by Lexy Timms
“Or you could call me by my name. That would be preferable.”
“Not right now I can't. Right now you're Chrissy.” Jani pointed at the ID in Aileen's hand and made a stern face. “So get in there and strut your stuff so we can celebrate your enormous feat by getting you very drunk.”
It was Aileen's turn to laugh. With a sigh, she gave in. “Fine,” she said. “I'll take the ID.”
They started toward the door of the bar and Aileen crossed one set of fingers behind her back, hoping that the bouncer would actually accept the ID as hers. Jani had said they weren't strict about them, but if it was really obvious then they were obligated to do something, weren't they? Or did they not care as long as she made some kind of effort?
“ID?” the bouncer asked, hardly looking at her.
She held the ID out to him and he took it, glancing down at it, then up at her face. He handed it back. “Have fun in there, Chrissy.”
“I will,” Aileen said. “Thank you.” She slipped into the dimly-lit bar, Jani right behind her, and this time her sigh was of relief.
“So,” Jani said, “Let's get you a drink. Get you started.”
“I'm not sure how drunk I want to get,” Aileen admitted.
“If you're worried that you're going to end up like Laura, I promise that you aren't. You have to drink way more than you should be to end up the way she did. So no dislocated shoulders for you. We just want to get you buzzed. Not actually damage you. You have a reputation to uphold as a championship-winning athlete.”
“Gee,” Aileen said. “Thanks.”
They walked up to the bar, through the shifting rainbow lights, and Aileen stared at the huge selection of bottle set up on shelves against the wall. She'd had drinks before. But she'd never actually ordered any specific mixed drinks, and she'd never been to a bar before, and she didn't want them to think that she didn't know what she was talking about.
“What do you want?” the bartender asked.
Aileen tapped one finger against the edge of the bar, thinking. “Just something that you think is good?” She tried finally. “Sorry. I haven't really been to a lot of bars yet.”
The bartender smiled at her. “No worries. I'll get you something that you'll like. You want sour, bitter, or sweet?”
“Sweet and sour?”
“You got it.”
He turned away, beginning the process of making whatever drink he had decided would be best for her. Aileen turned to look at Jani, who was grinning at her.
“You did it. I actually think that you shouldn't be scared of a bartender, considering what you just did.”
“You know those are totally different things, right?” Aileen protested. “When I'm running I don't have to talk to people.”
The bartender returned before Jani could insult her again, and set a glass on the bar for Aileen. She handed over a bill that she hoped was enough and told him to keep the change. He tucked it into his apron with a nod and turned to ask Jani what kind of drink she was looking for.
Aileen picked up the glass that the bartender had set down for her and took a sip. It was good, spilling across her tongue with a tang of citrus. Just sweet enough to take the edge off the sour.
“Aileen!”
She turned around to see Chrissy walking in, with a group of guys behind her that included Jason, Sean, and Tyler.
It was Tyler her eyes fixed on. She remembered with a little shiver that look that they had traded as the crowd went wild after his win. She wanted to go wrap herself around him, but she settled for giving him a look from under her eyelashes as she lifted her glass to her lips and took another drink.
“Is that any good?” Tyler asked as he approached, head tipping to the side in question.
“It is, actually,” Aileen said. “I guess the bartender knows what he's doing.”
“Most of them do,” Tyler said with a chuckle. “It's a nice step up from cheap beer and alcoholic punch, isn't it?”
Aileen took another drink, nodding instead of answering with words. She was enjoying the drink more the more she had of it, and she wondered if that was because she was getting more used to the taste, or because the alcohol was making her tongue a little numb to any tastes she didn't like, the way the cheap stuff they’d drank at the school parties had been.
“So,” Jason said, appearing suddenly at their elbows with a drink in his hand. “Who's ready to PARTY!”
Aileen laughed. “I guess I am,” she said. “That's what we're here for, right?”
“You bet!” Jason grinned his huge grin at her. “You two just won big, and you deserve a night to remember in celebration.”
“That's what everyone keeps saying,” Aileen pointed out.
“Because it's true,” Sean said. “You two are awesome. And we're all really proud of you. And that's not a joke, for once. We really are proud of you.”
“That's really sweet, Sean,” Aileen said, a giggle slipping into the words.
Tyler's hand closed around hers, and tugged gently, and Aileen let herself follow the pull, her drink still in one hand, Tyler leading her out onto the dance floor. The lights moved over them, almost tangible with the way that they stroked across bare skin.
“How about a dance?” he asked, even though he'd already gotten her out there and didn't really need to ask.
“I think I could enjoy that,” Aileen said.
She looked down at the drink in her hand, not sure what to do with it, and Tyler noticed her confusion. With a gentle smile, he took the glass, moving over to one of the tables that edged the dance floor and setting it down so that she could get to it if she wanted without any worry that she was going to spill it all over both of them while they were dancing.
When he came back, he wrapped his hands around her hips, and she wrapped her arms around his neck. The song was slow, and they swayed to it, moving to the same rhythm.
For a moment, Aileen was reminded of the last time that they had danced together. It wasn't a pleasant memory, and the thought of it made her wonder if she should maybe be more careful. Last time that she'd agreed to get out on a dance floor with Tyler, it had been part of the reason that she broke up with him.
