Accommodating Aaron Peirsol was exhausting.

But she didn't mind. Not really. She felt badly about avoiding him; even when she was doing it she felt guilty.

One day, five days before Thanksgiving, she was sitting on the edge of the pool holding a stop watch. Her swim cap and goggles were sitting on the blocks next to her, and she was timing and recording Aaron's laps for him. After ten laps, he touched the wall and surfaced. "Your fastest was twenty seven oh eight," she said as he removed his goggles.

He nodded and took his cap off, shaking out his hair. "Not too bad." He smirked. "Better than you."

"I beat you that one time. Also, I'm a girl."

"That's no excuse," he said, pulling himself up and sitting next to her. She chuckled. "Yeah, I know. But I still beat you. I like how you gloss over that part."

"Why would I ever want to admit I was beaten by a girl?"

"Oh, you mean like you just did?" she asked, before finding herself in the pool. "Thank you so much."

"You're welcome," Aaron said, perusing the list she'd made of his lap times. Narrowing her eyes, she grabbed his ankle and yanked as hard as she could (which really wasn't that hard, as she was treading water at the time, but it did the trick), pulling him into the pool with her. He came up sputtering. "Madelaine Thorpe," he said in a scolding tone.

"Don't mess with me, Peirsol," she said with a grin, punching him playfully (and lightly) on the shoulder. He splashed her. She gave him a look that clearly said, "I'm a swimmer; it's not going to make a difference if you splash me."

Aaron chuckled and climbed back out of the pool. She followed suit and grabbed a towel, trying to get some of the chlorine out of her hair before it ruined it. "Hey," he said, toweling off his own hair, "what are you doing for Thanksgiving?"

"Oh you mean that American holiday that comes at the end of this week?"

"Yeah, that's the one," he laughed.

"Nothing. I'm British, in case you hadn't noticed the accent."

"I had. It's very cute. So, what, are you just staying here then?"

"Yeah. I figure I can get some good swim time in while everybody else is at home."

Aaron nodded and they began to walk to the locker rooms. "That's a good idea."

"I take it you're going home?" she asked.

"Yup. See my family, maybe surf a bit." He grinned. "I haven't surfed in a long time."

"You look like a...what is it, 'surfer dude'?" she said.

He laughed. "I look like a surfer dude? And who says that?"

"I do, apparently. And sure you do look like a surfer dude. You've got blond hair. And you're tall." She paused. "Yeah, that's all I've got. I lived in London, where the only water we have is rain. And the Thames. Which is disgusting."

"So you've never surfed?"

"Never. Not unless you count the internet, which I don't think you do."

Laughing, Aaron pushed her lightly. "Nope. Not even a little bit."

Laney grinned at him. "I need a shower in the worst way," she said, stopping in front of the door to the women's locker rooms, "so I'll see you later, yeah?"

"Yeah," he replied, walking off further down the hall.

She watched him from behind for a moment, shaking her head, until she realized she was staring at his ass.

She jumped and went into the locker room.

Not that it was a bad-looking ass.

She shook her head vigorously and stepped into the shower before her thoughts traveled in a direction she did not want them to go.

*

"Hello?" Laney asked, picking up the phone in her dorm the next day, not moving from where she was laying on her bed with a textbook.

"You want to come home with me for Thanksgiving?"

"Aaron?"

"That's me."

"You want me to come home with you?"

"Yeah. You can eat some really good food and I'll teach you how to surf."

"You're joking, right?"

"No. Why would I be joking?"

"I don't know. I just feel like you can't possibly be serious."

"I am very serious. Serious as a heart attack. Deadly serious." He paused. "I'm out."

Laney laughed. "You really want me to come home with you for Thanksgiving?"

"Absolutely. I think it would be fun. I think it'll be just you, me, and my parents though, as my brother and sisters are away."

"I didn't know you had siblings."

"I never told you," he said, and she could hear the grin in his voice. "So will you come?"

"I really was planning on spending the week swimming. And studying."

"You can study at my house if you really want to. And you don't have to swim – you're fantastic; you can take a week off. I'll teach you to surf."

"I don't know..."

"Come on. Pleeeeaaaaase?"

Laney laughed. "You are really laying it on thick, aren't you?"

"I really want you to come."

She debated for another few seconds. "Ok, fine. I'll come."

"Fantastic!" he exclaimed. "I'm leaving tomorrow afternoon; flying out. So I'll come get you around eleven?"

"That sounds great," she said.

"I'll see you then," he said before he hung up. Laney smiled at how excited he sounded, and then found she couldn't wipe it off her face.

"What are you grinning about?" Brooke asked groggily, waking up from a nap.

"Nothing." Brooke narrowed her eyes at Laney and glared at her for a full three minutes before Laney cracked. "Fine! Dammit, I hate it when you do that."

"I know, that's why I do it," Brooke said, sitting up. "What's going on? You're still smiling, even as you tell me you hate me."

"I don't hate you. I hate it when you glare at me. It makes me want to confess every bad thing I've ever done."

"How do you think I got my brothers to tell me when they'd stolen things from me? And stop changing the subject."

Laughing, Laney closed her book. "Aaron invited me to go home with him for Thanksgiving."

"And from the tone of your voice and that goofy smile on your face, I assume you're going?"

"Yup."

"Laney, are you sure–"

"Don't you dare. The last time you tried that I very nearly lost a friend. And it was really hard work to fix that."

Brooke held up her hands. "Sorry, sorry; I'll shut up now. When are you leaving?"

"Tomorrow? He said he's coming to get me at eleven."

Brooke grinned, a knowing grin that made Laney very nervous. "Have fun."

Giving Brooke another wary look, Laney pulled out her biology notebook and a highlighter and continued her studying.