Treading Water, page 7
Fallon watches her walk to the locker room before turning back to me with a neutral expression. I spin the ball in my hand, floating on my back as I kick lightly.
“She’s not jumping right before I blow the whistle, but you’re shooting when I do.”
I shrug. “Then tell her that. You’re the coach.”
“Sage.” His curt tone has my hips dropping in the water, and I look up at him.
Sighing, I toss the ball toward him, and the splashes land on his feet.
“What?”
Today the majority of the girls are in the weight room with Coach Amber. Fallon chose Gwen and I to run a shooting drill. It’s been two weeks since I went on my knees and sucked his dick like my favorite lollipop. Two weeks of him acting like nothing happened between us, and I’m just another player on the team.
His eyes darken before he moves to the bench and pulls off his shirt. I just realized he's been wearing swim trunks the entire practice, which means he planned to get in at some point today.
I gasp at the large tattoo spanned across his back, the Olympic rings resting in large waves of crystal blue water. It has a golden water polo ball in place of the yellow ring. He must have gotten it in the past couple of years since it wasn’t there during the last games he competed in. I tear my gaze away, feeling like a stalker again for even knowing that.
Fallon dives into the pool, my heart pounding as I feel his presence intimately in the water. I turn to where he pops out, shaking and flipping his hair out of his face. He grabs the ball floating by the edge of the wall and swims it toward me.
“Want to get a few more throws in while we wait for Gwen?”
I shrug, swimming on my back away from him slowly, putting distance between us. “I just follow your instructions.”
His eyes narrow and he grabs my ankle, yanking me to him. My head dips under and I accidentally swallow some water in shock. Coughing, I snatch my leg back and glare at him.
“What the hell?”
“We’ll leave the goal open. I’ll defend you,” he says, tossing the ball in front of me and swimming behind me.
I don’t answer him and ignore the ball floating away. I swallow as my skin prickles at his closeness.
“You mad at me, baby?” His teasing question is whispered in my ear as he pulls my body to rest against his chest.
I shudder, tilting my head toward him. “Yes.”
His fingers slide along my waist and up to my ribs, his thumb stroking the underside of my breast. I thank whatever god convinced me to wear a two piece today because I usually never do.
“I know you’re smart enough to realize this is a bad idea. How much you would lose if we got caught. Your career is just starting, you wouldn’t be taken seriously.” His lips press against the crook of my neck and skim to the edge of my shoulder.
“So you’re ignoring me solely for my benefit? Is that what you’re saying?” My stomach dips in as his hand drifts to the top of my bikini bottoms.
He hums, sliding down further and cupping my pussy as I gasp. I lean further into him, using his body to hold myself up. I feel Fallon’s face pull away and the movement as he looks around before he pushes a finger inside me. Then I feel his ragged breathing in my ear again.
“You don’t think I spend every night fucking my fist at the memory of your mouth?” He pumps his finger in and out, the heel of his palm presses into my clit. The perfect amount of pressure on the bundle of nerves. I reach behind me and dig my nails into the back of his neck as I rock my hips with his hand.
“You don’t think I watch you every second of practice, burning the image of your body into my mind? You don’t think I want to follow you back into those showers to see how tight this pussy is when it’s wrapped around my cock?”
My eyes squeeze shut as I struggle to breathe, his words building the fire gathering in my belly. “I think about you too.”
Fallon’s movements stall and he breathes in sharply. “What do you think about?”
When I don’t answer, he nips at the skin of my neck and I gasp. His fingers pull out, moving to tease my entrance and I whimper.
“I think about y-you going down on me,” I say hoarsely as he pushes back inside me.
Fallon palms my breast, squeezing tightly. “There’s nothing I want more than to taste you, baby.”
He keeps fucking me with his hand, kneading my tit and I want his mouth there again. My breathing becomes uneven as my body tightens with my impending release.
“Come for me, Sage. I need to see how beautiful you are when I make you come,” he demands, picking up his pace and bumping against my clit with increasing pressure.
“Oh god,” I groan and he shushes me. Fallon pushes my top up, pinching my nipple and twisting it slightly. It sets me over the edge and I turn my face towards him. He takes the hint and covers my mouth with his, swallowing down my moans as I come.
I’m barely down from my high when he fixes my suit and pulls away from me. I know my face is flushed when I turn in the water to face him. His eyes are nearly black with arousal and I assume if I reached into his shorts, I would feel how hard his thick cock is.
My mouth opens to offer to do just that when Gwen comes around the corner. Fallon treads a little further away from me as she jumps into the pool.
“You all set?” he asks Gwen.
She startles, realizing he is in the pool with us. Her face turns a tint of pink and she nods.
“Yeah, I’m good. Are we still shooting?”
Fallon swims and grabs the ball, throwing it to me and I catch it.
“Yup, I’m going to be defending Sage, so watch carefully. Try to anticipate opportunities she might take to shoot,” he explains and then turns to me. “Fake out only when you know you don’t have a good angle to shoot. If you think you can make it, take it. Don’t second guess.”
“Yes, Coach,” I say with a small smirk that I hide under the water line as I dunk half my face.