But there weren't other girls here fawning over him. It was a little hard with a cluster of Gatica track students all around them: Sean and Jake and Jani, Chrissy and Ryan dancing together the same way Aileen and Tyler were.
“You know something?” Tyler asked, just loud enough to be heard over the music. His breath was warm against her ear.
“What's that?” Aileen returned.
“I happen to have a hotel room all to myself,” he said, pulling back enough to grin at her. “And I was thinking that it might be a lot more pleasant than trying not to wake your roommate.”
“That's probably true,” Aileen chuckled. “I guess I could find it exciting enough even without the thrill of whispering every word.”
Tyler's hands against her hips pulled her in hard suddenly, his hips rolling against hers and their bodies pressed together from chest to thighs. “You had better find it exciting without worrying about exposing ourselves to Jani, because I'm pretty sure that's a fetish and I'm not sure that it's one I share.”
“No fetishes for me,” Aileen said. “At least, not any that you don't have, too.” She winked at him as she said it, and giggled when both of his eyebrows shot up toward his hairline.
“Is that so?”
“Everyone has a fetish or two, probably.”
If he had meant to go along with that, he was interrupted by Jason suddenly bumping into them, wrapping his arms around both of their shoulders. “You two enjoying your celebration?”
“We were enjoying it more before you decided to get in the middle of it, you oaf,” Tyler laughed.
“Oh, well, excuse me. You two can be all private and sexy about it later. Right now you're going to enjoy yourselves with the rest of us, so come on.”
Jason caught Tyler's hand, already pulling him toward their friends,
and Aileen, her fingers linked with Tyler's, was towed along. She laughed, and when he looked back at her to see what she thought of it she gave a helpless shrug.
“I guess this is a group thing,” she shouted over the music.
“I guess it is,” Tyler said wryly.
Aileen found as they joined their friends and hands patted them on the backs and shoulders, that she didn't mind too much. They would have plenty of time for themselves that night, but they should take time with their friends while they had it. One day, college was going to end and they wouldn't all be together anymore.
She was learning to take advantage of things while she had them.
***
By the time they left the bar and made their way back to the hotel, it was nearly two in the morning and Aileen was a little tipsy, giggling at odd moments and feeling a little less than steady on her feet. Tyler seemed to be in much the same state, laughing and bright-eyed. He pulled her down the hall toward his room, both of them laughing under their breath as they tried to keep quiet enough that they wouldn't disturb the people around them.
Tyler fumbled with the key at his door. “This is not working,” he hissed.
“Shh,” Aileen giggled. “You're probably just doing it wrong.”
He looked at her like he wasn't sure that he was going to let her try, and then he handed the card over. Aileen examined it, checking for the strip that would show which way it was meant to go. When she figured it out she stuck it into the slot in the door and then yanked it out again. The light on the door turned green and it made a little beeping, clicking sound. She turned the handle and it swung open, admitting them both into the room.
They stumbled their way to the bed, falling onto it together still fully clothed, and the door shut itself with a bang. Aileen jumped, and then laughed.
“I can't believe I won,” she said, tracing the lines of Tyler's face with the tips of her fingers. “I mean. I can. I kind of expected to, but I still can't believe it.”
“Oh, I can,” Tyler said. “I always knew that you were going to do huge things, Aileen, from the first time that I saw you race.”
“Did you?”
“I did,” he answered, and then his mouth found hers, silencing any more questions that she might have asked.
They didn’t talk any more after that.
Chapter 15
Indoor season ended, and immediately outdoor season began. While the handful of those who had made it to Indoor NCAAs, the rest of the athletes had already begun training for outdoors. Tyler and Aileen and the Gatica track team moved from one to the next smoothly with the help of Coach Anderson.
Aileen preferred training outside. It was good to be in the sun and the wind, out under the sky. Sure it was going to get hot soon, if it ever got hot in New York State, but until then Aileen was going to enjoy it to the utmost. Training camp would be down in Florida. She couldn’t wait.
And she was going to enjoy Tyler.
They'd moved past the things that had kept them apart and struggling. Aileen wasn't afraid any longer that Tyler would fall for another woman. He had made it clear that he preferred her, and only her. She was finally starting to believe it.
When training started, Tyler came around. He couldn’t come to Florida because he had no outdoor eligibility left and the Patriots asked him to come for a week training with them.
Meets started the week after Florida. Tyler came to those as well. Each one was bittersweet, reminding Aileen that soon it would be summer and school would be over, and when she returned in the fall Tyler would be gone, playing his first games in the NFL.
But that was later, and this was now.
Unfortunately, now was currently on a bus, and the bus was not particularly comfortable.
The bus was hot and stuffy, filled with tired and hungry athletes as they all rode back from the competition. All the girls seemed to sit on one side of the bus and the guys on the other, keeping Aileen away from Tyler. Tyler had talked Coach Anderson into letting him come along. He kept glancing over his shoulder. Aileen was seated two seats back and one over from him on the bus. She was trapped at the window seat next to Amanda, forcing him to sit next to Jacob. Her blood was pumping, her body still sweaty from the meet, and all she wanted to do was celebrate with Tyler. Staring out the window, Aileen tried to think of a way to get over to talk to him, staring between the girl sitting next to her and the guy she wanted so close to her.
