"Hey Jamie, can I ask you a question?" Tyler asked, relaxing in the bleachers.
"Anything." Jamie responded, taking a sip of his coffee.
"What does it mean when a girl tells you she loves you?"
Jamie spit out he mouthful of coffee he didn't have a chance to swallow, getting it all over himself. He almost shrieked.
"Did I miss something here?!"
"Well, sort of. Tori told me last night that she never thought she would be so lucky as to fall in love with her best friend, and told me that it was me. You know, just in case I didn't pick up on that."
"Tyler, this is huge! You do realize that you're more than friends, and it's been that way for a long time now?!" He stated, able to get by by knowing he would maybe bring clarity to Tyler.
"I get that, but what do I do?"
"Tyler, trust me. You're madly in love with her. I think you should kiss her, what are you waiting for?"
There was a pang in Jamie's chest when he suggested that, but he was able to make it through by knowing that Tyler would be happy. He knew it was a bad habit to put someone else's happiness above his own, but he couldn't help it. He wanted Tyler to have the best in life, even if Jamie wasn't a part of it. It was a hopeless cycle of emotion Jamie hated to confront.
"The opportune moment?" Tyler answered, unable to come up with a good answer as to why he didn't make a move yet with Tori.
"It's now. You better make things right before she leaves, Tyler. Like, set the record straight. She deserves at least that much."
"Hold that thought, she's up!" Tyler exclaimed.
"What's she swimming?"
"The 200 fly! She's in lane 5. Look at her! Amazing start, look at her kicks off the walls, Jamie! SHE HAS 10 KICKS! Oh, she's gonna win." Tyler commentated. Jamie noticed that Tyler was religiously tracking her splits with his stopwatch and writing them down on the heat sheet.
"Jamie, she just cut a second and a half off her time! She doesn't have the NCAA championship cut yet, but she's getting so damn close-" Tyler pointed out, comparing her time to the qualifying time on a small laminated card he had attached to his stopwatch.
"Anyway, you were saying, Jamie?"
"Oh, that's it. I know it's going to be hard with the long distance thing, but she's a senior and is single. Ask her to move in after graduation or something."
"Well, that's the issue. What if she finds someone-"
"Tyler, I highly doubt she'll find someone that she connects with and has as much chemistry with as she has with you. You're in love, Ty. Great things will happen if you give romance half a chance."
"I'm nervous, but I think I'll go for it."
"Good." Jamie concluded, and then there was silence.
Meanwhile, down on deck, Tori had just hopped out of the warmup and cooldown pool and found her place on the bleachers. She took her cap and goggles off and put them down by her bag, wrapping herself in her towel. Her best friend and teammate, Mimi, knew something was different about her.
"Damn, girl. You've never swum a 200 fly like that, what's new?"
"I may or may not be madly in love with my best friend, but I don't think he's all that interested in me."
"He bought you that suit, I'd say you're in love."
"He only bought it for me because he ripped my other one on accident. I told him I would be fine with the cheaper one, but he swiped his credit card before I could even blink."
"This is the tattooed professional hockey player, right? The hot one? Or is he the other hot one sitting next to him?"
"He's got a name. It's Tyler, and yes. He is all of those things you just mentioned, and so is the guy sitting next to him, actually. That's Jamie. They play on the same team."
"You talk about him all the time, I know your history with him. Why aren't you two a thing yet?"
"I don't know, we've never lost contact over the years but I guess his career and my education separated us. I'm surprised he hasn't found anybody, the closest thing he has to a serious romantic relationship is with his best friend, Jamie."
"My advice? Make it official with Tyler. Just do it. You're almost out of college, so it's not long before you have your entire life ahead of you. Go for it, girl. And maybe you could introduce me to Jamie," she smiled jokingly.
"I'm just nervous, that's all."
"You really are in love, Tori." Mimi stated before grabbing her cap and goggles and heading up to swim.
After the meet ended, Tori headed into the locker room with Mimi. As they were changing, they discussed strategies on how to approach the situation.
"Okay, knowing your history, he's probably sitting right outside the door with his hot best friend, waiting for you. Act normal at first, but gradually get closer to him and then tell him how you really feel about him, unless he does so first."
"I don't think he'll admit to it first. Would you like to meet said hot friend?"
"Yes, I most definitely would!" Mimi responded excitedly, and they finished changing.
Outside of the locker rooms, Jamie was down for the count. He had never experienced anything like that before, sitting on hard bleachers for over six hours. Granted, he did learn a lot about swimming, but there was nothing he could do but sit and watch them swim back and forth for hours. It was enjoyable, but slightly boring and painful to his ass. His ass hurt more now than when they do countless squats and burpees at strength training.
Tyler, though exhausted, was waiting patiently for Tori to come out of the locker room. When she did, Tyler perked up and nudged Jamie with his elbow. Tyler stood up to give tori a tight congratulatory hug for her success in the pool before she introduced her friend Mimi to Jamie.
Afterwards, Tyler changed the subject of the conversation as they were walking out to the car.
"I hope you don't mind, I sent out a message to the team inviting them over to my house for lunch. We're going to make burgers and hot dogs, is that cool?"
"That's great, I'm starving and I want to meet your teammates. Who's coming?"
"I've gotten a few responses saying they'll come, but we'll see who shows up. Mimi, you're more than welcome to come, too." Tyler offered invitingly.
She accepted the offer, and it wasn't long before they were in Tyler's backyard, lounging by the pool and having a beer. Tori was standing and arguing about comics with a small group of Tyler's friends and teammates; but it wasn't long before Jason Demers came jogging over to Tyler, eager to say something.
"Okay, Tyler. What's the deal?"
"What do you mean?"
"Why didn't you tell me your girlfriend was amazing? She's actually the coolest out of all of us, and I just now know about her? Whats the deal with that?"
"First of all, she's not my girlfriend."
"Bullshit!! I see the way you guys look at each other. You're madly in love. You should make it official before she goes home."
"But she's my best friend."
"And that's a problem? You guys already know everything about each other, so you can be yourselves. It's perfect, Tyler, you guys have been through a lot together and have seen each other's bests and worsts. You're in a serious relationship with her, you know, but right now it's just not a romantic relationship. I think it should be, but that's just me." He ranted before walking leisurely back towards the comic book debate club on the other side of the yard.
This left Tyler with a feeling that said Jason was right. He had to do something, say anything to her, before time ran out for both of them.