Chapter 4
To get to Stacie's diving event at the Maria Lenk Aquatics Center, they had to drive an hour out to Barra da Tijuca. Coach was hesitant to let them go, but Beca wasn't going to take no for an answer. So, he compromised and let her go as long as her trainer could tag along and keep her active. She wasn’t allowed to relax because semi-finals were later in the afternoon and she had to be on top of their game. So, when they arrived a few hours early, Beca was forced to run laps around the parking lot.
"Come on, Luke," Beca whined after she’d run her sixth lap. It was hot out, and she had just been cramped in the backseat of a taxi between two muscular men. She wiped her forehead, her hand coming back soaked with sweat. She was melting. "Do you want me to die of a heat stroke? Coach would be pissed."
Luke looked a little nervous at that, "All right, fine." He grabbed a water bottle and some clothes from his backpack and threw them at Beca. "Go have a shower. I'll see you up in the stands."
Beca smirked, making clucking chicken sounds at him. Coach had Luke’s balls in a jar.
“Yeah, yeah. Cute ring, ay?” Luke smirked back. “S’that new?”
Beca blushed, heading to the showers without another word. She took out her phone, it had buzzed quite a few times during the ride over, but Beca couldn’t pull it out in fear that Jesse and Luke – who she was practically sitting on the laps of – would read the texts over her shoulder.
Chloe: Good Morning!
Chloe: You’re probably heading to Stacie’s event.
Chloe: Tell her I said good luck.
Chloe: I’m sorry I couldn’t come.
Chloe: Do you still want to meet me at the rings tonight? Let me know.
Chloe: Good luck on your race.
Beca scratched her cheek, so she was a little annoyed. Chloe had declined Beca’s invitation to come see Stacie dive because she wanted to be stress-free before her game. But Beca didn't understand how watching someone who wasn’t in the same country as you were, competing in a sport that had nothing to do with yours, hours before your match, could cause stress, but didn’t say anything. Chloe had been different since she had given Beca the ring.
But Beca wasn’t annoyed enough to skip out on a chance to see her.
Beca: I’ll tell Stacie. See you tonight.
Beca stripped out of her sweat-soaked clothes, opting to throw them out because there was no way she was lugging those with her in the taxi back to Rio.
Under the cool spray of water, Beca imagined the sunrays that had been trapped beneath her skin extinguishing and had to clamp her mouth shut to keep from moaning at how good it felt. When she was done, she slipped on Luke’s white t-shirt and sweats that no matter how hard she yanked on the drawstrings, hung loosely on her hips.
"Need some help there?"
Beca glanced up, meeting bright green eyes, “Um, no thanks. I’ve got it—” She tilted her head, squinting her eyes. She had seen this woman before. “You’re Aubrey, right? The other Canadian volleyball player?” Chloe’s teammate.
“Well, the other Canadian volleyball player isn’t my official title, but yes, I guess in a belittled sense that’s who I am,” Aubrey said looking less than impressed.
Beca winced, she really put her foot in her mouth sometimes, “Sorry, I didn’t mean it to come out that way.”
“Apology accepted,” Aubrey smiled, it was a perfect smile. Actually, everything about her – blonde hair, green eyes, toned body, straight white teeth – screamed perfect. “And are you the other American diver?” She asked wryly, glancing down at the American flag on the sleeve of Luke’s t-shirt.
What? Beca blinked, confused. She and Chloe had spent practically every second since the start of the Olympics together and she hadn’t once mentioned Beca to her best friend? Was she not as important to Chloe as Chloe was to her? Jesse and Stacie both knew about Chloe the morning after the first night they had hung out. She subconsciously ran her thumb over the gold ring on her middle finger.
“No, actually, I’m Beca. I run the women’s 100 meter,” She stuck her hand out and Aubrey shook it. “I’m here to watch my friend Stacie. She’s diving today.”
"Stacie Conrad?" Aubrey asked, suddenly looking very interested.
"The one and only," Beca smirked. “Hey, do you want to watch with us? It would make my friend Jesse’s year.”
"Sure, I’d love to.”
Beca giggled, watching a diver walk onto the board. She jumped off and did a complicated twist, but her legs were a little off trajectory which caused her to land in the water with a pretty substantial splash. Beca laughed into her fist.
“Would you shut up?” Jesse nudged her in the ribs.
“I’m not laughing at her,” Beca defended, unable to stop her grin. “I just can’t get your face when you saw Aubrey out of my head.”
Jesse rolled his eyes.
