That only solidified her views on romance. She didn’t have the time or the need for all that drama.

* * *

Gemma leaned against the edge of the pool and took off her goggles. Coach Levi stood over her, and she could already tell by his expression that she’d beat her time.

“I did it, right?” Gemma asked, smiling up at him.

“You did it,” Coach said.

“I knew it!” She grabbed the edge of the pool and pulled herself up and out of the water. “I could feel it.”

“You did great.” Coach nodded. “Now just imagine how great you’d do if you didn’t waste your energy on those nightly swims.”

Gemma groaned and took off her swim cap, letting her hair fall free. She looked around the empty pool. Nobody else on the swim team practiced during the summer, but then again, nobody trained as hard as she did.

They rarely spoke of it, not in real terms, but both Gemma and the coach had their eyes on the Olympics. The games were years away, but she was determined to be in top form by the time they came around. Coach Levi took her to every meet he could, and she won almost every time.

“It’s not wasted energy.” Gemma stared down at the water that dripped around her feet. “It’s something fun I do. I need to relax.”

“You do,” Coach agreed. He folded his arms across his chest, holding the clipboard to him. “You need to have fun and kick back and be a kid. But you don’t need to be swimming at night.”

“You wouldn’t even know that I was swimming if Harper didn’t narc on me,” Gemma muttered.

“Your sister is worried about you,” Coach said gently. “And I am, too. It’s not about training. The bay is dangerous at night. Another kid went missing just the other week.”

“I know.” Gemma sighed.

She’d already heard about it a dozen times from Harper. A seventeen-year-old boy had been staying at a beach house with his parents. He went out to meet some friends for a bonfire, and he never came back.

That story in itself didn’t sound that bad, but Harper was quick to remind Gemma of the two other boys who had gone missing in the last couple of months. They left one night, and simply didn’t come home.

It was usually after Harper told these stories that she’d run to Brian and start demanding that he keep Gemma home. Brian didn’t, though. Even after everything that had happened with their mom—or maybe because of it—he felt it was more important that the girls have the chance to live their lives.

“You’ve just got to be careful,” Coach told her. “It’s not worth throwing this all away for some stupid mistake.”

“I know,” Gemma said, this time with more conviction. After all the hard work and sacrifice, she wasn’t about to let any of this slip away from her.

“Okay,” Coach said. “But Gemma, that really was a great time today. You should be proud.”