Treading Water, page 10
He sighs. “I wasn’t insulting your mom. You’re still so young to have to worry about all that. You should be able to focus on water polo.”
“I wish I could, Fallon. But that’s not how my life works. She won’t admit it, but I know she uprooted her life to move us for this college. A job randomly falling into her lap that’s close to a school offering me full tuition? It didn’t come with dorms or meals. I’m not dumb, we couldn’t have afforded to send just me here,” I say. The emotion of everything my mom has done causes my throat to ache and my voice to waver.
His eyes are intense as he absorbs my words, his jaw tightening. “How can I help you?”
“What?” I ask, my breath swooping out of me as my face heats and my heart pounds in my chest.
Fallon sits up straighter. “How can I help? Do you need a babysitter for your sister? I can pay for one.”
My eyebrows knit together and I slowly shake my head. “It’s not like that. We have a system that works. It just forces my mom to work long nights. I have to be here.”
His face falls, understanding what I’m getting at. “Sage. You do deserve some nights to yourself. I’m not saying nights to spend with me, but for yourself. You only get to be a freshman in college once.”
“I don’t care about being in college and all that stuff. I care about my sister, my mom, getting into the Olympics and… you,” I say, admitting the last part feebly.
Fallon moves closer. “Okay, then we’ll get you there. I want you to stop worrying about your sister and your mom. If you have somewhere to be because of water polo, then we’ll handle it. Your time is no longer an obstacle.”
“Why?”
He looks confused. “Why what?”
“Why are you offering to help me like this? You don’t owe me anything.” I swallow the emotion gathering in my throat. It’s dangerous to hope. To hope that he means every day, that this isn’t just a ploy to keep sleeping with me, that I’ll have some freedom from worrying about Val so much.
Fallon stares at me, his eyes clouding like a thunderstorm before he lets go of me and stands. He runs a hand through his hair, his breathing picking up as he swipes his bottom lip with his tongue.
“I don’t understand. What do you think is happening between us?”
My heart thuds in my chest. I sit up and kneel on my mattress, facing him. My mouth dries, my tongue heavy as I blink at him, unable to say anything.
A humorless laugh escapes from him. “Do you think I would risk my career? Your career? On what… a quick fuck?”
“I-I don’t know. I don’t know what you want,” I mutter.
“I want you.”
My chin falls into my collarbone as I look away from him and I shrug. “You had me. You got me. I don’t know.”
He sighs, gesturing between us. “You, all of you. I’ve never really dated, never randomly hooked up much either. So tell me, Sage, what it means when everything says I shouldn’t be with you, but I can’t stay away.”
My eyes water and I’m quick to wipe my cheek. “It’s hard for me to rely on anyone else. And it is hard to believe you really want me. I haven’t thought about where this would go.”
Fallon moves closer, cupping my face and forcing me to look up. “I’m in your bedroom, staring at posters older than your sister and you think I don’t want you.”
A broken smile stretches across my face. “Maybe it strokes your ego, knowing how obsessed I am with you.”
His eyebrows raised. “And you don’t think I’m obsessed with you? I moved across the country and accepted a coaching position to get to know you.”
“You didn’t even like me at first,” I say, scrunching my nose.
He grins. “Doesn’t mean I wasn’t enamored simply by your presence.”
I swallow down the emotion building in my throat. “For the longest time, you were like this… god. This water polo god that I looked up to. Then you were at my college and you were coaching me, and nothing I did seemed to be good enough. And now you’re here in my bedroom, it just doesn’t feel real.”
Fallon’s face softens. “I’m sorry if I ever made you feel you weren’t good enough. You’re the only reason I accepted this job, I’ve been following your career for a while. I’ve known about you a lot longer than you think. I never expected to get involved like this, but it’s real, Sage. What we have, it’s real.”
I press my hand against his, cradling my face closer to his hold. “Okay. So then what are we doing?”
“Whatever we need to be together. It’s me and you.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Fallon
I knew the day was going to be a load of bullshit as soon as I saw Eli’s sullen face waiting for me in my office. And my first thought was that I only got one singular night with Sage before it all went down the drain. My body aches from the wasted time over the past few weeks when I was too scared to further our relationship.
My brother doesn’t say anything as he leads me to a separate building on campus away from the aquatic center, but within the athletic department. I recognize the athletic director as a couple more people start to take their seats across from me, Eli included.
“Do you know why this meeting was called?” the director asks.
Flashes of Sage’s slick skin, hot mouth, and tight pussy run through my mind, but I shake my head. “No idea.”
“There’s been a concern raised by a fellow student that suggests you are awfully close with one of your athletes.”
I tap the wooden table. My heart shrivels in my chest; everything I’ve been worried about is happening faster than I wanted or predicted, but I keep my emotions buried deep, cocking my head to the side, not looking away as my eyebrows knit together. “Close how?”
“Close enough for someone to feel it's inappropriate.”
“In what way?”
The director pauses, glancing at the woman to his left, and clears his throat. “One of a sexual nature.”
