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December, he could still understand every emotion she felt.
    “Fine, I’ll meet you. I was going to watch you anyway,” she finished grudgingly.
    Happiness flowed through him. “Then I will make sure I win.”
    “Win for yourself. No one else.” Her hand cupped his face again, and he turned his head and kissed the inside of her palm.
    “Always.”

7
    C lapping a hand over her mouth to smother another yawn, Julia glanced at the time. Mitch’s race should be happening soon. Both Mitch and Brett had secured spots for Team USA. The top two swimmers from Australia finaled, both their times better than Brett’s. Altogether, the final eight competitors’ times were all within seconds of each other.
    There was no guarantee that Mitch would win.
    The support team for the American swimmers had doubled since the heats earlier in the day as more athletes from other sports came to watch history possibly being made. Mitch not only had to compete in the 400m individual medley final but the 400m freestyle final too. If he won gold in either event, he would tie the record of gold medals won by a single American athlete at the Olympics.
    Julia prayed to any deity listening that he would at least get one gold. Two would make it even sweeter. She assumed when he said he’d meet her after the medal ceremony, he meant after his last event.
    “Not long now,” Brooke said to her.
    “Nope. It’s good to see so many other team members here supporting the swimmers.”
    Brooke chuckled. “Drake went around everywhere after the heats to make sure the swim team had a lot of support. I imagine when it comes to the track events, Mitch will be doing the same and gathering support for Drake.”
    “So true. In some ways I hope to watch Drake compete in the semis of his event, and in other ways I hope I can’t,” Julia said.
    “Yeah, I hope you can’t watch Drake either. I’d rather see you going from press conference to press conference than Trina being the one doing that.”
    Julia didn’t know what she’d done to deserve Brooke’s loyalty, but knowing it was there boosted her confidence. “Trina’s been diving well.”
    “Sure, but you killed it at the trials. I heard her in the locker room complaining loudly about how you didn’t deserve to be at the trials and she was going to lose again to you. I’d never warmed to her before, but after hearing her rant, I disliked her even more. I was kind of disappointed when a second position in your event became available.”
    “You and me both,” Julia muttered.
    “I heard that,” Brooke said, wagging her finger.
    Julia laughed. “It will be our little secret.”
    Conversation died when the music sounded, announcing the arrival of the competitors. Julia’s heart leapt to her throat, and she clamped her mouth shut against it. As he had been the previous times he’d come out for his event, Mitch had his headphones on and he was shaking his arms, keeping them loose.
    He made his way to his chair, and Julia wished he’d look in her direction, but she knew he wouldn’t do that until he’d finished the race. Once he hit the pool deck in a major competition, his focus was always totally on the event.
    “Oh God, I can’t watch.”
    Brooke’s hand landed on her arm. “Of course you can. You’ve done it a million times before.”
    “Slight exaggeration, but things were different between us then.”
    “Doesn’t matter. You’re here supporting him and the rest of the team. You can keep your ass firmly planted on this seat next to me. I need moral support too.”
    Julia turned to her friend. “What do you mean by that?”
    “Well…” Brooke’s face turned red. “I really want Mitch to win, but I wouldn’t mind it if Dane won.”
    “Dane Parkland, the Australian swimmer?”
    “Uh huh.”
    “We’re going to talk about this later,” she stated as the announcer began introducing swimmers to the crowd.
    Brooke nodded as she clapped loudly when Dane’s name was called.