28. Lucas
Lucas
He did it! My boyfriend got a bronze medal. I was so proud. His mom was screaming and jumping up and down. The Foxes turned and congratulated her after the screaming died down. Erika was coming up in the vault final. I was glad Graham knew about us. I had someone to share it with.
“He did great,” Graham whispered into my ear.
“I know. He really did.” I grinned.
Ten minutes after his text, I saw him and Grant heading up the stairs to us.
The girls were coming onto the floor. A little cheer broke out when the Americans around us saw them coming.
Grant headed for his parents first, and I stepped back in the row for Cam to go hug his mom first. I purposely left a seat between me and Heather, so Cam would be right next to me.
He turned and hugged me and Graham next, and Grant came up and hugged his brother, and then me, and we finally all sat down.
“Oh, that was a heartstopper, Cam,” Heather said. “I don’t know how much more I can handle. It’s all too exciting.”
Cam laughed. “Well, Mom, I hate to break it to you, but there’s two more days of it.”
She playfully slapped his shoulder, and we watched Hannah and Erika take gold and silver in the vault like it was nothing.
Dad: I just saw you on TV. Why aren’t you training?
Luke: Supporting the team, Dad.
Dad: You better get results.
I shoved my phone back in my pocket, hoping that Cam hadn’t seen the texts. I tried to forget them myself.
Pommel horse was next, and something that Cam and I needed to work on.
We had plenty of muscles, but not quite the finesse needed to place in the top eight for this event.
I competed earlier in the week, and happened to do better than Graham in the qualifying round, but he messed up.
My overall routine still wasn’t at his level.
I watched with mild interest, though I was worried.
Like Grant, Tyler pulled eighth. Mostly, I was just thrilled for Cam.
I kept glancing at the scoreboard. The scores were good.
I looked up Ty’s score from qualifying and it would get him a gold medal at this point.
I’m sure that’s what Ford was telling him.
I felt Cam’s hand brush my thigh and then tap it. I glanced down to see his jacket had flopped over my leg. He wanted to hold hands. I leaned forward, crossing my right arm over my lap to find his hand. He was holding my coin.
“For Tyler. For luck,” he whispered. And then we waited.
I realized I was holding my breath halfway through his routine.
It was amazing. It was flawless. Until the dismount.
It looked smooth, then he lost his balance and took a step.
If it was over a meter, it was three-tenths of a point automatically.
It was hard to tell how big of a step from our seats.
“Fuck, this’ll be close,” Cam said.
“Language, Cam!” warned his mother.
I squeezed his hand harder.
15.866.
That put him in second. If that step hadn’t happened, he’d be in first place. Ty smiled and waved to the crowd. I could tell he was still happy.
The seventh guy didn’t come close, leaving Vadim Davidov from Russia next.
“At least he’s got a bronze medal for sure,” Graham said.
“That’s better than nothing,” Grant added.
“Hey,” I leaned over, “You did great.”
“I know. I shouldn’t have said that.”
“Well, it is true,” Graham said.
“We are definitely bronze heavy this year,” Grant observed.
“Why did you say that? You jinxed him,” Cam said.
I laughed. “You’re superstitious?”
“I guess we’ll see what happens.”
Ty was pushed to third.
“Well, shit,” I heard Grant say.
“Three events, three bronzes,” Cam said. “Plus bronze for the team.”
“We’re not jinxed,” I said.
“Time will tell,” Cam said, standing up. He offered me the coin.
“You can keep it. You’ll need it tomorrow.”
He smiled and put it in his pocket. We headed down to meet Ty at the athlete’s exit. We milled around for about twenty minutes, taking photos with some fans and signing autographs. Ty greeted and hugged his family first, and then came over to the four of us.
“I’m with you boys tonight. I’ll celebrate with the ‘rents tomorrow after I’m done. Let’s go get some lunch, I’m starving.”
We each headed to different lines, except for me and Ty. We were both craving Chinese food. I ordered honey chicken and brown rice. Ty had the same, but added three egg rolls. After our food was served, we went to go find the guys.
“Oh, shit. Sorry, dude,” some guy said, after bumping into Ty. Ty hadn’t dropped a thing and caught a stray egg roll mid-air. “Nice save.”
“Thanks, bro,” Ty replied, giving him his easy smile.
Fuck, he’s cute.
“Hey, congrats on your medal, man. Tyler Hale, right?”
“Yeah, that’s me.”
“That was a sick horse routine. Just watched it.”
“Uh...thanks. Thank you.”
“Hi, I’m Luke. Ty’s teammate,” I said, holding out my hand. “And you are?”
“Oh, sorry. I’m Declan Moore, US track and field. Nice to meet you.”
