I grabbed Hades’ leash and the bags of food before heading towards the gates. The guys, after hearing that I was getting Miles’ lunch, instantly put in their orders.
“Hades, guard me,” I whispered the order to him. He instantly went into alert mode. If someone got within two feet of me, he growled until they backed up. When I stepped up to pay my fee they hesitated.
“No dogs allowed,” the tall woman snapped.
I gave her a smile. “Service dog.”
The woman ran her eyes over Hades, then looked to me again. “I don’t buy that. Where’s his vest?”
I sighed, dug into my wallet and pulled out the card that Rory made sure to fill out for me at the station. She read it, frowned, then handed it back. Then she took my money.
“Complete bullshit,” she mumbled under her breath as she made change. My temper spiked. A couple weeks ago I might have let that slide. But I was sick and tired of letting people and ghosts walk over me. I took my change and ticket, then met her eyes.
“What was that?” I asked politely.
She smiled. “Oh, nothing.”
Yeah, that wasn’t going to fly with me. “No, I believe you said, ‘Complete bullshit.’ Right?”
Her face turned pink. “Perhaps I did,” she admitted. “But it’s people like you who abuse the system-”
“Would you like to know why I have a service dog?” I asked directly. The woman blinked. She couldn’t ask that and she knew it. I told her anyway. “In January, this psycho stalked me, kidnapped me, then almost killed me.” I told her matter-of-factly. Her face grew pale.
“Now, I have issues going into crowds.”
“That was you? The girl the Ordin’s boy-”
“Yeah, that was me. So, thanks for the ticket and fuck you very much,” I snapped and walked past her, fighting the urge to turn back and go at her more.
A person says service animal, you had to allow it whether you believed it or not.
I made my way through the foyer and into the pool area. It was huge, and packed. Trusting Hades to keep people away from me, I searched for the guys. I couldn’t spot them. A race was still going so I stayed to the side of the bleachers, still looking for the guys. You’d think Zeke would be easy to spot even in this crowd.
“Lexie?” A girl’s voice caught my attention. I looked for the owner. Laura was sitting a couple rows up the bleachers. I smiled up at her.
“Hey,” I said, moving closer to the bleachers.
“Where are your friends?” she asked, tucking some hair behind her ear.
I looked back out at the crowded bleachers. “I don’t know.” I turned back to her. “Who are you here for?”
Her face turned crimson. “Michael is on the team.”
Hades began pulling on the leash, I kept him at my side. “Really? And how’s that going?” I asked mischievously. She smiled and looked away while scratching her arm. Her scratching lifted her long sleeve shirt, flashing burn scars along her arm. I looked at the race going on. The burn scars were deep and completely healed.
I kept my mouth shut as Hades gave another lurch. I pulled him back, telling him no.
A giant figure moved out of the crowd. Hades started pulling harder at his leash.
“We’re on the far side. There’s one more race and then the lunch break,” Zeke said as he scratched Hades’ ears.
I turned to Laura. “I’ll see ya, later.” She nodded shyly. I followed Zeke around the pool to the far side near the starting blocks for the swimmers. Asher was waiting in the bleachers. He was alone.
My heart dropped. “Where are the twins?”
Asher gave me a tense look. “They’re here. They aren’t sitting with us, though.” I sat down next to Asher, my chest tight. They should be sitting with us, cheering for Miles. This wasn’t right.
“Look,” I handed Asher the bags filled with everyone’s lunch, “I’ll go sit with Laura so the twins will come back.”
When I went to get up Asher took my arm and stopped me. “It’s not just you, Ally. They don’t want to talk to anyone right now.”
“Sit down, Lexie, they’re dealing with their shit,” Zeke growled as he sat down on my other side. I sat back down as the race ended. Hades settled on the bench in front of me.
An announcement of numbers came over the P.A. Swimmers climbed out of the pool while others came out of the locker rooms. I spotted Miles.
