than circle swim, and he started her off with twenty laps of free style to warm up.

"I want flip turns at every wall," he admonished. "Don't try to skip them just because I'm swimming, too. I'm watching you, and you'll have to start over if I see even one open turn."

"Yes, Coach," Kelsey agreed with a little salute as she stood on the edge and prepared to dive in.

"What do you think you're doing?" Jack asked. He gestured at the starting block.

"Really?" Kelsey looked at the block as if it might bite her. "It's tilted, Jack. What if I slip off?"

Oh my god.

"What?" Jack couldn't help the laugh that escaped him. "It's non-skid, Kels, don't worry. You want to hold my hand?"

She looked at his smirk with narrowed eyes. "Just because you're a hot shit collegiate swimmer and all that, don't think you're too important for me to kick in the balls, Jack LaGuardia."

"Yikes," he said, eyes wide. "Cranky." He gestured again to the block.

She gingerly stepped up. "It's higher than the diving board," she said, looking around. She felt very visible, and very vulnerable, but no one was looking at her. She carefully inched forward.

"Kay, your toes curl over the edge, like we practiced. Remember the video of Marian?"

Kelsey nodded, biting her lip.

"Don't worry too much, we'll spend time just on getting off the blocks another day," Jack assured her. "I just don't want you to do it wrong, because every time you do it incorrectly, it's like you practiced it that way, you know?"

Kelsey nodded again.

"Now grab the front, tuck your head."

"I still think I'd be faster if my feet were staggered," Kelsey said as she stared between her legs at the fencing behind her.

"Well, Marian does grab starts, so you do too," Jack replied. "Okay, on my count, release, look up, reach forward, and push, okay?"

He got her started, made sure she was on her side of the lane, and watched her first flip turn on the other end before diving in himself. They got their warm-ups finished, and started practicing the IM together.

He had Kelsey practice the different strokes, and was really proud when a friend came over to ask who she was. Jack told him she was an actress he was preparing for a part, and the guy was surprised.

"Oh, she's pretty good. I thought she was some high school kid you were giving private lessons to for some extra cash."

"Yeah, she's getting there," Jack replied.

Then Jack had her try an actual IM, from dive to finish, complete with suicide turn between the back and breaststroke, and she did the whole thing, though she was rolling her stroke quite a bit as she finished up the freestyle, breathing on every stroke as well.

She touched the wall and raised her goggles, gasping for breath, and smiled hugely at Jack. "I did it!" she crowed. He hunkered down next to the block so he could get face to face to congratulate her, and she pulled him in, laughing, so she could hug him and kiss him and share her jubilation.

"But Jack," she panted, wheezing for breath. "I feel like I'm going to die." She pressed his hand to her chest. "Feel my heart, feel my heart," she insisted. "This can't be good, coach."

He smiled at where she'd inadvertently placed his hand, and she colored prettily when she realized what she'd done and let go.

"Don't worry, your endurance will improve quickly," he assured her. "You're young, and in good shape. And you don't have to be able to do tons of long-distance swimming, you know? You just have to be able to look right doing all of the pieces, over and over, and doing the whole thing maybe once in a while, right?"

She nodded, chest heaving, still smiling.

He leaned in and kissed her again, loving how vibrant and alive she was, how good she looked in her open-backed metallic pink leopard print racing suit. Under the water, she wrapped her legs around him, pulling him close to her so she wouldn't float away. She pulled him close to kiss him again, with more purpose, and he was helpless in her arms. All he could think about was how close he was to her soft sex, and just knowing that it was pressed up against him, with only two wet layers of lycra separating them, was enough to get him twitching between her legs.

She felt it and smiled against his mouth, pressing her tongue against his, sucking on his soft lips, moaning softly. "I always wondered what happened if a guy got a boner while wearing one of these tight racing suits," she murmured, pulling back to give him a smoky look.

She pressed against him harder, feeling his erection against her core.

"Kelsey, stop," Jack begged, trying to disengage himself from her. "I think you're enjoying torturing me," he said, staring at her smiling face.

