Chapter 18
LOIS
The past month has flown by so quick I’ve barely had time to breathe between practice, sneaking over to Nick’s almost every night and getting my Lily fix at least once a week.
My tiny niece is no longer so tiny, the scrunched up ball of snuggly warmth is now a smiling, gurgling, bright ray of sunshine.
That girl lights up my entire life and I couldn’t love her any more.
I feel like I'm juggling my life right now, scraping a few minutes together each day to eat and drink before I pass out from exhaustion.
The cold is really taking it’s toll on all of us, the heating system in the gymnasium is busted so we huddle like penguins when we arrive at 8am everyday.
Of course it only takes half an hour of warm ups before we’re all secreting our own body weight in sweat anyway.
Sophia is back from her trip to the Bahamas last week and the overpowering arrogance is pouring from her as usual when she steps into the gym at 9:07am.
Her hair is lighter than usual, obviously a little bleached from the sun.
It shines under the harsh lights of the gym and she flicks the long, straightened cloak over one shoulder as she flashes us a smirk.
“You guys look so happy to see me this morning, have you missed me?”
She shows us a toothy smile, one that’s plastered in insincerity.
We slap on a fake smile back to her of course, Anais, Lucy and I as we stretch out ready to start our routines. Ellen snaps her fingers and all of our heads turn like she’s some sort of drill sergeant, which she is.
“Enough of the chit chat,”
she barks, “Sophia, welcome back, you’re late.”
Sophia’s eyes widen like a puppy, her mouth widening into a sickly sweet smile.
“I’m sorry Ellen the jet lag is still messing with me.”
Ellen barely looks twice at her before shouting her orders.
She points me to the bars, Anais to the beam, Lucy to vault whilst Sophia warms up.
I’m thanking my lucky stars that Ellen didn’t snap her fingers in my direction and force me to practice my floor routine.
Those tumbles are the bane of my life lately and I’ve been struggling to throw all of my focus into them and make them stick.
I’m extremely aware of the competition that’s creeping up on me and the thought of it is making my stomach churn as I start my bar routine.
I try to keep my head straight, lining myself up to transition to the high bar, swooping low and picking up momentum for my dismount.
I inhale sharply and let go, twisting through the air and trying desperately to track the floor that spins below me.
My feet land flat and I stick the dismount, a hard puff of air leaving my lungs from the relief.
We switch after an hour of practice and I'm finally on floor, my arch nemesis at the moment.
It stares me down like a predator and I swallow hard when the beep sounds to indicate the start of my routine.
The music flows around me like a gushing river, picking up speed and sharpness as I prepare for my first tumble.
I start to run, telling myself I can do this, I can land this, I have to land this now.
The competition is in a few days and I feel sick about it, but if I can smash this routine a few times today I’ll be able to breathe until competition day.
I throw myself into my tumble, twisting fast and hard, determined to land and prove myself to Ellen.
My feet hit the ground like a magnet is pulling them down and I don’t even wobble.
I continue the dance elements of my routine, swirling my arms and performing like my life depends on it.
When it comes to my last tumble — my least favourite one and the one that will gain me the most points — I halt for a beat, taking a deep breath.
On the last note of the music I fly through the air like a bird, snapping my legs together and bringing them down to the ground in a perfect landing.
My face immediately reddens when the whole gymnasium claps for me, my teammates beaming with pride.
Except for Sophia of course, she leans against the beam, scowling with jealously as usual.
She can’t stand to see anyone else have the attention of the team.
Ellen walks slowly across the floor to me.
“Lois that was excellent, well done.”
Her hand lands on my shoulder and I almost spot the hint of a smile on her lips, but she quickly squashes it and drops her hand.
“Hit the shower, you’re done for today.”
“Thank you,”
I breathe, letting her words seep into my brain.
I don’t think Ellen has complimented me once on any of my skills since I took over from Callie as captain.
I think she forgets I never wanted to be captain, I only agreed because Callie asked me and I can’t say no to that girl.
I take Ellen’s demand seriously and with gratitude, heading straight for the showers with Anais in tow.
She’s been acing her routines lately too, to be honest she’s probably the strongest on the team at the moment.
“You showed that floor who was boss today Lo, great job.”
She slings an arm over my shoulder and hugs me to her side as we walk to the locker rooms.
“Ready for the comp in three days?”
I nod once, looking at the ground.
“I guess, I'm still kind of shaky on some of my landings though.”
“That’s normal, I know I killed it like a boss bitch today but I get shaky a lot of the time too.”
I laugh a little, looking across at her before she smushes a kiss to my cheek and pulls me into the girl’s locker room.
The air is already thick with steam, someone must have used our showers again.
Its probably those pesky first years whose dorms have one shower between twelve of them.
Can’t say I blame them to be honest, the thought of sharing a shower with eleven other students makes me shiver with disgust.
Anais and I have just crammed our bags and sweaty clothes into our lockers, wrapping ourselves in fresh smelling, still warm towels when the door flies open.
Sophia struts past us with her nose turned up, yanking a scrunchie from her hair and letting the shiny locks cascade down her back.
I don’t pay her any attention, not even glancing her way as I pass her to get to the showers.
As soon as I'm clean I yank my clothes on, tussling my hair dry with a towel and grabbing the bag from my locker.
Sophia still sits, one leg slung over the other on one of the benches, her nose in her phone. But when I accidentally — or not so accidentally — brush past her on my way out she clears her throat obnoxiously.
“Just because you stuck your tumbles today, doesn’t mean you’re suddenly fit to be captain of this team you know? Don’t get too big for your little boots Taylor.”
She looks up at me with an evil glint in her green eyes.
“We all know you’re just trying to live up to your brother’s reputation, but you’ll never be as talented or well liked as him.”
