this fire

chapter fifteen

"Hello?"

"Hi, Amanda?"

"Yes..."

"Hey, it's Aaron."

"Oh, hi," she said, and he could hear a smile in her voice. He clenched the fist that wasn't holding the phone. "What's up?"

"Not much," he said conversationally. He was angry. He'd dropped Laney off at her dorm a few minutes ago and he couldn't get what she'd told him out of his head. "I just wanted to ask you how you were. How your New Year's was. What you did for New Year's Eve."

"There are rumours, Aaron," Amanda replied. "I didn't think it would make a difference."

"Well, it does. Jesus, Amanda, I can't believe you."

"Would it really be that bad?"

"How many times do I have to tell you that there's nothing there and never will be? I hate to have to say this, but if it's the only thing that'll work...I regret that one time we got drunk and had sex. It was stupid, and frankly I don't even like you."

"Come off it, Aaron. What difference does it make if I told someone we were dating? It's not like you have a girlfriend who though you were cheating on her," she said with a snort.

He opened his mouth to say something and then promptly closed it. She had a point. He didn't have a girlfriend. And he probably would have laughed it off if it hadn't been for Laney.

"Oh God you do," she said after a minute.

He started to protest but thought better of it. "Yes, I do. And now, thank to you, she thinks I'm a cheating bastard."

"I'm sorry. If I'd known I wouldn't have said that."

"It's a little late now."

"Listen, I'll call her and tell her I'm a jerk. Who is she? That girl from the Olympics? The one I stayed with. Madelaine?"

"I–"

"I'll fix it. Sorry, Aaron," she said before hanging up. Aaron stared at his phone.

"What the fuck?"

The next day, he ran into a smirking Laney at the pool. "What?"

"I knew you liked me, but I didn't know I was your girlfriend," she said.

"Amanda called you."

Laney nodded, delighted. "She was very distressed about making me think you were a 'cheating bastard' and said that if she'd known you 'had a girlfriend I would have kept my mouth shut.' I think those were her exact words."

Aaron looked indignant. "I was pissed. She has no right making up stuff like that."

Laney raised an eyebrow and patted his cheek. "Like you made up the fact that I was your girlfriend? I'm touched that you used me to get your point across," she said, diving into the pool. Growling in frustration, he did the same, and they surfaced next to each other.

"I didn't use you. I told her I had a girlfriend, yes, but she decided it was you and wouldn't let me tell her it wasn't."

Laney laughed. "Relax. It doesn't bother me. I think it's cute. Although I did have a hard time keeping a straight face and not laughing at her."

Aaron chuckled and they began their routines for practice. A couple of hours later, they walked toward Laney's dorm, laughing about the thing with Amanda. "To tell you the truth, I half expected her to call you up and rub it in your face."

"She's seen my cousin. She wouldn't dare. Ugh – she's probably seen more of my cousin than she should have. I'll make a mental note to call Ian and tell him to bathe in bleach."

Aaron laughed. "Yeah, I should probably do that myself."

Laney elbowed him. "You're going to elaborate."

"Aahh...a couple years ago we were at Worlds, and I got really wasted at a party. And I don't know if she was wasted or if she was just hanging around until I was so she could take advantage of me, but we had sex. And I've just been to busy to disinfect myself."

Laney laughed. "I think you probably should do that. Tonight, preferably, because I don't want to be around you if you've got Amanda cooties and have had them for a couple of years."

"Cooties? You sound like a third grader."

"I tend to become a third grader around you. Very strange," she said.

"I bring out that quality with my laid-back personality and my Southern California attitude."

"What are you saying? That I'm a snotty Brit?" she said, exaggerating her accent. Aaron laughed. "That's exactly what I'm saying. You have to be a snotty Brit to not want to surf."

"Excuse me if I've seen too many movies where they wipe out and hit their head on some huge bloody rocks."

Aaron bumped his hip into hers and they both laughed. They stopped in front of her door. "I'll see you tomorrow," she said.

"Definitely." He turned his head to nod at somebody he knew who was walking down the hall. Laney reached up to kiss him on the cheek as sort of a "thank you," but he turned his head towards her and she ended up with his lips.

Neither moved. Until Laney threw caution to the wind and closed her eyes, moving her lips softly against his. She was startled when he responded and stepped back, crashing into the wall behind her.

"I'm sorry," they said in unison.

"Sorry," Laney muttered. "Later," she said, shooting one last glance at him before going into her dorm room and shutting the door.