When Beca had joined Luke and Jesse in the stands with Aubrey behind her, Jesse had completely lost what little cool he had to begin with. His eyes bugged out of his head and he began hyperventilating. Beca introduced them; Luke smiled and said, hey, and Jesse blabbered words that didn’t make any sense.
"B-Bec-Beca, t-that's Aubrey," Jesse whispered after they had sat down.
"Yeah, I know,” Beca smirked. “I met her in the shower.”
Jesse's face went completely red, his breathing quickened, “Y-y-you what?” He gripped the bleacher on either side of his thighs so tight his knuckles went white.
Beca furrowed her eyebrows and then realization made them pop back up. Oh my God, he wasn’t faking this. Jesse was full out panicking. "Jesse, dude, you need to breathe. We have semis today. You cannot pass out right now.”
“O-okay,” He took a few deep breaths. “Y-you can’t spring something like that on a guy, Becs.”
Beca laughed, shaking her head.
Eventually, Jesse chilled out and they watched diver after diver. Beca kept a mental note of the people Stacie should look out for, and Jesse hummed the Titanic theme song every time a diver jumped off the board and didn’t stop until they hit the water.
The divers were the best of the best from every country, so they were all obviously really good, and maybe Beca was a little biased, but she thought Stacie was better.
But one diver went with barely any splash at all, and Jesse looked at Beca shaking his head.
“Blinding, that was the best one so far,” Luke said, his British accent thickening the way it did when he got passionate about something.
“I know,” Beca nodded, craning her neck to see the diver get out of the pool. “But Stacie’s been practicing. Besides, this isn’t her first rodeo.” Unlike her and Jesse, Stacie had gone to the 2012 summer Olympics in London. “She knows what she’s doing.”
“She—”
"Shut up!"
Luke put a hand on his chest, Jesse yelped in surprise, and Beca raised an eyebrow at Aubrey.
Her cheeks colored pink, "Um, sorry. It’s just—Stacie's up."
Beca, Luke, and Jesse exchanged what the fuck looks, then Beca grinned and they lost it. Aubrey huffed and crossed her arms, which only made them laugh harder.
As soon as Stacie started toward the diving board they turned serious.
Stacie gracefully walked with long glistening legs to the tip of the board. Beca’s heart thudded as if it was her about to perform the jump. The air in the arena went tight with anticipation for a long minute. Then Stacie jumped and then jumped again, flipping around, and straightening herself out just in time to slip into the water with minimal splashing. Admittedly, it wasn’t as good as the diver before, but still good enough to get her into the finals.
"Yeah!" Beca jumped to her feet clapping. "Way to go, Stace!"
“Bloody fantastic!” Luke hollered.
Aubrey and Jesse whooped excitedly.
It wasn’t done yet though, they watched round after round after round after round of divers praying that they didn’t do better than Stacie did, as bad as that sounded. When it was finally over, Stacie had made it to the finals just like Beca knew she would.
They quickly descended the stairs to the main platform and Stacie ran over to them. She wrapped Luke, Beca, and Jesse, in one large group hug. They were a jumble of congratulations, nerves, pool water, and relieved laughter. Then Stacie let go and hugged Aubrey, spinning her around similar to the way Beca had done with Chloe after her race.
Beca cocked an eyebrow, "You two know each other?"
"Yes," Stacie said at the same time Aubrey said, “Just met, actually."
"Right," Beca smirked, at Stacie’s guilty expression. Jesse didn’t look too pleased. Beca patted his shoulder, "Come on, Jess. We’ve got a race to get to.”
“I’ll go fetch a taxi,” Luke said, leaving after congratulating Stacie once more.
Beca looked over at Aubrey and Stacie, “You two coming?”
“Can’t,” Stacie groaned. “I have to go see my coach, so she can tell me everything I did wrong.”
"Me neither,” Aubrey said. “I have a game against the Germans soon."
Realization hit Beca. Aubrey, who was one half of the beach-volleyball team, was here. If was Aubrey was here watching it, how stressful could it really be? The blonde didn’t seem like the kind of person that would purposefully do something to mess up her chance of winning. So, either Chloe was lying, or maybe they just had different tolerance levels for stress.
“Good luck with your game,” Beca told Aubrey. “Tell your teammate I said she’ll kill it, okay?”
Aubrey gave her a confused look but said she would.
Beca eye’s flicked up to the massive screen with the racer’s times displayed on it. She had fucked up. It started with her take off that wasn’t nearly as smoothed as she wanted it to be. It only got worse with the way her arms flailed too much messing with her forward momentum. And it finally crashed and burned to an end when she finished third in her heat.