I roll my eyes, ready to either walk out of here or put a heeled shoe through her eyeball.
“Fuck off Sophia,”
I mutter under my breath, but she stands to her feet when both of mine are already in the hallway, the door to the locker rooms open behind me.
“Sorry, what was that?”
She hisses, emerald eyes wide and daring.
I stand taller, squaring my shoulders.
“I said, fuck off.”
The shock is evident in the way her eyebrows shoot up into her hairline, but after less than a second she hides it and both hands land on her sharp hipbones.
“Jesus, you’ve been spending too much time with Callie, you sound just like her.”
I smile sweetly, batting my eyelashes.
“Thank you.”
Sophia tilts her head with annoyance.
“That wasn’t a compliment.”
“I know, but I chose to take it as one.”
I leave with a middle finger flipped in her direction as I skate fast down the hallway to the exit. I hop in the car and immediately text Nick to meet me at the dorms.
The key wont get in the fucking lock and it’s irritating me. I’m on edge and there’s only one person that can help me right now, he’s six-foot-four and covered in ink.
When I finally get the door open with a muttered, “Stupid fucking thing,”
I spot three heads in the kitchen.
Kyle and Molly sit on adjacent bar stools, a laptop in front of Molly, a coffee and notebook in front of Kyle. My eyes lift to the tallest frame in the room, the one that leans back against the counter top, facing me with a megawatt grin.
The tension in my muscles instantly vanishes at seeing his face and I drop my bag to the ground, racing across the room to him.
I fling myself into the warmth of his chest, his arms wrap around me, lips peppering soft kisses against my neck.
He squeezes me tightly like a sponge and all the stress pours out of me onto the kitchen floor.
“Baby I'm sorry but I can’t stay long. I said I’d pick Lewis up from the rink in half an hour, he’s staying late for extra practice.”
He coos, forehead landing against mine as I inhale his strong, comforting smell.
“That’s ok, but I need sex tonight so I'm coming over later ok?”
I blurt, forgetting that we’re not alone in this room.
I hear Kyle’s breath stop halfway into his lungs behind me and I can feel Molly’s smirk burning a hole in my back.
I’m only looking at Nick though, who’s eyes sprang open at first but have now softened with understanding.
Than man can read my face and my mind, so I'm sure he can see from the wrinkles in my forehead that I’ve had a long and stressful day.
“That’s more than fine.”
He grins, chocolate eyes sparkling.
I grab his face, pulling his lips to mine and kissing him hard. His hands find my waist and he grips me tight, lifting me up so my toes are bushing the ground.
I break the kiss, feeling the pink seep into my cheeks.
“Ok, see you later.”
I say, leaving him breathing a little harder than usual and adjusting his trousers.
My head is laid against Nick’s thighs as he chews a pen between his teeth, notebook in one hand.
The light streams through the open windows of his bedroom, the music flowing through my earphones and sending comforting ripples down my spine as I let my eyes flutter closed for a moment.
Last night was just what I needed.
Letting Nick fuck me until there were spots in my vision was just the medicine I needed after my stressful day in the gym.
My competition is in two days and I'm running through my routines in my head every chance I get.
Nick is studying too, writing down new tactics to pitch to Sean and his coach tomorrow at practice.
I know he’d love to be the captain of the team and if my brother ever decides to step down, I know Nick will jump at the chance to replace him.
He’s a natural leader like Sean and I know he’d make a reliable, strong, dependable captain if he ever needed to step into my brother’s intimidatingly large shoes.
His pen clicks between his teeth as the song in my ears changes to one of my favourites.
I let my eyes open slowly and glance up at Nick’s serious, concentrated expression.
I smile at him without even meaning to, my face just reacts to his like a bee to pollen.
He doesn’t look back at me though, he’s engrossed in whatever he’s writing, the pen in his hand moving across the page at lightening speed.
I pull one earphone out and twist my face to him.
“You know, I never believed in love at first sight,”
a teasing grin tugs at my mouth.
“Until I met you of course.”
Nick takes the pen out from between his teeth and without looking at me he mutters, “Yeah, me too.”
I sit up then, a little annoyed that he’s clearly not listening to me.
“You’re not listening to me, are you?”
I grumble, shifting my body so that I'm now straddling his thighs.
His eyes finally meet mine, creased with confusion as he takes the notebook off his lap and frisbees it onto the bedside table along with his half chewed pen.
“Yeah baby, I am listening. You said you didn’t believe in love at first sight until you met me and I said me too.”
He smiles softly, taking my face between his huge hands and pecking my forehead.
I sit up straighter now, confusion knitting my eyebrows together.
“Wait, what? You loved me when you first met me? You can’t have, you never even acknowledged my existence until that night after the party.”
“Ok, maybe I don’t believe in love at first sight,”
he smirks, “but love at first sex, that’s a different thing altogether.”
I throw him an eye roll and a slap towards his smug face, but he grabs my wrist before I can make contact and flips us so I'm under his body.
His nose tickles mine and his warm breath dances across my parted lips, my gaze flitting between his own perfect lips and deep brown eyes.
He stares at me for a beat, the words in his head floating around me without him needing to say them out loud.
Then his mouth descends on mine, so slowly, so softly I barely feel it. But it’s comforting, warm and familiar and it melts me instantly.
“I think back to that night sometimes,”
he coos against my lips, “how I very nearly turned you down because I knew what Sean would do if he found out I’d fucked his little sister.
But deciding to let you in that night was the best thing I ever did, and immediately after our kiss I knew that I never wanted you to leave.”
I smile back at him, the most genuine smile I’ve ever worn and he knows it. I can tell by the way he looks back at me, like I'm the only person in his world.