"Torture?" she asked. "I thought you liked this?" And she leaned in so he could feel her nipples rubbing against his chest, her hot breaths against his cheek.

He rolled his eyes, begged for strength, and resolutely pulled her arms from around his neck. "Enough," he said, giving her the firmest look he could.

"Yes, coach," Kelsey said, eyes and smile gleeful.

"Now, you're going to do the IM a few more times," he ordered. He began to get out of the pool, remembered his condition and reconsidered, and settled for coaching her from the wall, watching her turns in particular.

By the fourth time, she no longer had the breath for the suicide turn, and went back to the normal crossover turn, but she still did the complete IM, with good form the whole way, and Jack's erection had subsided enough for him to get out and stand on the block so he could record her with his phone.

"Okay, another twenty, nice and easy, your choice, and you're finished," he said.

Kelsey nodded and pushed off, hoping she had the wind and endurance for nineteen more flip turns.

She did, just barely, and when she finished, Jack, who really hadn't gotten much of a workout, asked if Kelsey minded waiting while he swam a bit longer.

"Of course not," she replied. She sat down on the block to watch.

"You don't have to watch," he said. "Go hang out in the shade, sweetheart, stay cool."

"I love watching you swim, you know that," Kelsey said, shaking her head. "You think I'd miss the opportunity to watch my man stretch out and exercise, soaking wet and glistening in the sun?"

He winked at her and dove in off the side, setting a faster pace for himself than he had.

Kelsey shook her hair out of her cap as she sat on the blocks, getting a bit hypnotized as she watched Jack swim. He really was beautiful in the water, she mused. He hadn't bothered to put his cap back on, and his hair streamed behind him as he moved through the lane.

He was doing butterfly, and even though Kelsey knew it wasn't his stroke, he still looked incredible to her as he did it. She had a perfect view of his broad back flexing as he swam away from her, of his hamstrings bulging as he kicked. Then, as he swam toward her, she could see his chest and arms, and his face, intent on his actions, though he did smile at her once or twice. She thought even might have winked, though with his goggles it was hard to tell.

As she was watching Jack, the rest of the pool was clearing out, and the water polo team arrived and began removing the lane lines and starting blocks in preparations for their own practice. Kelsey remained focused on Jack in the water, and she finally became aware of them when some of them recognized her.

She heard the familiar words from somewhere behind her, "Dude, is that Kelsey Carlisle?" and she looked around. She noticed that there were no lane lines in the rest of the pool, which now looked much bigger, and that the rest of the starting blocks were gone. She rose and moved so they could pull the block she'd been sitting on, but the guys chivalrously assured her that it was fine, it could wait.

"Thanks," she said with a smile and sat back down.

The water polo players, meanwhile, had pulled out their phones and were taking photos from across the pool and other oblique angles. This was Kelsey Carlisle, after all, long, elegant, buttery tan legs, perfect body, flawless face that had graced the cover of hundreds of magazines all over the world. She was sex incarnate, for crying out loud, a Sports Illustrated swim suit model, a Victoria's Secret Angel, who'd walked a catwalk on live, international TV wearing lingerie and wings.

Kelsey realized what was going on, and wished she'd put her clothes back on, but they were all the way over on the bleachers, and she'd get photographed even more standing up, walking over there and putting them on, she knew. Then, by arranging the pictures backwards, it would look like she'd been photographed taking her clothes off. Not that this should matter, but that was the kind of idiotic world they lived in, she thought in resignation. She knew that at least half the guys on the pool deck had probably whacked off looking at her picture in the VS catalogue (it was very popular with college guys), and the other half had probably done the same thing looking at her in Sports Illustrated.

She debated getting Jack's attention and asking if they could just leave, but she hated to interrupt him. Besides, he'd already been at it a while, surely he'd be finished soon?

Within a few minutes, a couple of the polo players had gotten brave enough to approach her and ask for a selfie.

