His Darkness (bxb)

chapter fifty-six

well, well

look who's inside again

went out to look for a reason to hide again

well, well, buddy you found it

now come out with your hands up we've got you surrounded

━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━

I submerge myself under the surface of the water one final time before pulling myself out of the pool. I take off my goggles and peel my cap off, feeling a wave of relief as I run my hands through my long hair.

I need a haircut.

"I'm going to hand you over to Sebastian now for your stretches," the head coach says. He's a tall man in his late forties with very sharp features and an even sharper gaze when he's angry, but I've grown to appreciate and respect him deeply over the past week of training with him. "I know it's your day off, but I expect you all to be up tomorrow by six for breakfast, understood?"

"Yes, coach."

"Amazing," he smiles. "Have a good night everyone."

"Jesus," Kaylan sighs, walking towards me as he takes his cap off. "That was intense."

I sat next to Kaylan for breakfast on my first day at training camp and we got along well ever since. He's in his fourth year of university and incredibly tall - even to me. Besides him, Joshua - Kaylan's hotel roommate - is the only other guy I've been well acquainted with over the past week.

"That's 'cause you're doing the long-distance sets," I remind him.

He smirks. "Lucky bastard."

I shrug, shooting him a teasing smile as we dry off poolside. "What are you racing again?" I ask.

"Two hundred metre fly, two hundred metre free, four hundred meter IM."

I grimace as I pull my head through the hole in my hoodie. "Ew. Good luck."

"You're telling me," he chuckles, pulling a t-shirt over his head. "You wanna swap?"

"I'd rather die."

Kaylan chuckles slightly. "Would you want to come over to mine and Joshua's room later, maybe?" he asks.

"Sure," I smile as I pull on my shoes, not bothering to undo the laces.

"You know our number, right? 128."

"128," I repeat. "I'll be there."

"Perfect," he grins. "Just come over whenever you want."

"The weather's nice, so we'll be stretching outside today," Sebastian calls out. "Let's speed it up, ladies and gentlemen!"

Kaylan sighs. "I still haven't decided whether I like Sebastian or absolutely hate every fibre of his being."

✴✴✴

I take a deep breath, double-checking the room number before delivering three knocks on the wooden door. A second later, Joshua throws the door open, a huge smile appearing on his face when he recognises me.

Joshua is one of the shorter people on the Canadian national swimming team and is definitely teased for it all the time, primarily by Kaylan. Nonetheless, he doesn't allow his height to be a disadvantage and is still one of the fastest swimmers on the entire team.