Making a Splash

Three weeks later

Mackenzie got to the pool nearly four hours before she needed to be there for the day. Skye had told her a few days ago that Ricky’s girlfriend, Addie, was going to be coming in today and be staying for the next month. So, Mackenzie decided to go ahead and go to the pool early so she could meet Addie since it appeared she’d be spending a lot of time with the girl.

Mackenzie and Ryan had been going out regularly, though they took a page from Skye and Michael’s book and decided to not show off their relationship at the pool. Not a lot of people actually knew that the two of them were dating, and that was the way that they liked it.

Mackenzie walked into the aquatics center, seeing Garrett and Ryan in the pool. She stood at the edge of the pool watching them for a few minutes before she saw Skye sitting in the bleachers with another girl, who Mackenzie recognized as Addie. She made her way over to them, sitting down next to Skye.

“Hey!” Skye smiled when she saw her. “Mackenzie, this is Addie. Addie, Mackenzie,” she quickly introduced the two women.

“Nice to meet you,” Addie smiled.

“You, too,” Mackenzie replied. “So, I hear you’re going to be here for the next month?” she asked her.

Addie nodded her head. “Yeah, I am.”

“Well, I’m happy about that,” Mackenzie told her. “It’ll be nice to have another girl in the pool. Besides, I’m sure Ricky will be happy to have you here, too.”

“Definitely,” Skye agreed. “He’s been so excited to see you,” she said, turning to face Addie. “You two really were meant for each other.”

Addie laughed at her. “Thanks,” she said before turning to face Mackenzie. “Ricky told me that you can’t compete anymore with your injury,” she spoke. “I’m sorry to hear that. You were amazing in the pool. The United States is definitely going to miss you on the team.”

“Thanks,” Mackenzie told her, looking out at the pool, watching as Garrett’s coach told him what he wanted him to do next. “It’s taken a lot of time to realize that I’m never going to be able to compete. But, I guess I should be grateful that I can even get in the pool at all. I mean I can still swim from end to end. I just can’t do it as fast as I could,” she said with a small laugh.

“That’s a great attitude to have,” Addie told her, as Mackenzie continued to stare out at the pool, this time watching as Ryan got out of the pool and headed over to his coach, who was shaking his head, obviously not happy with Ryan. “You really like Ryan, don’t you?” Addie smiled.

Mackenzie quickly turned her head to look at Addie. “Me?” she asked, and Addie nodded her head. “Yeah, I do,” she admitted, biting her bottom lip, a little embarrassed that her feelings were so obvious. “It’s weird, you know,” she began. “We’ve only been going out for a few weeks, and yet, it’s hard to remember a time when I didn’t even know him. It seems like he’s always been in my life. I feel like I shouldn’t be feeling about him this way, like it’s way too soon. I mean, I’m not completely in love with him yet, but I think I could be someday. You two probably think I’m crazy,” Mackenzie said, unable to believe she had just confessed all of her feelings to Skye and Addie.

“You’re not crazy,” Skye assured her. “I’ll even let you in on a little secret. It was less than a month into my relationship with Michael that I knew I was completely in love with him. Sometimes you just know,” she told her.

“But still, I feel like I’m jumping in too quick or something. I mean, we’ve been going out for like three weeks, and I’m already talking about how I could fall in love with him. It just all seems so crazy,” Mackenzie said, but she quickly stopped talking when Ryan began walking towards them. “What was your coach upset about?” she asked him as he grabbed his towel from next to Addie, saying a quick hello to her.

“He didn’t like my times,” Ryan replied, running the towel through his hair, trying to dry his locks. “I was apparently two seconds behind where I normally am,” he said casually, and Mackenzie’s eyes widened at the news. Now she understood why his coach was so upset. “What?” he asked when he saw her reaction.

“How can you be so calm about it?” she questioned. “If I was two seconds slower than normal, I’d be in the pool for the next five hours until I dropped my times back down. And yet, you’re just so calm about it. I don’t get it,” she told him.

Ryan shrugged his shoulders. “There’s no reason to freak out about it. It was probably just a fluke. I’ll go back in the water in like five minutes, and I’m sure my times will be back down. Right now, I’m going to blame you,” he said jokingly.

“What? How can you blame me?” Mackenzie asked.

“It puts more pressure on me when you’re here. And, I’m obviously more distracted when I see you sitting in the stands,” he told her. “What are you doing here so early anyways?” he asked.

“First of all, don’t blame me for your terrible times,” she told him with a smile. “And, I came in early so I could meet Addie,” she answered, pointing over to Addie. “But, since you apparently don’t want me here, let me see if there’s something else I can do that’s nowhere near the pool,” she told him, beginning to stand up.

“I never said I didn’t want you here,” Ryan told her, grabbing onto her arm so she didn’t walk any further away from him. “Now, my coach may feel differently,” he told her. “But, by all means, stay here. That just means that if my times are still terrible when I go back in, then I can blame you.”