Third in semi-finals meant she wasn’t automatically qualifying for the finals.
Wiping the sweat from her face, Beca climbed up the stadium stairs like she did after her first race. This time though, instead of talking to the reporter like she was supposed to do – win or lose – she brushed them off, knocking over a mic that was shoved in her face, in the process.
She was pissed, Beca prided herself on being exceptionally talented at what she did, and the race that she just ran was anything but exceptional.
“Fuck this,” She mumbled to herself.
She didn’t need to hear from Coach about how terrible her race was, she already knew. She turned and left the stadium, she couldn’t stand to be there. Sure, there were others that had done worse than her, but she didn’t care. The race she had just run was her personal lowest. The time, her movements—it all sucked.
Without giving herself time to recuperate, she ran to the Canadian Building in the Olympic Village. Right now, all she wanted—all she needed, was to see Chloe. Hear her voice, whatever, she just needed Chloe.
She pushed through the entrance of the Canadian building that was identical to the American one except for the red maple leaves printed everywhere. As Beca looked around, she realized she had no clue where Chloe’s room even was.
“Ooh, an American” A blonde said, excitedly. She eyed Beca’s red, white, and blue spandex crop top and shorts. “We don’t get too many of those in here.”
“Um, okay?” Beca said, scratching her head. She really wasn’t in the mood for conversation. She kept glancing around, trying to find anything that would tell her where Chloe was.
“What are you looking for?” She asked. “How did you even get in here? We’ve got pretty strict security.”
“Oh, you mean the moose out there?” Beca shot back. “Gave him some maple syrup, and he held the door open for me.”
The blonde laughed.
“Could you tell me where Chloe Beale’s room is?” Beca asked, jiggling her foot. She was getting impatient.
“How do I know you’re not some crazy fan?” She narrowed her eyes.
“Do I look crazy to you?” Beca demanded, gesturing to her last name that was pinned to her top. “Please, I’m in a hurry.”
“Mitchell. Oh, wait—I know you,” she snapped her fingers. “You’re Beca Mitchell, women’s 100 meter. I watched your first race—oh.” She smiled knowingly, “Come on, I’ll take you up to Chloe’s room.”
“I’m Jessica, by the way,” The blonde said, while they stood in the elevator. “I play doubles tennis with my partner Ashley.”
“That’s cool,” Beca didn’t pay much attention to tennis. She found it snobby—a stereotype she couldn’t shake, and right now, she really didn’t care.
Jessica led Beca down the hallway and knocked on the fifth door from the elevator.
“Who is it?” Chloe’s voice sounded from through the door. She didn’t sound like Chloe, something was different.
“It's Jessica. I have something for you,” She winked at Beca and Beca shifted uncomfortably.
“Come in, the door’s unlocked.”
Jessica wrapped her fingers around the doorknob and smiled mischievously at Beca.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You’re really weird,” Beca rolled her eyes.
“Okay, sure,” Jessica wouldn’t drop the smile. Not even as she opened the door and motioned at Beca to follow her in.
“Hey, Jess. What did you—oh,” Chloe looked surprised. She was in an oversized sweater, laying on her bed, with her laptop open. Her eyes were tinted red, “Hey.”
From the laptop, a male voice said, “Who’s there, babe? Tell them to go away. It’s my daily girlfriend time.”
Chloe bit her lip, and Jessica whipped around to look at Beca. Her mouth slightly open, eyes crinkled in confusion, “I thought…oh, I guess I was—”
Tom, Beca thought, her heart sinking. She had completely forgotten there was even a Tom. It was so easy to forget when Chloe was always so affectionate. When Beca was so easily drawn in. Shit, shit, shit. She had forgotten about Tom and she had forgotten that Chloe was never really hers. Not when they were out exploring Rio at night, not when they held hands on the beach, not because Chloe gave her a ring.
And why would she think any different? Chloe had always said they were friends. But Beca had been subconsciously holding on to that saying, "Actions speak louder than words." Chloe’s actions were always contradictory. Sometimes, when she’d pull away, her actions screamed, just friends. Other times, Chloe would look terrified, and cuddle into Beca’s side, or kiss her cheek way to close to her mouth, and they whispered, something more.
“I have to go,” Beca blurted.
“Beca—” Chloe called out, but Beca was already in front of the elevator, jamming her index finger against the ‘down’ button.
