Chapter 271 - Ocean – The Tournament Part 7

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Ocean

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We changed as quickly as we could and went out to meet the coach. He was waiting for us outside the bus and it was clear to us all that he had figured out what was happening.

"So, who hit him?" He wasn't as angry as I thought that he would be. In truth, I almost felt like he was holding back his laughter.

"I did." I didn't try to hide it from him at all. "But he was going to hit Makai." I told him the reason without him needing to ask.

"Yeah, I figured. His coach was waiting for him too and we had a nice long talk about Trent's temper. We both suspected that he was going to be trying something. That was why he was taking so long. Are you all OK? Nothing hurt? How's your hand?" The coach was showing more concern than I expected from him.

"We're all good, Coach." Makai answered for us. "And I think I finally made him understand that he has to leave us alone."

"Hey, Coach?" I asked him as I had a wave of paranoia wash over me.

"Yes, Ocean?"  I think that the coach was waiting for this part of the conversation. 

"I'm disqualified, aren't I? I am going to be kicked off of the team, aren't I?" I knew it. I just knew that Trent was going to go whine to the officials like a little bitch. It makes no difference that he was going to fight any of us that he could. He was the one that was laid out like a little punk ass bitch, so he went and tattled on me.

"No, Ocean, you're not. The moment that he tried to complain about you to his coach, Gunner shot him down. He wouldn't even listen to what the idiot had to say. The whole arena heard the way that he was treating you all earlier. The officials would just side with you anyway. And then you wouldn't get the chance to beat his ass again. I mean, assuming you want to put him in his place in the pool as well."

I was grinning. The coach had just given me the best news ever. I wasn't disqualified and I could still beat Trent in the pool tomorrow. That was awesome.

"Yeah, Coach, I want to beat his ass once again. We all do. We're going to show him that he was the problem all along. We're going to swim our best and beat him so bad that he cries like a little baby."

"Ha ha ha. That's good. But for the record, he already cried like a baby. I wish you all could have seen it." Coach was looking wistfully off into the sky like he was replaying it in his mind.

"THEY CAN SEE IT!" Charlie called out from his window seat on the bus. "I RECORDED IT JUST FOR THEM!"

"You're awesome, Charlie!" I grinned at him and gave him a thumbs up.

After that, we all headed back to the hotel. It was time for us all to get some lunch and then relax. All of us that swam today were starving and exhausted. I was doubly exhausted because of the bullshit that we had to deal with. I hoped that tomorrow would be better in some way. I doubted it, but I could hope at least.

We stopped at a restaurant on the way back and celebrated today's big achievement. Lunch was extra special since we were all going a little crazy over it. We wanted to burn off some of that excitement and energy we all had from winning all six rounds today. Oh, and the coach tried to pay for lunch since he had saved so much money on this trip, but Makai wouldn't let him do it. He just pulled out his little black credit card and paid for it all himself.

"One of these days, Makai, you're going to have to let someone else pay." The coach grinned at him.

"Hmm, only if they pay me in kindness." I heard him answer in a totally cheesy tone of voice.

"You're something else, kid. You know that?" Coach was just shaking his head in disbelief.

"Yeah, I know."

After lunch was over, we all went back to the hotel and went up to our rooms. I wanted to shower since we didn't have time to do that back when we were getting dressed. That little stunt that Trent had pulled had really cost us some time. I felt dirty and filthy. Basically, I just felt gross and grody after being in such a big pool that was used by so many people.

Makai and I both stripped our clothes off and got into the large steam shower together. We talked about how happy we were that we won and how great lunch was, but we didn't talk about anything else that had happened. Not yet anyway. We will probably be talking about it soon though. We would be discussing it because we had to. I knew it and I could sense that Makai knew it too. This wasn't just some tiny little thing that had happened today. It was major and it involved so much of Makai's life before he met me. I needed to know about it. We needed to talk it out or it would just hang over our heads forever.

The shower was relaxing, that was for sure. Though it did make me a little sleepy since I was exhausted and had a belly full of food. When it came to things like this, I was no better than a little kid.

"You look so tired. Are you going to fall asleep on me?" Makai joked as we dried ourselves off and got dressed into something comfortable. We would be hanging out in the room until dinner. And I was even thinking of just telling everyone to order room service for dinner too. We needed to relax after all that had happened.

"Not yet, but I am feeling a little sleepy. Don't worry though, I am not going to sleep. We need to talk first." I not so subtly told him that he wasn't getting out of it that easily.

"Yeah, I figured that was coming now." He nodded at me and slid up onto the bed. "Come on, sit down. We can talk while we relax."

"Are you trying to make me fall asleep?" I joked with him. "I can see where your plan lies, Mr. Makai." I crossed my arms and tapped my foot on the floor. "You're either trying to seduce me or trying to cuddle me to sleep so that we do not have to talk. That is very sneaky of you." I was leveling a fake glare at him, doing my best to give him a comically stern expression. It must have been working too since he started to laugh when he saw it.

"I promise you, Mr. Ocean, I am not trying to seduce you or put you to sleep. I have no doubt that we will be intimate whenever you want us to be, and I know that I will see the beautiful sleeping face of yours tonight. There is no reason at all for me to delay this any longer or to even be afraid of telling you any of this. You know a lot of it as it is anyway, and you're my fiancé. It is about time that I told you these things, isn't it?"

I was surprised. Makai, who had previously never wanted to talk about the past was willing to bear it all to me now. I was going to get the full story. All of it with nothing at all hidden from me. This was almost like a dream come true.

However, I also realized how it was a nightmare as well. A nightmare for me because I was going to learn all about the people that Makai had been with before. I was going to learn how he had been so experienced when he met me. And it was also a nightmare for Makai because he had to tell me all about the bad things that had happened with his ex. And I had a feeling that it wasn't just a normal break up. There was way more to it than that.

I was so conflicted about it. I didn't want Makai to be hurt and upset by telling me any of these things. But I also didn't want to be stuck not knowing these important things. If I had known about Trent before we got here, I could have been better prepared for what was going to be happening here. I would have been ready for him. I wouldn't have been taken by surprise. And I wouldn't have to worry about what to do when I saw one of Makai's exes for the very first time. I would know who was who and how to handle them all.

I think that was what had hurt me the most. That I hadn't been told about any of this. That Makai never told me how hard things were for him before he was with me. He never told me that he had had bad experiences at all. I mean, the closest that he ever came to that was when he said he knew what it was like to not be prepared to receive someone like I received him. I had to wonder now if that was Trent. And since I was told that Trent was the first man that Makai had 'loved' I had a feeling that it was.

"Come on, Ocean.. Let's talk."