just dive in [reed bishop spin-off] ✔️

thirty-two

— t h i r t y - t w o —

TENSIONS WERE RUNNING HIGH as the meet progressed and Reed wasn't the only one getting worked up about competing. Dex started at every loud trill of the whistle, and Kessy was frantically trying to keep track of who was placing for every heat, in an attempt to discern how Woodway was doing. Her somewhat messy calculations came to the conclusion that along with Hampstead, they were pulling ahead of terms of wins. That only served to amp up the pressure for all the races they had left. Even Oliver, who liked to think he was a fairly unflappable person, felt the nerves twisting in his gut every time he was called up to take his position in the lane. It didn't help that Hampstead were doing so well and Finley was dominating his events.

This only seemed to fire Reed up further, who was paying as close attention to Finley's heats as his own. He scowled when the whistle blew to signal the end of the current race and Finley's name flashed at the top of the leaderboard to announce he had won his heat. "Prick," he growled, same as he had every time Finley took to the water.

"You won your heat for this event too," Oliver reminded him, trying to hide his amusement at how riled up Reed was. There was smug satisfaction too, in knowing Finley only bother him so much out of some kind of misplaced jealousy. Reed had no reason to be jealous but it was always nice to know he cared.  "You're doing just as well as him."

"I know that. But I'm not leaving this competition until I've done better than him."

Oliver rolled his eyes, pretending he didn't notice the curious looks and whispers they were receiving from the others on their swim team. It could've been because they'd gone from two weeks of avoiding each other — an obvious enough shift in their usual dynamic that a couple of people on the team had asked Oliver about it, questions he evaded as best as possible — to talking together as usual, but more likely, Charlie's reputation of blabbing had pulled through. Besides Bailey and Kessy, and maybe Dex, no one else on the team would have any reason to suspect there was anything going on between Reed and Oliver.

Oliver's sexuality had never been a secret but something he kept on a need to know basis, rather than advertising it to the whole world. He didn't know most of the swim team well enough to know how they'd react to this news, but he would deal with any problems if they came.

With both Reed and Finley placing consistently first in their heats, it was inevitable they finally ended up against one another with the way heats were determined. Hampstead was sitting close enough to them on the poolside that Finley twisted around to look at them at the names that flashed up on the board. "Would you look at that," he drawled, gaze flicking to Oliver before settling on Reed with a smirk. "Round two of fighting for Oliver's honour."

Oliver was aware that Finley's comment was only attracting more attention from the rest of their team, who were no doubt hearing it in light of Charlie's most recent bit of gossip. "This has nothing to do with me," he said.

"I think blondie might agree to disagree with you there." Fin tipped his head in Reed's direction, seeming only more amused at the glare Reed was directing at him. Oliver knew Finley didn't particularly care about him, that there were plenty of other far more willing boys waiting for him back in London. He was only milking this teasing because he found it funny how much it pissed Reed off. "Shall we make this race more interesting? Up the stakes, as they put it."

Oliver frowned. "No — "

"Fine," Reed said, without even looking at him. His jaw was set, that familiar determined blaze burning in his eyes. Oliver knew with a sinking feeling that he wasn't about to back down from whatever Finley said. "Up the stakes, then. You'll be the one suffering from the repercussions."