Holy shit. Sweet Miles, who was always properly dressed… was wearing only a dark green Speedo. I swallowed hard. His tall, lean body showed every ripped muscle. I made a point to make sure my mouth was closed as my eyes ran over him. From his strong shoulders, down his muscled pecs, even further to what I swear was an eight pack, but his Speedo hid the last of the view. His legs were just as ripped as his upper body.
I had been laying on that all night? Dear God…. I reminded myself to breathe. Miles must have had his contacts in since he was only carrying a pair of goggles in his hand. He was talking to another swimmer, but I honestly couldn’t tell you who it was or what he looked like. I needed to stop staring. I looked away to the pool and focused on petting Hades. Rule One of being friends with guys: don’t get caught drooling.
“So, which race is this?” I asked, hoping to keep my eyes from drifting back to Miles as he lined up behind his starting block.
“The second semi-final. Everyone in this race has beaten out everyone else on one side of the bracket,” Asher explained. “The top three here will go on to join the final.”
“So, I got here just in time,” I muttered.
“Yeah,” Asher answered. The swimmers climbed onto their blocks and got into position.
Everyone bent over and placed their hands on the edge of the block. My knee started bouncing as the entire building grew silent. A buzzer went off. The swimmers were instantly in the water. My heart raced as Miles came up and started moving. He wasn’t the fastest.
“How many laps?” I asked nervously, scratching Hades’ ears.
“It’s 200 meters. So, four laps.” Asher pointed towards the guy in the first lane. “That guy is going to wear out fast. This is an endurance race.” I nodded as I watched Miles and the leading group dive under the water, turn and push off the wall. Miles started picking up a little more speed. The guy in the lead was starting to lag behind. They hit the other end of the pool and shot back down the lanes. I twisted my fingers together. Half way through the third lap, Miles and four others started pulling ahead.
“Here it comes,” Asher announced. Asher stood up and he wasn’t the only one. Everyone stood up, blocking my view of the leaders turning at the wall. I stood up and could still barely see. I cursed and stepped up on my seat.
Zeke reached out and steadied me with his eyes still on the race. Miles was pulling ahead with two others. They were close, I couldn’t tell who was ahead. Then halfway through the last lap, Miles and two other swimmers pulled ahead. I bit the corner of my bottom lip. Miles and two others hit the wall. The crowd went crazy. We cheered as the three winners hung on the dividers and got their breath back.
“Go Miles!” I shouted. The guys whooped. Miles looked up and spotted us. It wasn’t hard, Zeke was huge after all. He waved with his goggles in his hand, still trying to catch his breath. We stopped making noise and sat back down.
The crowd started to break up and head for the doors while we stayed put. Miles and the others climbed out of the pool using the block to get out. Soaking wet Miles was… yummy. My mouth went dry as he grabbed a towel and dried off. He talked to one of the other swimmers while they walked back into the locker room.
I pulled my eyes away from him and looked around at the remaining crowd. I spotted the twins on the other side of the pool.
“I picked up the twins’ usual sandwiches too.” I went to stand up. “I’ll take them their lunch really quick.”
Asher’s hand grabbed my arm, stopping me. “You don’t want to do that, Ally girl.” He warned. He took the bag from my hand and tugged me back
down to my seat. He looked past me to Zeke. “Are you coming?”
Zeke sighed. “Yeah.” He heaved himself to his feet and followed Asher down the bleachers. That was strange. I watched them go over and hand the bag to Isaac. Smart, he’d always been more food driven. My shoulders grew tense as I watched the guys try to talk to them. Ethan was doing a lot of gesturing. Isaac opened the bag and pulled out his sandwich.
I was still watching them when Miles came out of the locker room.
“Hi.” Miles’ voice pulled my attention from the others. He was wearing a white shirt, a pair of dark track pants and sandals. His wet hair wasn’t dripping, but it wasn’t brushed either.
I gave him a smile. “Hey, you kicked ass out there.” Really, Lexie? You just saw him in almost nothing, and that’s all you could come up with?
His ears turned pink as he sat on the bench below me. Hades moved to the side a little when Miles scratched his ears. “Thanks, we’re almost done. Just one more race.” He sighed. I opened the bag next to me and handed him his salad and plastic utensils. “Thank you for lunch. I really appreciate it.”