"Sure," she said, smiling. She rose and stood between them, successfully covering her urge to flinch when they each placed an arm around her waist.

Some others, seeing the picture taking, started to approach her, so she sped the whole process up by suggesting one picture of her with all of them. This would also keep the physical contact to a minimum, she figured.

When it was over, a few of them remained to talk to her, wanting to prolong their brush with fame, and she indulged them, looking over at Jack from time to time. He was doing freestyle, a long set, and hadn't looked up. Great.

"So why are you here?" one of the guys asked. His name was Brandon, and he was just as tan as Jack, but beefier, with thighs as thick as hams. "Working out? Getting some exercise? Because man, you don't really need it, do you?"

Was this guy serious?

"I'm preparing for a part in a movie," Kelsey replied, crossing her arms. She felt really strange, uncomfortable being looked at. She wondered if this was because of Jack, or because of what had happened to her.

"Oh," Brandon said, nodding. "Listen, if you're going to be around, I'd love to show you around the campus or whatever?" He looked around. "A couple of us could if you wanted? Brock? Daniel? You in?"

Two guys nodded. "Of course, sure, sounds stellar," they agreed. They were smug, smiling jocks, the kind of guy she might have gone for in the past, but no longer.

What?

Kelsey shook her head. "No thanks, you guys. That's really nice of you, but I'm really busy, and I'm seeing someone." She looked over toward Jack again, but he was still swimming hard.

"You're dating one of us?" Brandon sounded disbelieving.

"Hold on, who is that? Isn't that LaGuardia?" Brock asked and answered his own question.

"No fucking way," Brandon said, laughing. "You're going out with Jack LaGuardia." He looked around at his friends, looking for agreement, and most of them were laughing and nodding back.

"Wait," said Daniel. "I think we got something wrong, you guys." He turned to Kelsey, putting a familiar arm around her waist and turning her a little bit. "You're not dating our boy Jack, right? He's just coaching you for your movie, isn't that right?"

Kelsey nearly shuddered as she shook Daniel's arm off.

"Yes, Jack is my boyfriend," she said clearly. She looked over again, hoping to see his curly head above the water, looking over at her, but she could only see splashing.

"Choir Boy Jack?" Brandon said, pointing. "Come on, he probably can't even get you off!"

Did he just say that in front of fifteen people? Outside?

Kelsey was starting to feel faint. And scared, for some reason. This wasn't like her.

"Kelsey," Brandon was saying with a horrible, lascivious grin. "We're having a party tonight, you should come. I guaran-fucking-tee we're more fun than Jack over there." He pointed again at Jack, who finally seemed finished.

He looked around and saw Kelsey, surrounded by most of the water polo team, and got out, lifting his goggles and coming over to see what was going on, grabbing his water and towel on his way.

"Hey, what's going on?" he asked, walking right up to Kelsey. He was just going to stand next to her both for decorum's sake and because he was dripping wet, but she surprised him by hugging herself to him and pressing her body into his.

He put an arm around her, looking at her with wide eyes. "You okay?" he asked. His voice was soft, intended for her ears only, even though they were surrounded by over a dozen huge guys.

She shook her head. "Let's get out of here, Jack, take me out of here?" She turned to him. "I hope none of these guys are your friends, because they're disgusting," she declared, looking around. She smiled. "No offense, guys," she assured them.

He blinked at her, then looked around at the water polo players, most of whom wouldn't meet his gaze. "No," he replied, shaking his head. "Not my friends.

"Come on, sweetheart, leg's go home." When she let go of him, he leaned in and kissed her, firmly, making the kiss last a long time, making the guys gathered around them stare.

"Better?" he asked.

"All kinds," she said, giving him a luminous smile.

She walked over to where Brandon was standing, still staring.

"Could you move, please?" she asked. "You're in front of our clothes."

Brandon finally moved, and Kelsey grabbed all the clothes. The two of them walked out to Jack's car and got in without saying a word, waiting until they were on the road to begin laughing.

They laughed until they cried, nearly all the way home, holding hands.

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