The best thing about being a runner was that when she needed to escape, she could get away fast.
Beca googled Tom and Chloe on her laptop when she got to her room and immediately regretted it. Her chest tightened with jealousy; they looked beautiful together.
Tom was an assistant coach for basketball at Duke University. He used to play but stopped after he shattered his knee in a motorcycle accident. Tragic, Beca thought sarcastically, and then felt bad. She’d be devastated if she wasn’t able to ever run again.
Tom and Chloe were not only a beautiful couple, but they were an accomplished couple as well. They had a charity together for kids who couldn’t afford to join sport’s teams, they visited hospitals together and acted in a ton of commercials for various sports brands.
She crinkled her nose and erased Tom’s name in the search bar. Then curiosity got the best of her and she typed in her own name in Tom’s spot. She didn’t expect anything to come up, but she was wrong. There were a few articles, some Tumblr pages, and a hashtag—Bechloe. Beca clicked the first link.
New Couple Alert?
By now you’ve all probably heard of debut Olympian, Beca Mitchell. She won the hearts of Americans – and the world – with her cocky smirk and devil-may-care attitude, and according to a source from inside the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, there are rumors that Mitchell may have also won the heart of a fellow Olympian.
In the recent weeks, Chloe Beale, Canadian silver medalist and two-time attendee of the Olympics, has been spotted with the American runner in several locations, but what really fueled the rumors in the first place was their iconic hug caught on camera after Mitchell’s first race.
(Picture of Beca’s arms around Chloe’s waist with her back to the camera while Chloe stared directly into it.)
Admittedly, the two athletes do look very cozy together.
However, the source went on to tell The Olympic Rundown, that Beale has been in a relationship with Tom Shepard for two years, and has publicly announced her love for him on many occasions. The source said that it was highly unlikely that there is any sort of romantic connection between the two Olympians.
(Picture of Tom in a suit and Chloe in a matching dress at a charity event.)
Here at, The Olympic Rundown, we’re not sure if the rumors of the relationship between Beca and Chloe – or as some fans are already calling it, Bechloe – are true or a figment of our imagination, but we hope all parties in this story the best.
Beca snapped her laptop shut, and lay back on her bed, staring up at the stark white ceiling. She couldn’t form a single thought in her head. There were people right now in the world that thought she and Chloe were in a relationship. A real-life relationship. She twisted the ring on her finger. Sometimes, it felt like they weren’t that far off.
Beca’s phone rumbled against the wood of her nightstand. She let it go, if it was important, they’d call again. A second later, her phone was rumbling again. Beca reached for it, and clicked the accept button, “Hello?”
“Beca Elise Mitchell,” Mrs. Abernathy’s stern voice burst in her ears. “Your coach called me.”
“Oh, did he?” Beca rolled her eyes. “And what did he tell you to tell me? That I should pack up my bags and go home?”
“I think I dialed the wrong number because the Beca Mitchell I know isn’t a quitter.”
“Guess you should hang up then,” Beca retorted. The phone went dead, and Beca’s eyes widen, “Fuck.” She quickly redialed Mrs. Abernathy’s number, it rang twice and then she picked up, “I’m sorry, I just—I’m having a bad day.”
“And you’re entitled to have some of those, but don’t push people away because of it,” Mrs. Abernathy said softly. She always knew exactly how to bring Beca back down to earth when she was about to fly off the handles. “Now, are you going to stop throwing a fit and listen to me?”
“Yes ma’am,” No way Beca was going to make the same mistake twice. Mrs. Abernathy wouldn’t forgive her if she did.
“Good. So, your coach tells me you’re not completely out yet.”
“Really?” Beca sat up.
“They’ll compare your time with the other non-automatic qualifiers and if yours is the best, you’re going to move on to the finals,” Mrs. Abernathy said, excitedly.
Beca shook her head, “You’re serious? I still have a chance?”
“Your coach definitely thinks so, and so do I.”
“Holy shit, that’s awesome!” Beca laughed. “Now I feel like a dick for the way I acted.”
“You were upset,” Mrs. Abernathy reasoned. “Maybe next time you should wait before jumping to conclusions.”
“You’re right,” Beca nodded. “Thanks for calling, Mrs. A. You’re the best.”
“Don’t thank me,” she said modestly. “I love you, you know that. And as much as I want you to come home and meet my fiancée, I’m glad you still have a shot at gold.”
“Wait—another fiancée?” Beca asked. Mrs. Abernathy wasn’t the most committed when it came to men.