I shrugged. “No problem. It’s the least I can do after hogging your covers all night.” He grinned as he opened his salad.
“You didn’t hog the covers,” he told me quietly, pink tinging his cheeks. He was right, I had climbed on top of him. My face burned. I dropped the subject as I pulled my sandwich out of the bag. “So, the twins are here,” he told me.
I licked my lips. “Yeah, I brought them lunch. Asher and Zeke took it over. I’m hoping they’ll at least eat the lunch I brought.”
He reached out and touched my knee, getting my attention. “They’re still processing everything,” he said gently. “It’s not going to happen overnight.”
“I know, I just miss them,” I admitted. He squeezed my knee gently.
He took his hand off my knee and went back to his lunch. “So, what did you do this morning? Have you gone to get that job yet?”
I looked away to the pool. “No, I… changed my mind.”
Miles turned on the bench giving me his full attention. “Why didn’t you?”
I looked down at Hades. “I … I realized that I don’t have the time for a job right now. Even a once-a-week one.”
“What’s stopping you? Maybe we can help.” he offered.
I gave him a sad smile. “It’s just not going to work right now.” Miles met my eyes and waited. I turned away in time to spot the guys coming back.
“Yeah, they aren’t talking much,” Asher announced. Zeke sat next to me, Asher sat on the same bench as Miles. I handed them the bag. Everyone got their sandwiches out.
“What did we miss?” Asher asked as he opened his sandwich.
“Lexie didn’t apply for that job.” Miles announced.
“Why?” Asher asked, frowning. My shoulders grew tense under their eyes.
“Because I don’t have enough time,” I muttered as I pulled my sandwich out of the bag.
“Then just work weekends.” Zeke suggested.
“That won’t work right now,” I mumbled before taking a bite. Zeke and Miles shared a look before changing the subject.
As lunch went on we talked about the next race as if there was no one missing. I looked across the pool at the twins. Neither one of them was talking. Ethan was looking down at the water, his face pensive. Isaac was looking at the cement floor near the pool.
People started coming back from lunch. A cop in uniform made his way through the returning crowd. I smiled as Rory walked over to the twins and sat down.
“Rory’s here,” I announced. Everyone turned to see him.
“Maybe he could help,” Asher muttered. It didn’t look like he was. Ethan wasn’t talking, he was just staring at the water.
“It doesn’t look like it,” I mumbled.
“They’ll come around,” Miles reassured me.
“So, what’s everyone doing this afternoon?” Asher asked.
I shrugged. “Nothing planned.”
“Busy,” Zeke muttered.
“I’ll probably be napping,” Miles admitted.
I turned to Miles. “We’re still doing your party tonight, right?”
Miles met my eyes and smiled uncertainly. “If you guys really want to…”
“Sounds good to me.” I looked across the pool, wondering if the twins would come. I rubbed Hades’ ears and turned back to Miles.
“Want us to bring snacks?” I asked.
Miles shook his head. “We can order in.”
Asher scoffed, “No, we won’t.” I smiled at the indignation in Asher’s voice. “I’ll make snacks this afternoon and bring them over.”
Miles shook his head. “You guys don’t have to-”
“Oh, yeah, we do,” I countered. He turned back to me and I gave him a big shit-eating grin.
He smiled and shook his head. I looked up in time to spot Rory walking around the pool.
Asher nudged me gently. “Do you want to come help make snacks?”
“Sure. As long as you make cookies too,” I suggested.
“Alright, but we’ll make Miles’ favorite,” he stipulated.
I held my hand out. “Deal.” We shook on it.
“So, I assume you made it to the final,” Rory announced as he reached us.
“Yes, we have the last race in fifteen minutes,” Miles said awkwardly.
Rory sat down on the other side of Hades. “How’s the competition?”
Miles looked down at the floor. “Um, it’s stronger than last year,” he admitted before looking at the pool. “This next race won’t be easy. There is one former State Champion still in the race. It’s his last year and he’s rather determined to win his title back.”