Fallon’s jaw clenches but he doesn’t say anything else as we get into position to start the drill.
Chapter Sixteen
Sage
I don’t know why I’m so nervous. Perhaps because playing at the college level is different from high school. I’m confident in my team, but nerves are still wreaking havoc inside me. I’m staring out the window when I feel a presence. I turn expecting Emily and still when he drops next to me.
“You okay?” Fallon asks, scooting an inch closer so his thigh is against mine.
Swallowing, I nod and tuck my headphones into my bag. “Yeah, just pre-game jitters.”
A sly smile stretches against his face. “I didn’t think you got those.”
I scowl. “I’m sure you did too at the Olympics.”
His eyebrows raise. “The chance of a gold medal is a little higher stakes than a college game.”
Rolling my eyes, I nudge my shoulder against his. “Okay, bad example. But still.”
“It's a good thing,” he whispers and I look at him, swallowing at the pondering expression on his face. “I didn’t give a shit about my college team. I thought they were beneath me when I’d been competing at the world level.”
“Oh.” I wasn’t sure what to say to that, but it made sense why he thought that of me now. I’ve seen none of his old team talk about him either.
Fallon laughs sullenly. “They deserved better than me.”
“Your college won state every year you were there,” I scoff, not playing into his wallowing.
“My little stalker.” The devilish grin that stretches across his face has my pussy throbbing.
The heat in his eyes eases some of the embarrassment as my cheeks burn. “Shut up.”
“It’s okay, I’ve done a little stalking of my own. I heard you went on a date,” he says and I cough on the spit I accidentally swallowed down the wrong pipe.
“No,” I blurt out quickly. “I was blindsided with a double with Emily and Greg. I didn’t want to be there.”
Fallon smirks, looking relieved. He stretches his arm out, glancing around before his hand drops onto my thigh.
“Face forward.”
I lick my lips and look straight at the front of the bus. He shifts in the seat, moving so his body is blocking any view of me as his fingers slide between my legs.
“You need to get out of your head. Let me help you,” Fallon whispers.
I inhale sharply. “You said we shouldn’t–”
“I know. I know what I said, but let me.”
Nodding, I open my legs so his hand can slide further up and into my shorts. His fingers brush against my already wet pussy and I bite down on my tongue. My heart pounds in my chest as he rubs my swollen clit in slow circles.
“I’m going to be so hard watching you play today,” Fallon says quietly, leaning forward so his forehead is resting on the seat in front of us. I open my legs further, and his eyes move to watch where his fingers are touching me.
“Fallon…” I whisper.
He pushes a finger into me and I shut my eyes, wishing desperately we were alone. But the thrill of him doing this out in the open, dangerously close to being caught has my pussy clenching. I’m already embarrassingly close to coming from the forbiddenness of what we’re doing while everyone is oblivious around us. This man is magic with his fingers. The small callouses from years of water polo and weight lifting are extremely pleasurable.
My pussy clenches when he adjusts himself in his sweats and I groan, thinking about the cock under those pants. I desperately want to see it again, to feel it in my mouth or inside me.
“What are you thinking about? You just gushed all over me,” he whispers.
“You inside me,” I tell him with a hiss as he rubs against my clit and adds another finger.
His eyes snap to me, pupils blown and his throat bobs as he swallows.
“Sage….” he says and I shake my head, not wanting to hear whatever denial is waiting on his lips.
His attention returns to my heated sex being worked and he picks up the pace. I close my eyes, focusing on the feeling of him as my release builds faster than the time he touched me in the pool. It sweeps over me in waves, I’m surprised my lip isn’t bleeding with how hard I’m biting down on it to stay quiet.
My legs shake as my orgasm slowly dies down. He pulls his hand away, sucking his fingers into his mouth as my eyes widen. Fallon doesn’t look away from me as he cleans my mess off him and my pussy flutters. This isn't fair; he isn’t being fair. I want him just as much as he wants me and we’re stuck on this bus, surrounded by my team.
“Better?” He smirks.
I exhale and nod. “I wish I could return the favor.”
Fallon’s nostrils flare. “Win the game and maybe you can.”
“And if we lose?”
“Don’t,” he says curtly, some of the playfulness gone.
Chapter Seventeen
Sage
Anna waves us over. “Come. My little sister will lube us up.”
“I’m sorry?” I ask, shocked.
She blinks at me. “Did you guys never put baby oil on before games? We always had someone on JV do it.”
“Is that allowed?” Emily asks in awe.
“It’s not. If they find out you’ll be thrown off the entire pool deck,” I say.
I cross my arms, staring at Anna and Gwen in disdain. This is a dirty trick that should have been left in high school.
Anna rolls her eyes. “No one will find out. We do this every year, it’s fine.”
My stomach twists, knowing I can’t let it go. “If you use it, I will tell Coach Harris. I’m sorry, I can’t risk being thrown out of the NCAA.”
“Are you serious?” Her mouth drops open and Emily moves closer to me in solidarity.
I nod. “I am. We don’t need it. We got this. We’re good, we don’t need to do this.”
“Don’t do it, Anna,” Emily says.
Gwen grips onto Anna’s elbow, looking warily between Emily and I. “Coach Harris will suspend us from the team.”