“Don’t say it like that, darling,” she scolded. “I really think he’s the one this time, Beca. He’s amazing.”
She said that about every guy, but Beca didn’t have the heart to tell her otherwise, “I’m sure he is. I have to call Coach and apologize for my behavior. I’ll talk to you soon.”
The door to Beca’s room opened as soon as she got off the phone with Coach, and was about to go shower. Stacie came in looking drained.
“I’m heading out again,” She said, grabbing a bag, and jamming a sweater and shorts inside it. “Heard about your race. You’ll definitely qualify Beca, don’t worry.”
“Thanks,” Beca scratched her head. “Where are you going? What did your coach say about your diving?”
“She said a bunch of things,” Stacie said, walking into the bathroom. Beca heard the drawer slide open and then shut. Stacie came out again, zipping up her bag. “I have to go. Don’t wait up.” She kissed Beca’s forehead and left the room as quick as she came.
“Okay?” Beca said aloud to the closed door.
A few minutes later someone was knocking on the door.
Beca stood from where she was going through her suitcase and dragged her feet across the room. Thinking it was Stacie she opened the door and said, “Did you forget something?”
“Beca,” Chloe slurred, standing in the doorway.
Beca squinted her eyes. Chloe stood in front of her, red hair all over the place, oversized sweater, no pants, socks, or shoes.
"What're you doing here?"
"I want to talk to you."
The smell of alcohol hit Beca's nose. “Are you drunk?”
“No,” Chloe laughed, suddenly. “I just wanted to see you."
The sweater slid off her shoulder, and without thinking, Beca reached out and fixed it for her. Chloe caught her hand and pressed it against her palm.
“Right,” Beca pulled her into the room and Chloe let out a loud ‘weee!’. Beca winced, “Shhh, Chloe. People are trying to sleep.”
“You’re no fun,” Chloe pouted. She sat on Stacie’s bed and bounced up and down like a child. Beca sat across from her, having no idea how to react to this. They stared at each other and when Beca blinked, Chloe gasped, “You lose!”
Beca rolled her eyes, “So, is this a celebratory-drunk or a sad-drunk?”
“I’m not drunk,” Chloe insisted.
“Okay, how was your game today?”
She frowned, and Beca got her answer. Aubrey and Chloe were officially two-time silver medalists and the Germans had won gold. This was a not a celebratory-drunk, but it wasn’t exactly sad either.
“You weren’t at the rings,” Chloe said, wiping at her eyes.
Beca shrugged.
“Why did you leave?”
“Because I forgot you had a boyfriend,” Beca didn’t see the point of lying. Chloe was long past drunk moving into obliterated territory and wasn’t going to remember any of this in the morning anyway.
Chloe’s frowned deepened, “you’re not like him.”
“That’s great,” Beca sighed, she really didn’t want to talk about Tom. “You should go back to your room. Aubrey probably misses you.”
“She left, and I don’t want to be alone,” Chloe whined. “I miss you.”
Beca smiled at that. “If you don’t want to leave then stay here. You can sleep on Stacie’s bed, but you have to sleep, okay?”
“I’m drunk.”
“What, really?” Beca made her eyes go wide. “I had no idea.”
Chloe giggled and Beca got off her bed. She knelt by her suitcase and continued looking for something to wear to bed after her shower. She pulled out a black shirt and boxers.
“I’m going to go shower,” she told Chloe. She was examining the sheets like they weren’t the exact same pattern as the ones on her bed in the Canadian Building. “Chloe.”
She looked over at Beca and grinned like she was seeing her for the first time, “Beca!”
Beca sighed, “I’m going to go shower.”
Chloe nodded.
Beca stripped and stepped into the shower. When she and Stacie had first moved in, it hadn’t worked. She had to call Coach and endure his endless grumbling while he fixed it. They weren’t the only ones who had broken accommodations either. Jesse and Benji, the male gymnast, had faulty plumbing in their room. Compared to that, Beca and Stacie had gotten lucky.
As the water finally warmed, Beca shut her eyes and ran her fingers through her hair.
Then the door crashed open and Chloe was ripping aside the shower curtain.
Beca screamed, “Chloe, what the hell?”
“I thought you left again,” Chloe pouted. She glanced down at Beca’s naked body and licked her lips. “I want to shower with you.”
“Well, you can’t,” Beca covered herself with her hands. “Get out.”
“You don’t love me.”
“Get out, Chloe,” Beca demanded, gritting her teeth. “We are so not doing this right now.”