“That’s Eric Johanson, right?” Rory asked. Miles nodded. I smiled to myself as I listened to the two of them talk about the competition. It seemed Rory had adopted Miles too.
Soon enough, Miles was heading back into the locker room.
The bleachers started filling up.
“Rory, do you care if I go over and help Asher with snacks for a video game marathon tonight?” I asked, scooting over a little to give Zeke more room. He was glaring at the guy next to him, and the poor guy might have a heart attack. Zeke took the room, sliding over until his thigh met mine.
“Sure, no problem, just be home by eleven tonight,” Rory told me. I nodded as the announcer called for the swimmers to come to the pool, the sound echoing through the building.
I was more prepared for Miles in a Speedo, but I still had to make sure I wasn’t drooling. There was no talking among the swimmers this time. Everyone had their game faces on and were ignoring the others.
“Swimmers, to your blocks.” The announcement rang through my ears.
All six swimmers moved to their lanes. Miles went to lane five and climbed onto his block. My knee started bouncing. It only lasted a few heartbeats until Zeke put his large hand on my knee, stopping me. I glanced up at him. He shot me a look.
I rolled my eyes and started bouncing my other knee. Asher didn’t mind when I bounced my knee.
Too soon for me, the buzzer sounded and Miles was in the water. The race started like the last one, only no one pulled ahead on the first lap. The same for the second. Half way through the third the swimmers picked up the pace.
Everyone stood up again. I stood on my seat so I could see, with my hand on Zeke’s shoulder and Asher’s hand on my waist keeping me balanced. I kept my eyes glued to Miles’ lane. He moved through the water like a machine, slicing through it easily. They hit the turn. Somehow in the turn four of them took the lead, including Miles.
“Come on, come on, come on,” I muttered, practically bouncing in place. My heart pounded as the swimmers went all out. Miles and another swimmer pulled ahead easily.
They were neck and neck. Then at the last quarter Miles really put on the speed. They hit the wall almost at the same time. I couldn’t tell who won. The crowd went crazy. I shouted along wi
th them. Asher covered his ears as the building was filled with noise.
The time-keepers from both lanes met behind the blocks. Two officials came over to the time-keepers. Their conversation was animated. Then they went to Miles and the other swimmer in the lane next to him. Miles and the other guy nodded. Miles held his hand out and shook the other guy’s hand. They were both smiling. Was it a tie?
“Ladies and gentlemen, the race was so close that our timekeepers have the same time. Our officials need to go over the footage from the underwater cameras. We’ll announce the new State Champion in the Boy’s 200 Meter Freestyle as soon as we can. Let’s give our competitors a hand.” The building was filled with applause as Miles and the others got out of the pool.
When we finally stopped cheering, everyone sat back down and waited while the swimmers gathered into their teams. Miles spoke to a couple of the guys while everyone waited.
Eventually, the officials came out of the little room with medals. One of them moved to the side of the pool with the starting blocks and turned on the microphone.
“Ladies and gentlemen, after reviewing the footage, it’s unanimous. The new State Champion for Boy’s 200 Meter Freestyle is… Miles Huntington.” All of us stood up and cheered.
Miles moved out from our school’s team and met the officials. They put the medal around Miles’ neck. His face and ears were flaming red when he bowed to the crowd. I could tell from here that he just wanted to melt into the background.
The crowd started to break up as the swimmers went into the locker rooms. The building was almost empty when I looked across the pool and saw the twins.
“We should find out if the twins are coming tonight,” I thought out loud. Asher got to his feet, Zeke grumbled as he got to his. They both went over without another word. Guilt ate at me. I kept sending them over to get ignored.
Miles came back out in his track pants, shirt and sandals again, this time carrying a gym bag. When he reached us, Rory pulled him into a guy hug and whispered to him. Miles' face and ears turned pink before Rory let go.
“Thanks,” Miles said quietly to him.
“Okay, now, I need to get back to work. Go rest up,” Rory told us before he headed toward the others.
Whispers From the Dead Page 19