Mind the Gap (In Too Deep) by Casey McMillin Read Free Book Online Page A

conversation with Collin's dad just so I could tune her out for a few minutes. 
    During one of the times when I wasn't tuning her out, I overheard a conversation she was having with Rachel about hair. I only overheard them because Gretchen was included in the conversation and she was sitting next to me. Brit was asking why all of the male swimmers had short hair—which made them begin discussing men's hair in general and what their thoughts were on the subject. Gretchen said she loved that Joel wore his hair long. Brit agreed that she preferred guys with longer hair. Trevor smiled at that bit of news since he was sporting a bad Beatles haircut.
    Rachel was too sweet to agree with them. She said she liked different haircuts on different guys but she preferred Collins shorter like he wore it. "I mean, it's not buzzed or anything, it's just short-ish, you know." She felt bad when she caught on to the fact that I could hear her. "I like your hair buzzed, though, Josh. It looks good on you." I just smiled without looking at them as if it was no big deal and I wasn't really listening to the conversation.
    I didn't care if girls liked longer hair. I was a number one fade, and proud of it. I knew it looked good on me, which was a good thing, because my hair was completely unruly when it grew out. Even though I'd probably never try growing it out again, I couldn't help but take note that Brit liked long hair.
    Brit and I never got close enough to each other to either confront or ignore what had happened between us the night before. I figured it was better that way since we'd probably choose to ignore it, which would make things even more awkward than usual between us.
    The boys had a successful weekend. Collin was a given, Zack was expected to win also, but Ethan's success surprised more than a few people. His main opponent, a guy named Anthony Davis, wasn't at that meet, but he'd still finished in first for all of his swims, and people were talking about him going all the way. Ethan's family was beside themselves with excitement over the whole thing. I was glad I could be a part of their journey to the trials and likely the Olympic team.
    ****
    The next couple weeks flew by, and before I knew it, I was only days away from moving. I was excited about my new apartment and my new life in in L.A. At last, I'd live in a city where I'd never run into Kayla. I only gave myself a four-day window to move into my place before I had to start my new job. I planned it that way because I knew I'd go stir crazy if I had too much spare time on my hands. I was scheduled to leave San Diego in two days, and I planned on seeing as many friends as possible before I left. I'd been on a bender for an entire week now, going out night after night to see friends one last time.
    Last night, my friend Eli brought me to that club where you had to have a password like James Bond. Believe it or not, he was still seeing that girl Layla (or Lydia) that we introduced him to. She was there with him. She asked me why I didn't bring Zoey, and I told her the truth—that I was moving and Zoey wanted a clean break. That was just fine with me since I didn't think there was anything to break off in the first place. 
    It had been two weeks since the swim meet in Portland, and I hadn't heard anything about Brit. Ethan was supposed to be meeting me any minute for lunch, and I thought I might try to bait him into talking about Emily just to see if Brit's name came up.
    "What are you smiling about?" he asked, coming up behind me at the bar. Apparently, he'd seen my reflection in the mirror.
    "What's up?" I asked, ignoring his question about smiling. How'd it go at the pool?"
    "Good. I had a good day," he said.
    Candy came to take our order. She said how weird it was seeing me so much this week, and how sad she'd be super sad when I was gone
    I told Candy to bring an extra side of bacon, partly because I felt like having bacon in my mouth, and partly because it reminded me of