I clench my jaw, trying to calm my panic and seem more annoyed than anything. “Has someone accused me of that? Sometimes as coaches we have to get close to our students to correct their form. If someone thinks I’ve touched them inappropriately, I wish to rectify that because it was never my intention.”
He shifts in his seat. “There haven’t been any full accusations, more along the lines of an observation of concern. We’ve spoken to the student in question and they’ve refused any involvement with you, but you understand we still have to look into it.”
Nodding, I lean back and cross my arms. “So what’s the plan? Do you want me to step back?”
“No, just be more conscious of how certain actions can be interpreted,” he says.
Eli sighs. “My brother is a world-class athlete. Do you think he’s really interested in college students?”
I am. I am very interested in one college student. My cock twitches thinking about being buried inside Sage again. I’m already addicted to her presence, her smart mouth, and her passion for our sport. Now I’m desperate for more time as I feel it starting to be ripped away from us.
“It doesn’t matter if he’s not. Perception is everything, especially to investors. They can pull funding if they think we’re allowing our coaches to have inappropriate relationships with our students,” the director says, throwing my brother a hard glance.
I sigh. “Whatever you guys feel is best. I appreciate the opportunity you’ve given me so far, but I understand if you need to let me go.”
Eli scoffs. “Look at the vast improvement of the team in the small time he’s been here. You fire him, you can kiss a championship goodbye.”
The director blanches. “Your termination is not on the table, especially with the student denying the claim. This is simply a courtesy meeting to inform you and allow you to make the appropriate choices to combat whatever convinced the complainant of the false narrative.”
“Have you told Coach Amber of this?” I ask.
He shakes his head and Eli looks at me, the approval at the suggestion turning my stomach. I’m not as close to my family as I was growing up, but I know they would be disappointed in me for pursuing my nineteen-year-old student.
“Well, maybe we should. She can add an extra layer of security. We won’t split the practices, I won’t be alone with any of the girls in my office,” I suggest, wanting to be done with this entire conversation. My chest hurts knowing what I have to do next. I don’t want to, but Sage and her well-being will always come first.
“He’s right. Witnesses in general would help dissolve further rumors and the presence of a woman would be helpful for those already with the narrative built in their head.” The blonde woman finally speaks up. She faces me and introduces herself as one of the college’s lawyers.
The director rubs a hand down his face. “Alright. I’ll pull her in today and update her.”
Eli taps his knuckles on the table. “We done then?”
The director glances at the lawyer and then the dean, who’s been silent the entire meeting. They all nod. Eli stands and tugs on the lapels of his jacket.
“Good. Be sure to direct any communication through me since I’ll be representing him if this escalates.” My brother’s authoritative tone leaves no room for arguments. I shake their hands and follow him out of the room.
Eli only waits till we’re halfway to my office, stomping across the sidewalk before turning on me. “Is it true?”
“Is what true?”
“Cut the fucking bullshit.” He snarls. “Are you fucking one of your athletes?”
I cross my arms, my own temper rising. “Didn’t we just confirm I wasn’t?”
His nostrils flare. “We said whatever we needed to to make sure you didn’t lose your job.”
Shaking my head, I laugh in his face. “Let’s not act like that wasn’t to save your own reputation. You and our parents only care what I’m doing if there’s a chance of me ruining the perfect family image you curated.”
Eli glares at me. “You forget how well you’ve benefited from that image. You can look down at us, think we’re shallow for caring, but you’re single-handedly one of the most well-paid athletes in the country for a sport that, frankly, people don’t give a fuck about.”
We stare at each other, the constant resentment of each other's lives thickening in the air. I was the star athlete, but Eli was the star student. I was off in the Olympics while Eli was graduating early and getting into college. Our parents pushed us to one-up the other on achievements that weren’t even comparable.
“I never asked you to be my lawyer,” I say finally.
He sighs. “You never have to. You’re my younger brother and even if you’re a goddamn idiot, you’re still family.” He pulls his keys and phone out of his pocket. “Call Mom, won’t you? You moved less than an hour away from us but haven’t visited her once.”
I clench my jaw. “It goes both ways, Eli. I have a job. What prevents her from visiting me? Besides hosting social events for every Mary, Joseph, and John in town.”
My brother shakes his head. “Just fucking call her.” He walks away, leaving me on the sidewalk with the familiar distaste of my family in my mouth.
No one understood the sacrifice of your life to commit yourself to a sport, especially at the level I competed. It’s one of the reasons that drew me to Sage. She knows. She understands that sometimes you have to sell a piece of your soul to get what you want.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Sage
He looks up from where he's sitting on his couch when I fill his office’s doorway. I double-check behind me before quickly closing the door as I walk in.
“Sage…”
My stomach turns and I clench my hands together. “I didn’t tell them anything about us.”
Fallon runs his hand through his hair, the gray t-shirt rising to reveal the thin strip of skin it always does as he stands. But now I know how it looks under it all, how low and deep those lines run along his pelvis and to his beautiful cock.
“I know you didn’t,” he says softly.
