Page 45 of Fake Crown

“You’ve been trading deep, dark secrets too?” He follows me to the door. “Out of the frying pan and into the fire.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I open the door.

“Rebounds are intended to mean less than the relationships that came before them. You’re getting it mixed up, man. Good luck to you. That’s all I’m saying.”

“It’ll be fine,” I say. “We both understand what we’re getting into, and it’s not a real relationship.”

Jaxon’s mocking laughter follows me down the hall to the staircase.

Practice is a good distraction from Jaxon’s comments about Posey. While I’ve never been into strings of casual hookups, I’ve always been terrible at relationships too. I use up all my energy in the pool or at the gym, and inevitably women get frustrated or furious with my singular focus. Val never minded because her singular focus wasn’t on building a relationship either. Her brand. Our brand. The brand.

Brand. What a stupid fucking word.

“Faulkner,” Ethan Simpson calls to me from across the locker room. “We’re going to Jessica’s place for food and a couple beers. You in?”

I had planned to stop by Posey’s apartment after practice, and Jessica only lives a couple blocks from her. Although Posey and I agreed we’d spend what free time I have together, Jaxon might have a point about slipping into something serious. Developing real feelings for Posey would be a special kind of hell. A house party is just as good as anything. A buffer between me and Val.

“Sure,” I say. “Yeah. I’m in.”

Ethan’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise. “Seriously? I asked because you’re the team captain, but normally you’re going home to sleep or something.”

Fair point. I could probably count on a couple fingers the number of times I’ve gone out for a team building event that wasn’t mandated by our coach or Northern’s alumni. “Just came off vacation,” I say. “Not quite back to myself yet.”

Ethan is also chasing a spot on the Olympic team. He’s one of the few people at Northern who truly understands how much work goes into becoming the best you can be. He also enjoys being the life of the party—the Dennis Rodman of Northern University’s swim team, except Ethan is lily-ass white like me.

“Let’s hope this version sticks,” Ethan says with a grin. “All you do is train, man. It’s gotta be fucking boring.”

“You train a lot too.” I shove my towel into my bag and close my locker. We don’t directly compete against each other, since he’s a breaststroker and that’s my weakness. If you ask me, people who choose that stroke are a whole separate breed. Their brains and their bodies operate on an entirely different wavelength.

“Yeah, but I also have no desire to look back on my twenties and wonder where the hell they went. Being a complete slave to my sport won’t keep me warm at night. Women and booze have a place.” He winks at me as we exit the locker room with the rest of the guys from the team. “Preaching to the choir, I guess. You’ve got Valentina.” He says her name with a weird accent. “And she is fucking hot.”

“Actually, we—”

“Faulkner,” Jessica squeals and turns to face me and Ethan. “I just heard you’re hanging out with us?” She has her phone up, and she’s clearly recording. Another person obsessed with catching every second of her life on video as though it might slip through her fingers.

Her reaction coupled with Ethan’s makes me realize our coach and Posey might have a point about my swim-life balance. Most of the time, my lack of a social life doesn’t even register on my radar.

“Trying out this whole socializing thing,” I say. “I may need Ethan to hold me later.”

“I do love to cuddle.” Ethan gives Jessica a wicked grin. “Isn’t that right, Jess?”

She flushes bright red and closes her phone. “You’re a total mood killer.”

“Baby, are you embarrassed of me?” Ethan teases.

“Until the end of time,” Jessica calls over her shoulder.

“She’ll come around,” Ethan says to me.

“I didn’t realize you and Jess were together.” Posey and Coach definitely have a point if I’m not even aware of team gossip that doesn’t surprise anyone else.

“We’re not. But there’s something about her... I doubt she’ll ever say yes, but I might die trying.” He chuckles. “Some people are worth the effort, even if it’ll never go where you want it to.”

“She doesn’t mind being teased?”

“At the last team social she got drunk and told me she likes the attention but she just doesn’t like me.”

“Ouch.”