this fire
chapter three
When
Laney got back to her room, Brooke was sitting on her bed facing the door,
grinning. “My cousin is dating a slut,”
was Laney’s greeting.
“Nice to see you too. And I’m
glad to hear you got along so well with Aaron.
Aww, he kissed you! Was it nice?”
Brooke replied. Laney gave her a
look. “What?”
“Oh nothing. I was just glad that you were so
willing to tell me about your date.”
“A,
it wasn’t a date. B, it was weird. C, he didn’t kiss me, and frankly I’m not
sure how I feel about that anyway. And
D, my cousin is dating a slut. Maybe
I’ll write to the Australian papers and tell them he’s gay.”
“Why
would the Australian papers care if your cousin is gay? I’m sure a lot of people’s cousins are gay.”
“Maybe. But a lot of people’s cousins aren’t Ian
Thorpe, swimmer extraordinaire.”
“No way.”
“Yes
way.”
“He’s
gay?!”
“No. I just don’t want him dating Amanda Beard.”
“Eew.”
“Exactly.”
“Right,
so, how was the date with Aaron?”
“Still
not a date,” Laney said. And then told Brooke all about it. By the time she was done, Brooke was
practically swooning. “Though
he’s very fantastic looking all unshaven.”
“And?”
“I
suppose I’d shag him if the opportunity presented itself.”
Brooke
burst out laughing. “Mostly I wanted you
to tell me you didn’t like him so it would be ok if I went after him.”
Laney
grinned. “I don’t fancy him. But I’d still shag him. And apparently he’s good at it.”
“What?”
“So
says Amanda Beard.”
“She’d
know,” Brooke muttered.
“I
know. And now I guess she knows how good
my cousin is in bed. It makes me want to
cry. Pretty soon she’ll be having him
wear pink thongs again.”
“Again?”
“Don’t
ask. Sometimes I can’t figure him out.”
*
Over
the next three months Brooke and Laney became closer than a lot of sisters
are. So close, in fact, that Laney
brought Brooke with her to
“Maybe
she’ll be off screwing athletes and you’ll never have to see her,” Brooke said
hopefully.
“Maybe
she’ll pick the Japanese team and leave my cousin alone.”
“With luck.”
“Speaking
of my idiot cousin, you haven’t seen him, have you?” There was silence. “Brooke?”
“Hypothetically,
what would you do if I’d kidnapped him and had him
tied to the bed in my hotel room?”
“I’d
probably cheer you on and hope that you could erase all memory of my wonderful
roommate from his mind.” She
paused. “You don’t, do you?”
“No,
but he’s standing right in front of me.
So I might in a minute.”
Laney
laughed. “Where are you?”
“I
don’t know. I think I’m lost. But I figure if I follow Ian Thorpe around
I’ll find my way back.”
“Are
you brave enough to hand your phone to him so I can talk to him?”
“Not
a chance.”
“Fine. IAN!” she screamed.
“Jesus
Laney! You don’t have to blow my ear
drum out!” Brooke yelled back. Ian
Thorpe turned around. “It’s for you,”
Brooke said, holding out her phone.
Ian
took it carefully, as though it might explode.
“Hello?”
“I
just wanted to thank you for being so kind and sticking me with your newest
fuck buddy as my roommate.”
“Mad....Laney? Is that you?”
“Nope. It’s your other cousin who is currently
rooming with Amanda Beard in the Olympic Athletes’ Village.”
“I
thought so. Well, if you see Laney, tell
her we should have lunch.”
Laney rolled her eyes. “Thanks, Thorpe.”
“You’re
welcome, Thorpe. So what’s up?”
“I
wanted to talk to you. And find out why
I have to live with Amanda Beard when supposedly she’s got a friend here she
could have lived with.”
“How
would I know? I live with
“Shut
up. Can I talk to Brooke please?”
“You
have the weirdest relationship with your cousin,” Brooke said when she got on
the phone. “And now I think he’s
silently flirting with me. Brooke,” she
said.
“Oh good God. I have to go,” Laney said,
hanging up.
“Who
was that?” someone asked from behind her.
She jumped and spun around to see a grinning Aaron Peirsol.
“Oh. Hello.
That was Brooke. And my cousin.”
“I
hear you’re living with Amanda Beard?”
Laney
groaned. “Yup. I have a feeling either she won’t be there
very often, or I won’t.”
“She’s
nice.” Laney gave him a look and he held
up his hands in surrender. “Nope. I got her
confused with another Amanda Beard. The
swimmer is not nice.”
Laney
laughed. “Come with me?”
“Where?”
he asked, falling into step with her.
“I
want to check out the aquatic centre.
I’m really kind of peeved I can’t be in the opening ceremony, but I
suppose it... Bloody hell, I’m rambling
again.”
Aaron
laughed. “It’s fine. Actually, I wanted to check out the aquatic
centre myself.” He held out an arm, and
laughing, she linked her arm with his.
When
they got there, Laney stopped short, looking around. Aaron, who’d gotten a few feet in front of
her, turned and looked at her, smiling.
“Impressive, isn’t it?”
“Wow,”
she said.
“Yeah,
that’s what I thought the first time I saw one of these places. And just think. Starting in a few days you get to swim in
this pool.”
“I
don’t start until Monday; I have twoooo days to just train.”
He
grinned. “That sounds great. Maybe you can see your cousin and Brooke
while you’re not swimming. Hopefully
I’ll have a chance to see you at some point.”
“That
might be cool,” she said, a coy smile on her face. Her phone tinkled and she glanced at it. “Hey, I’ve got to go rescue Brooke from the
clutches of Thorpie.”
“Ian
Thorpe? Why is Brooke hanging out with
him?”
“Because he’s my sex-obsessed, swimmer extraordinaire cousin.
Bye!” she called, dashing away, leaving Aaron staring after her,
completely confused.