“Or, you could just swim harder and get better times,” Mackenzie suggested with a laugh. “But, I’m actually going to leave and get some lunch here soon, so you’ll have no more excuses as to why you’re doing so poorly,” she told him.

“I’m so jealous of you,” Ryan told her. “Getting to go eat. I have to stay here and swim for a couple more hours,” he said dramatically.

“Believe me, if I could trade places with you right now and train in the pool for the next two hours, I’d do it in a heartbeat,” she told him seriously.

“Mack, I’m sorry,” Ryan told her sincerely. “I didn’t mean anything by that comment.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Mackenzie told him. “I know you were just joking. But, I am serious, if I could get in there and train, I’d do it no questions asked.”

“I know you would,” Ryan told her, wrapping an arm around her, causing cold water to drip down the back of her shirt.

Mackenzie let out a yelp and quickly jumped out of his grasp. “Did you have to get water down my shirt?” she asked him.

“Sorry,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “I couldn’t help it.”

“Ryan Lochte, I swear I will get you back for that,” she vowed. “But, for now, I am off to go get some lunch,” she told him.

“Can you at least bring me something back?” Ryan begged.

“After what you just did to me? No way,” Mackenzie told him.

“Hey, you want some company?” Addie asked Mackenzie. “I’m starving myself.”

“Of course,” Mackenzie told her, nodding her head. “Let’s go.”

“Addie, will you bring me back some food?” Ryan asked her, sticking out his bottom lip, pouting.

“Yes, Ryan,” she sighed. “I’ll bring you back some food.”

“I see Ricky has the better girlfriend,” he mumbled under his breath, causing Mackenzie to turn around and stare at him, wide-eyed.

“That was just uncalled for,” she said, unable to fight back the smile on her face when she saw Ryan’s expression when he realized she had heard him.

“I’m sorry. You’re the best girlfriend in the world,” he told her, giving her a kiss that nearly made her knees give out. “Really, you are,” he assured her.

“Go swim,” she told him, pushing him towards the pool. “And, get better times. I wouldn’t want your coach to start hating me because you’re not swimming as fast.”

“I’ll try,” he promised, throwing his towel on the bleachers next to Skye and jumping back in the pool as Addie and Mackenzie walked towards the exit.

***

“That boy is clearly in love with you,” Addie said suddenly as her and Mackenzie’s food was delivered to their table.

Mackenzie looked up at her curiously. “What? Who are you talking about?” she asked, confused by her statement.

“Ryan,” she stated. “You were saying earlier that you thought it might be too early in your relationship to be feeling that way about him, but it’s obvious that he’s already falling in love with you. You can see it when he talks to you. I’ve known Ryan for a while, and he’s never been like this with anyone else, even if it has been less than a month,” Addie explained. “And, if you need any more proof, just look at the fact he’s taken out his grill. I noticed when he smiled while talking to you that he didn’t have it in. You must have done some work on him,” she said with a laugh.

“Oh, he still wears it,” Mackenzie told her. “He just knows that I can’t stand it, so he doesn’t wear it as much. But, either way, thank you,” she said. “For reassuring me. But, let’s talk about something besides my relationship with Ryan, like you and Ricky. Let me hear about how Raddie got its start,” she said, remembering that Skye had told her that she and Ricky had a nickname.

Addie started laughing. “You had to use Raddie, didn’t you?” she asked her, and Mackenzie nodded her head as she took a sip of her Diet Coke. “You really want to know how Ricky and I got together?” she asked, and Mackenzie nodded once again. “It’s a really boring story.”

“I want to hear it,” Mackenzie told her.

“Okay,” Addie began. “Ricky and I have known each other practically our entire lives. We’ve always been on the same swim team, since we were like five years old, so we’ve always been really great friends. And, then we ended up dating, and here we are today.”

“Okay, that was the cliff notes version. I want the details. How did he first ask you out?” Mackenzie inquired.

“Ummm…” Addie hummed, trying to remember. “Our first official date was actually our prom junior year,” she recalled. “I was supposed to go with this guy, and he ended up getting back together with his ex-girlfriend like a week before prom. Ricky wasn’t going to go because he had a swim competition, but he went out and bought a tux and a corsage and all that, and he surprised me that afternoon. He came over to my house and told me to get ready for prom. I had no idea what he was talking about, and he told me that I was going to be his date. That was our first date, and that was also the night of our first kiss,” she remembered. “And, we started dating after that.”

“That has got to be like the most freaking adorable story ever!” Mackenzie told her. “No wonder people already have a couple name for you two. It’s obvious that you’re going to get married and have beautiful champion swimmer children.”

Addie started laughing. “Yes, and they will be competing against Michael and Skye’s children, and Ryan and your children,” she concluded.

“Hey now!” Mackenzie interrupted. “Dating for three weeks does not automatically equal children.”

“We’ll just wait and see about that one,” Addie said with a smile.