Shy and scholarly, long-distance swimmer Ryan Zwick thinks he’s the only gay member of the college swim team. He keeps his head down in the showers, and his head in the books the rest of the time. But when a sporty new transfer student joins the team, Ryan feels a surge of hope. Sexually inexperienced and looking for love, fellow swimmer Blake Gossens is everything Ryan wants in a boyfriend. But what is Blake’s game, exactly? And just how straight is he? Blake seems to be more interested in Ryan’s best friend, Marissa, leaving Ryan to go back to secretly checking out his teammates in the pool. But Ryan keeps getting mysterious messages in his dating app from a stranger who seems to know a lot about him. Could this messenger be Blake? Or someone else? When bad weather hits unexpectedly, Ryan is forced to confront his real feelings toward Blake, while opening up to the stranger by his side, eventually giving in to his wildest fantasies -- and his heart.

Distant Swimmer

&ldquo;You sure about that? My mother churns our own butter and it&rsquo;s like gold compared to the shit they sell in the stores.&rdquo; Erik said nothing at first, then shook his head.


&ldquo;Our butter is still better,&rdquo; he smiled, as if he was offering a challenge. Ryan did not want to argue with his new friend, so he changed the subject.


&ldquo;You know. I&rsquo;ve never been to Europe before,&rdquo; Ryan confessed, suddenly wondering what it was like over there, what it would be like to do what Erik was doing&mdash;moving to another country and going to college in a foreign language. The whole setup seemed utterly daunting


&ldquo;Then you should come visit sometime,&rdquo; Erik invited him nonchalantly. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s beautiful, but different than here in a lot of ways.


Chapter 20