Qualified: A Sports Romance (25 page)

Epilogue

The days grew longer as they warmed
towards summer and the sidewalks filled with bikinied beachgoers. The
temptations may have been close, but those on the road to the summer games had
their eyes focused on something else. The men’s water polo team had little time
for relaxation as they pushed themselves to be their best for the competition
coming in August.

Though they’d achieved their qualifying placement,
there were other international competitions on their schedule as they prepared
themselves for the games. Due to her new commitments Allie was not able to
travel with Marc, but he was sure to call her every night he was away so she
could talk him through his hand exercises.

Allie accepted the research position in Doctor
Seinder’s laboratory and was able to set her schedule in a way that made it possible
to carpool with Candace. On the other days of the week she supplemented her
part-time employment by taking Lindsey up on the offer to staff her clinic near
the aquatic center.

The youth water polo clinic that Marc volunteered
to do with Blake was a great success. Allie borrowed Candace’s camera and went
along to help take photos to document the event for the team’s media efforts.
It was just the start of such collaborations. The guys seemed to put the events
of the club behind them as they developed their teamwork in and out of the
water.

On Father’s Day, Everett held a cook-out at his
house and invited anyone who was planning on staying in town for the day off.
Marc wasn’t the only team member to attend, and yet Allie was happy to see that
he and the team manager spent a long time talking beneath the shade of a tree.
There was a cooler of chilled beers in the corner of the yard, but thankfully
Adam wasn’t there to have the bright idea of bringing the ingredients for
blowjob shots.

Violet’s internship work with the national
basketball team helped her network her way to an administrative NBA job that
would start after the games in August—she didn’t want to give up her ticket to
Rio. Allie was planning on going to the games too, but not with a staff position.
She carefully squirreled away her paychecks so she could get her ticket to be
by Marc’s side.

They tried not to rush into worrying about their
lives after August, but the assumptions and discussions started trickling in.
An apartment for the both of them, close to campus. Whether Marc should meet
her parents during Thanksgiving in Colorado, or before. That there was no
better place for a wedding than a bluff overlooking the ocean.

On Marc’s last day off before the team left for
Rio, Allie surprised him by renting a car to go driving. She kept the keys.
They took the freeway north and then twisted into the canyon roads, finally
dropping back to where the sunset ocean stretched to a glimmering horizon. Marc
helped her find the turn to the unpaved road that led to their lookout point.
This time, Allie straddled his lap and made love to him under the stars.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ada Croix lives in Northern California. She
grew up with tales which showed true love performing miracles and that there’s
nothing foxier than a rogue fighting for his lady.

This is her first novel.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I suppose a first novel must begin before its
first page is drafted, its nascence in every experimental scrap of writing. In
that sense, I am most grateful to the many individuals who have encouraged and
inspired me to write.

This particular adventure would surely have not
been possible without my editors, my navigator and my co-pilot. It has been a
long journey, and in the end—the best stories are made of love.