“Why not?”
“Because I said so. Get out!”
Chloe started crying.
Beca groaned, resting her head against the tiles on the wall. “Stop crying.”
“But I want to shower with you,” Chloe sobbed.
“Oh my God,” Beca shut her eyes, her head was starting to hurt. She felt like she had skipped the drinking part and went straight to the hangover. “What did you drink? How are you even this drunk?”
Then Chloe was getting in the shower with her clothes on, and Beca didn’t open her eyes in time to tell her not to. Chloe stopped crying and shivered under the now cold water. She pressed up against Beca and wrapped her arms around her waist.
Beca’s mouth opened and then fell shut again. She was enjoying having Chloe against her, but at the same time, she felt like she was taking advantage. Some warped, depraved part of her mind thought Chloe probably wouldn’t even remember it if something happened. Ultimately, she decided to do the right thing and pushed her away.
“You’re drunk,” Beca said to Chloe and reminded herself.
“So, what?” Chloe furrowed her eyebrows. “Maybe drunk is the only way I can do this.”
Beca’s heart went haywire, “that’s too bad because you being drunk is the only way I won’t.”
“So, you would any other time, huh?” Chloe smirked, suddenly looking way too sober.
“You’re insane,” Beca said, she couldn’t bring herself to lie.
“And you’re into me,” Chloe said. “That’s okay. I can’t exactly say I’m not into you either.”
“Shut up,” Beca barked. “You don’t even know what you’re saying right now. Don’t fuck with me, Chloe. Just shut up and get out before I do something stupid.”
“I know what I’m saying.”
Beca groaned, “You know right now, but what happens in the morning? What happens when you’re sober?”
“I’ll still feel the same way,” Chloe whispered, and she didn’t look drunk anymore. She cupped Beca’s cheeks and ran her thumb over her bottom lip. “That ring—” They both glanced at it “—Is my promise that no matter what happens in the morning and everything beyond that, I’ll still feel the same way about you.”
“I want to believe you.”
“So, believe me.”
And then they were kissing. Arctic cold water rained down on them, but all Beca felt was the heat off Chloe’s lips moving against hers.
Fingers slipped into Beca’s hair, and Beca slid hers up Chloe’s sweater. Beca was reckless, everyone knew that. But at that moment as Chloe’s tongue moved over hers, Beca had never been more careful. She very gently moved her fingers up Chloe’s stomach, tracing every ridge of her muscles. Mapping, and memorizing. She wanted to be careful.
Then Chloe moaned into her mouth and Beca never wanted to be careful again.
She ripped off Chloe’s sweater, pressed her against the tiles, and bent to kiss her breast, suck on her nipple, feel her against her tongue. Chloe pulled her back up for a kiss, and Beca smashed their lips together. She bit down on Chloe’s bottom lip, sucked on it, and tasted iron. One hand slid down Chloe’s stomach and slipped between Chloe’s parted legs.
“You’re drunk,” Beca breathed hard against Chloe’s lips. What she really meant was that this was their last chance. That after this, there was no going back.
Chloe met her gaze straight on, “I’ll remember this.”
Beca pushed inside her, Chloe pressed their lips together and moaned promises into her mouth.
With her eyes still shut against the morning sun, Beca felt around the nightstand with the hand that wasn’t trapped under Chloe. Her finger’s collided with her phone, she gripped it, bringing it down to her ear.
“‘lo?”
“It’s about time,” Coach said into the phone. For once he didn’t sound angry. “You did it, Beca. You qualified. You’ll be racing in the finals this afternoon.”
Beca sat up, rubbing her eyes. Her nose was a bit runny from standing in cold water for so long and her body ached a little from sex. “Dude, are you kidding?”
“Definitely not,” Coach laughed, something Beca’s never heard him do before. “Granted your lane isn’t exactly the best. But that doesn’t matter because making it to the finals in your debut year at your age, is something to be proud of, kiddo. You have an hour to get ready, get breakfast, and get down to the training center. Don’t be late."
“Holy shit,” Beca whispered to herself after Coach disconnected the call. She glanced down at Chloe, a big smile sprouting on her face. It was only 6:05 in the morning and the day was already perfect.
She carefully untangled herself from the sleeping Canadian, pressing a soft kiss to her cheek. Chloe stirred, making a quiet murmuring sound.
“I’ll be back,” Beca whispered, pushing Chloe’s hair out of her face. “We’ll figure it out then."
She left the room with the words 'I love you' on the tip of her tongue.