“Not just the team, any athlete caught doing anything like this can be thrown out of the college. You are a representative of them, and it looks bad if their athletes are cheating.”
Anna scoffs. “It’s just baby oil, it’s hardly cheating.”
“It gives you an unnatural advantage over your opponents.”
Emily clears her throat. “Just don’t use it, and we forget this happened. Sage and I don’t want to get anyone in trouble.”
“Whatever. You’ll see,” Anna warns, walking past us with a disgruntled expression.
Gwen stands there idly before muttering a ‘thanks’ and following Anna out of the locker room.
I rub a hand down my face before pulling my suit down to cover more of my ass, already fed up with the constant wedgie.
Emily sighs. “What are we going to do if they use it anyway?”
“I’ll report them. I’m not joking.”
“I know you’re not, but they would lose everything. I don’t think Slater Hills would give them a degree.” She bites her lip in worry.
I grind my teeth. “I’m going to sound like a bitch, but that’s not my problem. They can lose their degree and I lose my chance at the Olympics. That’s all I care about, and they’re not going to take it from me.”
She doesn’t say anything as we walk out of the locker room and onto the pool deck. I know she agrees with me but Emily has a bigger heart than me. She worries about everything and everyone. I may lack a little empathy for others, but at the end of the day, I have to take care of myself and my family.
A whistle pierces the air, the ref waves his hand in a circle for us to line up so he can inspect our nails. Bending them toward my palm, I press my fingers as hard as I can into my hand to make sure I don’t get sent back to clip them. Holding them speared out as the slender, older man walks by, he barely brushes over the tips of my fingers.
The minimal effort to ensure we’re not bringing a pair of claws into the water means I am definitely going home with battle wounds. He finishes up with the other team before asking to speak to the captains and the rest of us head back to the bench.
Fallon is waiting there, caps in hand. “Head in the game, ladies. Ball awareness at all times, communicate with each other, we play as a team and we win as a team.”
Gwen grabs her red cap, and throws me a slight smile as she jumps into the pool and into the goal. Anna doesn’t acknowledge me as she grabs hers and follows Gwen into the pool. The rest of the starting girls do the same till only Fallon and I are standing there. Coach Amber and the subs are already sitting on the bench.
“How you feeling?”
I give him a sly smile. “Relaxed, just a little nervous.”
He puts my game cap over my head, the feel of it over the silicone of my swimming cap causes my heart to pick up. There’s a certain point when you’re preparing for a competition that a switch flips and you push the doubts away. He ties the strings under my chin and then taps the plastic cup over my ear.
“Show them why you deserve to be on our national team.”
Jumping into the water, I ignore the flutters that course through me at his words. I swim to my position on the side of Gwen. I spit the water out of my mouth, rest the back of my head on the goal line and ignore the glare aimed my way from Anna. I hope she’ll put everything aside and work as a team, but I know she’ll never trust me on the same level again.
The ref blows his whistle, tossing the ball into the middle of the pool between the two nets and the six players on each side launch themselves forward, sprinting to be the first one to grab it. I push myself as fast as I can, cutting through the water as my fingertips touch the rough yellow texture of the ball, I tip it up into the air and send it behind me with a smile. I love being the first team to play offense. The player from the other team almost crashes into me. I grip onto her, using her body to spin around her and drive forward. Kicking hard to splash up water, I push myself to gain even a few feet before she’s on me.
I glance to the side as the two-meter line rapidly approaches, knowing I need the ball before I can cross it. I flip onto my back trying to find where it is. Adrenaline courses through me when I see it’s already in the air as I lock gazes with June from where she tossed it to me. The opposing center-back is nearly on me when I graze the ball and guide it to land in front of me so I can dribble it forward.
“High elbows! Don’t let her grab it, Sage!” Fallon’s shouts can barely be heard over the slaps and splashes of the water, but I know it’s about the girl approaching my side as we near the center of the goal.
I take note of the goalie’s position before turning and giving the defender my back since I missed my opportunity to shoot freely. She’s leaning over me as I drop my shoulder into her chest, keeping the ball in my hand as my arm is stretched straight. Pushing my weight into her as if I’m going to step out and shoot, she drops in the water and gets ready to jump and block. I twist and fling my wrist, shooting the ball in a blind backhand. I turn to stare as the whistle of a successful goal pierces the air.
Without delay, I start swimming to my team’s half of the pool to start the next play. The cheers on the deck are muffled as water splashes all around me, but my nerves are gone. I had the first goal in under a minute. Adrenaline courses through me as excitement hums in my veins. Glancing up, I catch Fallon’s pride-filled gaze and my heart swells. That means more to me than the game at this moment.
Chapter Eighteen
Fallon
My knee bounces and I glance back at her. Her lost stare is still fixated out the window. I look at Anna in the seat across from me and a surge of hope swirls inside when I see her asleep, curled into her parka on the seat. The rest of the girls left for home with their parents, only Sage and Anna are joining me for the bus ride back.
I get up, slowly walking down the aisle to not disturb Anna and settle onto the bench next to Sage. She turns and looks at me and smiles.
