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

Six laps left to go&mdash;Ryan looked at Erik&rsquo;s hand in the water, gripping the counting card. Now he could hurry&mdash;now he could warm up to his final sprint. The echo of shouts and whistles was deafening now&mdash;only with his head underwater did Ryan feel the strange mix of peace and exhaustion that rattled him forward.


Four laps left. Ryan bolted forward from the wall, kicking ferociously, ripping skillfully at the water before him, wincing at the burn in his triceps. Pull, pull, breathe, kick, kick, kick. The whole team was standing there now&mdash;even Kyle, yelling at him wildly, throwing up their arms, and showing with their fingers that he was &ldquo;oh so close!&rdquo;


Chapter 23