I move toward him. I stop in front, unsure if he wants anything to do with me. Fallon pulls me into his chest and I wrap my arms around his waist as I push my face deeper into his hold.
“I’m sorry.”
He groans. “What are you sorry for, baby?”
My fingers dig into his back and I look up at him. “They think you… took advantage of me. I denied it.”
“That’s not your fault. Sage, no matter if it’s consensual. I’m still in a position of power over you, so there will always be an imbalance because of that.”
I shake my head. “I want you, I want this.”
Fallon picks me up, and I wrap my legs around his hips as he presses me against the wall. “I want you too. You know that," he says hoarsely.
I kiss him, pouring everything I feel into him as his mouth moves with mine. Fallon sets me down, not breaking our connection as his fingers unbutton my jeans and push them down. I pull back, doing the same with his joggers and wrapping my hand around his thick cock as he steps out of his pants. He grunts when I smear the leaking pre-cum over his crown before his hands cup my ass and he picks me again.
My arms move to his neck as he thrusts hard into me, fitting us together like a perfect puzzle. He leans me against the wall again, his fingers kneading the flesh of my cheeks as he drags me up and down his thick length.
“One more time. I need you one more time…” he says, arousal deepening his voice and he groans as he pushes into me.
I cup his face, sucking on his bottom lip as he moves within me. “You feel so good.”
Fallon groans, his cock twitching before he picks up his pace. Each deep stroke causes me to grow wetter, stretching me full with every push forward.
It’s fast and dirty as he fucks me against the wall. We trade breaths, our mouths panting against each other as I try to rock my hips with each of his thrusts. Something in the desperation of his movements causes my heart to split open. It feels like he’s pouring his goodbye into every touch.
“Come inside me, please,” I beg, needing a small part of him to last longer once we’re apart.
Fallon grunts, dropping me faster down the length of his cock and pushing as far as he can inside my pussy. “My baby wants my cum?”
I nod, my nails digging into his shoulder as I tighten around him. The heat gathers in my belly as I linger near the edge of my climax, wanting to come with him.
“In a perfect world, there would never be a moment my baby wasn’t full of my cum. It would leak out of you every minute of every day,” he breathes into my ear.
“Yes,” I say, wanting that anyway.
Fallon’s cock thickens, warning me of his release. The heat of his cum spilling sets off my orgasm, each flutter of my pussy dragging his seed deeper inside me. I want this feeling to last forever, to carry a piece of him around all day.
“Fuck, Sage,” he moans, thrusting gently to squeeze out the last few drops as his cock starts to soften.
My breathing is ragged as I hold onto him, tensing my legs tighter so he doesn’t put me down. His green eyes, bright with emotion, look into mine. His fingers are spread over my ass cheeks while he keeps me up.
My throat aches, and a sense of dread thickens my tongue till it feels too heavy.
The light in his eyes dulls, the pain darkens them as he rests his forehead against mine. “Sage…”
It shouldn’t hurt. I knew what was going to happen the minute they pulled me in and asked about us, but it hurt anyway. I guess a small part of me wanted him to fight for us. To choose us instead of water polo.
“Two years,” Fallon says.
“What?”
He leans his face away, squeezing me closer. His cheeks are flushed from our fucking and determination. “Two years. You’ll be in the Olympics, and I won’t be your coach. Our relationship could still turn some heads, but it wouldn’t matter anymore.”
I blink, confused. “What are you saying?”
“Wait for me. Even if you don’t, I’ll wait for you. I’m not leaving, baby. But nothing, not even me, is going to jeopardize where you’re meant to be.”
“Are you breaking up with me?”
He shakes his head. “I’ll be here every step of the way. We can’t be together, we can’t risk ever being seen. But never doubt I’m not thinking about you every day.”
His fingers dig into my hips, and he leans forward as I tangle my hands into his hair with our lips a heartbeat away. I don’t want to agree to what he’s saying, even if he is right. I want him to be unable to stay away, to keep me for himself.
He kisses me, his cock starting to harden inside me and I lose myself to him one last time.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Sage
Multiple whistles pierce the air, but I sink under the water, cupping my mouth. I kick up, gulping at the air as I try to breathe through the pain. My fingers are soaked with red when I pull them away from my busted lips. I know the skin is split, and I can feel the throbbing heat stronger as soon as I let up the pressure of my hand.
The ref blows his whistle again, and I glance as he calls the number and does the hand signals to eject her from the game. It doesn’t calm my rage that she gets thrown out, I want the chance to elbow her back for that dirty move.
“Peters! Get over here!” Fallon shouts and I turn to glare at him, shaking my head.
I don’t want to be subbed out. He stands at the edge of the pool, his arms crossed and the vein running down his neck popped in anger. When I don’t swim toward him immediately, he looks to the ref and calls for a timeout. I groan as now the whole team is forced out of the middle of the pool and has to huddle toward the edge by the benches.
“Get out of the water, Peters.” Fallon repeats, the coldness in his voice leaving no room for argument. He nods to one of the girls sitting, signaling for her to sub in for me.
