In the Fast Lane (Fast Series Book 1) (24 page)

Dalton paced the halls of the swimming facility. She’d done it. She’d won gold...and a world record. He’d never anticipated that.

She’d made sure to do it her way, too. That race wasn’t what they’d worked on. The plan had been slow and steady—save the balls out for the end of each race. Jessi had gone for it from the get-go, and in true Pruitt fashion, she’d won it all.

She’d never needed him. He’d been a fool to think otherwise. But he had needed this. Dalton made a decision and went to find Sawyer.

“Hey, man.” Sawyer was in the U.S. coaches’ lounge, preparing for the afternoon heats.

“Where the hell have you been? I’ve been trying to congratulate you for the last half-hour.” Sawyer pushed himself up from the couch and embraced Dalton.

“The hug in the stands and girly shriek wasn’t good enough? Cause I’ll tell you, it was good enough for me.” Dalton hugged him back.

“Fuck off. I was excited.” Sawyer squeezed him tight. “You did it, man.”

“Nah. She did it. That was all Pruitt, right there.”

“Don’t underestimate your influence on her, Dalton. She would never have pulled that off without you.”

Dalton couldn’t help being a little ticked. “So all’s forgiven? She gets gold and a world record—you get the glory of it.”

“You know that’s not it.”

“Really?”

“Knock it off. Don’t ruin this moment. I forgave you a long time ago. I’d have fired you otherwise.”

“Whatever. There’s plenty of time to talk this out later.” Dalton took a moment to make sure what he said next came out right. “Listen, I’ve been going over everything we need to do at the facility to get everybody packed up and out before the next camps. Jessi’s got this thing in the bag. I don’t have a lot to do here. I think I’ll catch an early flight back to Colorado if that’s all right with you. I’ll probably be more useful there than here.”

Sawyer looked surprised but followed the man code and didn’t ask questions. “All right. Sounds good. Talk to the travel department and get the tickets set up.”

“Will do. See ya, man.” Dalton turned to go.

“McKinney.”

Dalton stopped short of the door but didn’t turn around. Fuck. Sawyer wasn’t going to let this go after all.

“Yeah?”

“I fly back to Colorado after the games. I’ll have the legal-eagles draw up a long term coaching contract for you to look at by then. That sound like a plan?”

Dalton looked down at the floor, then nodded his head. This was a big thing for Sawyer to do. He turned around. “Yeah, man. That sounds like a damn good plan.”

“Good. Have a safe flight.”

“Yep.”

The next morning, Dalton got on a plane and flew home. He didn’t say goodbye to Jessi. Didn’t even tell her he was leaving.

He looked out the window at the Rocky Mountains. Funny how small they looked from up here. His life had changed so much in these last few weeks. He was sure he wanted to stay on as a coach. At least until Sawyer decided to throw in the towel. They worked well together, and he loved the son of a bitch. He knew what love was now, for all the good it did him. He loved his friend, and he loved Jessi. And just like he’d predicted, the latter had damn near ripped his heart out.

It wasn’t her winning the gold medal that had made Dalton realize he was in love with Jessi Pruitt. He’d known he was falling for her the first time they’d made love. What he was finally starting to realize was that they’d done this thing together. They were a team. Jessi had figured her shit out. Now it was his turn. He was a successful coach. He’d made something of himself. Now it was time to show Jessi he knew it. Then...well, then, he was going to win back the girl.

Chapter 26

Jessi entered the U.S. Swimming Facility to cheers and congratulations. She’d flown in the day before and spent some time with her parents. Now she needed to grab her stuff and start the next phase of her life. She’d won the rest of her races. She had interviews lined up for the next week, and then, blessedly, she’d fade from the public eye.

Walking through the crowd, she hugged people she’d worked with her whole life. It was a bittersweet moment, made all the more so by the fact that one important face was missing.

“He’s in the film room, reviewing tape,” Sawyer whispered in her ear.

“Thanks, Sawyer. But I don’t think we have anything to say to each other.”

“Sure, you do. You just don’t want to say it.” He winked at her and went on his way.

“Jessi, go talk to him.” This time it was Allie giving her great advice. She’d been standing next to her when Sawyer had come up.

“You think that’s wise?”

“Probably not, but you can’t leave things the way they are.”

“Oh, you have no idea how capable I am of leaving things the way they are.”

Allie laughed. “Fine. But go talk to him anyway. Do it for me. That way, you can find closure and we can go out and have fun instead of crying about men.”

“Fine. You going to be here for a while?”

“Yes. I’m coming to the party.”

