Chapter 10
Sam
The morning light shone through the windows to land right on the bed. The warm glow that filled the room caused Sam to wake up from his deep sleep. He sat up on the bed and announced. “Good morning handsome!” His head turned to look at the spot where Paul had been next to him. The bed was empty though. Sam frowned as he stood up from the bed. He walked over to the wall to turn on the lights. There was no sign of Paul in the room. His bag was even gone.
Sam sat down on the edge of the bed. His hands came up to brush his fingers through his hair. Was it just a one-night stand? Why didn’t Paul waking him up to at least say goodbye? He wasn’t sure how to feel right now. His mind raced with the possibilities of what had happened and what might be going on. The handsome alpha had just left without a word. He took a deep breath and looked around the room. There were his clothes from the night before scattered around the room. Paul’s clothes were still there too. Maybe he wasn’t gone after all?
Rising up from the bed, Sam walked into the bathroom for a quick shower. He let out a curse when his foot slammed into the luggage that was sitting in the small room. Gritting his teeth, he reached over to turn the light on. Paul’s bag was sitting there in the way. That confirms he didn’t leave, but Sam was still upset that the sexy alpha didn’t wake him up. He rolled the bag out of the bathroom to start his morning routine.
After a quick shower and brushing his teeth. Sam got dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a purple polo shirt. He sat down at the table to check his camera equipment. Everything appeared to be in order. He placed the equipment into his camera bag and slung the strap over his shoulder. If Paul was still here, he would be down at the pool.
Sam stopped by the lobby first for a bite to eat. The hotel had a free continental breakfast. Eggs and a bagel would tide him over until he was able to get lunch. He looked around at the other people in the dining room. There were a lot of people dressed up in suits for the information technology conference. It was funny to see the suits there with people that were there for the swim competitions. The coaches and swimmers were obvious as they wore track suits or shorts and t-shirts. The coaches would have whistles or stop watched hung around their neck by a lanyard.
The turn out looked promising from the number of people that Sam could see here. This was not all of them though. There were others that may not even be up yet or they might be practicing right now. Sam finished his meal and got up from the table. He left the dining area to go find the pool. He was not familiar with the hotel so he had to ask the hotel staff where the competition pool was located.
With directions, he was able to locate the stairs that led down to the pool. He walked by the glass walled room. There were already several swimmers and coaches in the room. They were going through drills and swim trials to prepare for the real event tomorrow.
Sam opened the door to the pool and walked over to the stadium seating. He sat his bag down and got his camera out. He selected one of the extended lenses from the bag and attached it to the camera. He lifted the camera to his eye to gaze through it. He took a few test pictures of the water and the swimmers. He had to make a few adjustments due to the way the light reflected off the surface of the water. Lifting his camera back up, he looked through it again. This time he pointed I toward the end of the pool with the starter blocks. There was Dan with his stop watch. The man was pacing back and forth.
Aiming the camera to the water in front of Dan, he saw a swimmer reach the edge of the pool. That had to be Paul. It could be difficult to tell at times as the swimmers wore those caps that hid their hair. Sam couldn’t imagine that Dan would be training anyone else though. He took a few pictures of Paul when he emerged from the water to sit on the edge.
Sam lowered the camera when Paul looked in his direction. He smiled at Paul, but he was not smiling back at him for some reason. The alpha stood back up to position himself on the block and then dove back into the water when Dan blew the whistle.
Did he not seem him? He had to because he looked right at Sam. What was going on? Was he too focused on his practice? Sam took a deep breath. He was over thinking things, right? There had to be reasonable explanation. He set his camera back into his bag. He would just have to find out. He walked over to where Paul was in the water. Dan was nearby with his stop watch. The man looked over to Sam and approached him.
“Thanks for letting Paul get a good night sleep. He really needed to be ready for the competition today.” Dan looked back at the water where Paul was swimming to the other end of the pool.
Sam placed his hands into his pockets. “Oh, think nothing of it. I was wondering if I could talk to Paul for a moment. I wanted to ask him about something.” Sam watched the man looking at the pool and then back to him.
Dan shook his head negatively. “I don’t think that is a good idea right now. Paul needs to focus on his training and drills right now. He was distracted this morning and I’ve just got him back to the point that he is doing good. If you still want to talk to him, we will have a break coming up in an hour for breakfast.”
Sam turned his eyes down to look at the tiled floor. His foot scuffed along the floor before he looked up at the manager. “Alright. I understand. I will try to talk to him later.” He turned away from Dan to go back over to the stadium seat. He picked up his camera to look through the view finder. He snapped a few pictures, but he kept lowering the camera to look at Paul in the water.
He wanted to talk to him right now, but Dan wouldn’t allow it. This was important to Paul and Dan. Sam understood that, He thought a brief conversation wouldn’t distract Paul too much. What if Paul had planned this? Maybe he told Dan to give him the story about needing to be focused so that Sam couldn’t talk to him. Sam sighed as he placed his camera into his bag. He got a few pictures, but his mind was not in the right frame to continue. He picked up his bag and walked out of the pool area.
Paul didn’t want to talk to him. That was fine. Sam sniffled as a tear trickled down his cheek. He wiped away the tear with the back of his hand. It wasn’t fine though. Sam felt hurt. He thought something special was forming between the two of them. He wanted it to be real. A new start in his life. He knew that he should have waited longer before getting involved. Sam crossed his arms over his chest protectively. He wasn’t going to be hurt again.