Tyler seemed to be thinking the same thing and suddenly he smiled. Like it finally hit him, the perfect plan, now all he had to do was make sure that everyone involved played their part without asking too many questions.
Aileen felt like she was reading his mind. She heard the conversation between Tyler and Jacob.
“Hey, man, I think Amanda’s checking you out.”
“What?”
“Yeah, she keeps looking over at you. I bet she wants to congratulate you and ask you out.”
“Oh, cool. I think I’m going to go talk to her.”
Tyler clapped him on the back and turned in his seat, watching as his friend walked over to ask Aileen for her seat. Of course she said no problem, and wandered up the two rows to fill the empty seat next to Tyler.
She leaned over to whisper her question, not wanting anyone on the bus to notice them talking, “Does your friend really have a thing for Amanda, or was that your trick to get me over here?”
“Can you blame me? We didn’t get to talk at all during the competition.”
“We get to talk a lot outside of competitions, but no, I wanted to sit next to you instead of her anyway. I don’t blame you for anything.”
Aileen snuck her hand onto his leg and Tyler reached his hand over to her thigh in return. He began caressing it slowly, squeezing his hand when he got too high, the temptation to go higher driving him insane. He leaned forward and whispered, “I want to celebrate with my girl, and were fuckin’ trapped on a bus for two more hours.”
Aileen could sense the tension Tyler was feeling, his leg muscles tight and his foot tapping out the seconds on the sticky floor of the bus, so she decided to try to distract him for the rest of the ride. Aileen leaned over and began to blow gently on his ear, covering him in the cool of her breath as her hand massaged his leg. She began to whisper small little details of all the things they could do together, moaning every once in a while to add to the effect.
Tyler groaned and slumped against his seat, her words riling him up like he had never experienced before; she was teasing him and he liked it. Two could play at that game, though, and Tyler leaned over to brush his lips against her ear, nibbling on her earlobe as he began to whisper his own dirty thoughts and ideas. He praised her on her body, spoke of how much enjoyed touching her, and every time he felt her squirm he would rub his fingers roughly against her inner thigh, threatening to venture further.
“You wouldn’t, not here on the bus!” Aileen was trying to be quiet, but feeling Tyler’s fingers tickle her thigh just inside the leg of her shorts was causing her body to squirm and heat up.
“Is that a dare?” Tyler arched his brow, trying to keep his comments and intentions hidden from everyone else on the bus, his whispers turning into small growls as his fingers ventured a little higher up her thigh.
Aileen clamped her legs closed, locking his hand where it was; she knew that if she didn’t Tyler would explore her whole lower half. “Tyler, we can’t—”
“I know, that’s what makes it so hot.”
Aileen just glared at Tyler, fighting back her smile. He always made even the bad things seem good to her. “At least wait till we’re off the bus, please.”
“You sure about that?” Tyler asked.
“Absolutely,” Aileen answered. “Very sure. As sure as I am that you can control yourself. So do it.”
He looked at her sadly, but withdrew his hand and kept the conversation to things that didn’t have her squirming in her seat.
***
They didn’t get a ch
ance to sneak off immediately after the bus ride. There were too many other people getting off the bus with them. Jani claimed Aileen’s attention, and she gave Tyler an apologetic look as she was dragged away.
It wasn’t until later that night that Tyler showed up at the house she and Jani shared to pick her up.
Aileen ran down the front stairs and out to the car, opening the door and sliding inside with a pat for Lizzy.
“Hey,” she said, turning to smile at Tyler.
“Hey,” he echoed, and his smile matched hers.
The car pulled out from the curb, and drove slowly down the street. There was no more urgency between them, the need of the bus left behind during the time that they’d been separated. But that didn’t mean that Aileen didn’t want him. She found that she always wanted Tyler. It was hard not to when he looked like that, those beautiful gray-amber-green eyes and the lean, rippling muscles visible under the fabric of his shirt.
He turned down one road, then another, seemingly aimless, and the car rumbled under them.
“Where are we going?” Aileen asked finally.
“I’m not sure,” Tyler answered. “We’re just driving. I thought you might enjoy it.”
She leaned back against her seat and let her eyelids slide lower. “I do enjoy it.”
It was nice to simply share space with him, driving down tree-lined streets all green with spring.
Eventually, they ended up at the track stadium and Tyler pulled the car into a spot, turning the key in the ignition.
“You want to go in?” he asked.
There was a light in her eyes that she wasn’t sure she could trust to be entirely innocent, and Aileen grinned.
“Sure,” she said. “I’d love to go in.”
He came around the car to meet her as she stepped out, and took her hand, drawing her toward the stadium. He opened the gates for her. When they were both in, Tyler closed the doors again behind them.
Aileen stood looking out over the green field, waiting for Tyler to join her.
“This is what it’s all about,” she said, voice soft and reverent. “Home field, the run, this is what life is all about.”