The team was throwing Jessi a retirement party. She wasn’t sure she was excited about it, but she had to admit, a night with Allie and friends sounded pretty good.

“I’m holding you to that. I’ll be back in a minute.”

Jessi found Dalton in the film room. He was concentrating on a swimmer she didn’t recognize. “Next big thing?” she asked, coming up behind him.

Dalton started. “Oh, hey. I didn’t hear you come in.”

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to interrupt you.”

“No worries. I’m just going over film.”

“I see that. Anyone I know?”

“He’s a swimmer out of Kansas. Could be fast if we can fix his stroke. Wanna take a look?”

Jessi stepped back. “No, I don’t want to bother you. I just wanted to stop in and, you know, say thanks,” she finished lamely.

“Jessi, you don’t have to—”

“Yes. I do. But hey, it looks like you’re busy, so I’ll leave you to it.” Jessi turned to leave. She needed to get away from him. It had been easy to think she was over him when she was in Canada. Now, without the crowds and the swimming, Dalton was as imposing on her heart as he’d always been.

“Jessi, wait.”

“No, Dalton.” She turned to look at him. “Good luck with the team. I’m happy you’re staying on. You’ll do great.” Before he could stop her, Jessi fled from the room.

Dalton sat looking at the screen. What the fuck? How had he managed to screw this situation up? He’d barely said anything.

He needed to find Sawyer. Jumping up from his seat, he went to seek out his best friend.

“What are you doing tonight?”

“Working. Why?”

“I need to talk.”

“So talk.”

“Not
here
. I need to talk about
stuff
.”

“Like
stuff,
stuff?” Sawyer mocked him.

“God, you are a prick. I wouldn’t make you squirm like this if you were in my shoes, just so you know.”

“Holy shit. That is the biggest lie you’ve ever told.” Sawyer shook his head. “Fine. Let’s go out tonight. The rest of the team will be packing up and heading out. They’re having a retirement party for Jessi tonight.”

“Really? There’s a retirement party? Why weren’t we invited?”

“Well,
I
was invited to the party. Jessi’s parents are putting it together, and they love me.
You
weren’t invited because you broke their daughter’s heart and then left the country without saying goodbye to her. Nice move, by the way.”

God, Sawyer was such a dick. “Are you going?” If he was going, Dalton was sure as hell attending as his plus one.

“No. I declined,” Sawyer said with annoying austerity. “I said that I wanted to get together later with just her and her parents to celebrate. What I really intended to do was keep you away from her before you could make an ass of yourself. I don’t know what your plan to get her back is, but it sucks.”

Dalton started singing a song in his head about how Sawyer was a fucker. He was using the technique to keep from punching the asshole in the face. “What makes you think I want her back?”

“Well, you just had your ‘I’m going to hit Sawyer in the face’ look, and you’ve been doing nothing but working since you got back. You’re clearly not over her, so my guess is, you’re trying to get her back. Since you can’t think of anything smart to say to achieve that end, I’m taking you to the bar tonight. We’ll drink a little, or at least I will. You’re going to drink a lot. I’m going to take your cell phone to keep you from drunk dialing. We are going to do one of two things: Find a way for you to win Jessi Pruitt’s sweet, little golden heart,” Sawyer said sarcastically, “or we are going to drink her out of your system.”

“You know that isn’t going to work, right?”

“Sure do. But at least I’m being proactive.”

Three hours later, Dalton was trying to stay on his chair. Sawyer wasn’t kidding. He’d kept the drinks coming...and he’d taken Dalton’s phone. This had to be a terrible idea, Dalton was sure.

“Why did you make me to this?” He glared at Sawyer.

“I didn’t make you do anything. You’re the one who wanted shots.”

“I’m also the one who drove myself into a tree. Clearly, I don’t make good decisions when I’m drunk. I’m blaming you.”

Sawyer laughed. “Just stay put, okay? I need to take a piss.”

“Hmm...” Dalton watched Sawyer leave for the men’s room. Like any good drunk, he was pretty sure he had a brilliant idea forming in his head. If Jessi didn’t want to talk to him, he was going to have to force the issue. Since she was currently having a party—one that he wasn’t invited to—he was going to have to get creative. The timing of Sawyer’s squirrel bladder was perfect. Dalton decided to make a break for it.

“Hey there, where are you off to?”

Their pretty waitress grabbed his arm. He appreciated the come on but wasn’t interested.

“No offense, but I’m in love with someone else.” Dalton smiled sympathetically at her.

“Ah, okay. Well, actually, your friend told me not to let you out of my sight while he went to the bathroom.”