“Likewise,” I said, nudging Ty.
“I’m Tyler.”
Ay!
“You’re funny, Tyler.”
I could see Ty’s neck getting red. He needed help.
“When are you...track and fielding?” I asked.
“Good one.” Declan laughed. “I start tomorrow, actually. I’m a decathlete.”
“Oh,” Ty said.
I knew he’d probably have trouble spelling decathlete at the moment, so I stepped in and wished Declan luck, which snapped Ty back to the present.
“Yeah, good luck tomorrow. Nice to meet you.”
And Declan was gone.
“He knew my name.”
“Uh huh.”
“Nobody’s ever recognized me before.”
“Uh huh.”
Ty looked over, apparently reading something on my face.
“What? You think I like him? Like, like him like him?”
I smiled.
“Not possible.”
“You were flattered, and you felt a spark,” I sang at him.
“Did you and Cam have that?”
“The spark part, for sure. I had a crush on him the first day I saw him. He struggled to ignore all this,” I said, gesturing at my body.
Ty rolled his eyes. “Let’s go find the guys.”
“Hey, I’m serious. Not pressuring you or anything, but if you’re attracted to him, start somewhere. Maybe look him up? Message him? Nothing to lose, right?”
“I’ll think about it.”
The guys were all still in line, so Ty and I picked a table. I got out my phone and started typing, ‘Declan Moore shirtless.’ “Well, that’s something,” I said, admiring the results.
“What?” Tyler mumbled through his mouthful.
I turned my phone so he could see what I thought was the best photo. I saw his eyes widen, and he swallowed. “That’s Declan?”
I nodded. “Does it do anything for you?”
He bit his bottom lip. I could tell he was really thinking. “Maybe?”
“Well, okay, not a certainty then. But, I still think you should message him. You never know.”
“Okay, okay. Matchmaker Luke is demanding!”
“What is Luke demanding?” Cam asked, walking up, the twins in tow.
“That I DM someone,” Ty said.
“What’s her name?” Grant asked.
Without skipping a beat. “Declan.”
Bless him.
“Declan?” Grant asked. “Sounds masculine?” His eyebrows scrunched in confusion.
“That’s because Declan’s a dude,” Ty said.
“Wait. You too?” Graham asked.
“Me too? What do you-?”
Flustered, Graham recovered, “First, Luke. Then, Cam. Now, you?”
“I’m not gay. I’m apparently bi.”
“But you’ve only been with girls?” Grant asked, then realized he may have overstepped. “Sorry, didn't mean to get too personal.”
“Nah, all good, bro. Yeah, I have. It was...sex. I mean, I came. I hate to admit it, but I’m not sure if they did. It wasn’t hard.” He realized what he said. “Oh man. It was hard. I...was hard. I meant that the sex wasn’t hard.”
“And you realized this when?” Grant asked.
“When he forgot how to talk in front of a cute guy that recognized him from his horse routine,” I answered.
“Huh,” was all Grant said.
“Why are you so interested in Ty, anyway? What about your sex life?” Cam asked.
“La la la,” Graham interrupted, sticking his fingers in his ears. “I don’t want to hear this.”
“Not much to tell. No time for chicks,” Grant said.
Hmmm.
“So, what are we doing tonight? I need to relax,” Ty asked.
“Nude beach?” I suggested, happy to change the subject.
“Really?” Graham asked.
“Well, we’ve already seen each other naked,” I said.
“I’m all for it, but not today. I burn easily, and I don’t want to be a lobster for the vault.”
“I’m taking you up on that, Cam,” I said. “How about the pool, then? I haven’t even been there yet.”
“That sounds good to me,” Grant said.
“Sure,” Ty answered.
And Cam and Graham agreed as well.
“Sweet. Skimpy Speedo for me. Anyone else?” I smiled.
I had slathered Cam in sunscreen, but he insisted on wearing a shirt to the pool anyway. “How am I going to ogle your muscles?” I knew I was whining and didn’t care.
“I’ll take the shirt off once we get there. I didn’t feel comfortable wearing just the briefs all the way there, unlike you.”
“Well, I have a towel.”
“You’re going to need it if you get hard in those. Not much room,” Cam observed.
“Maybe that’s the point.”
“I’m not sure everyone at the pool wants to see it as much as I do.”
I pouted, but I was only being playful. Cam just smiled and shook his head.
There were two pools in the village, but I was hoping the guys figured I meant the one closest to our building.
It was resort style and fairly large. It wasn’t rectangular, but more like a huge blob or a five-leafed clover, if that was a thing.
Cam found a chaise lounge with an umbrella over it and spread out his towel before laying down.
“I’m gonna swim for a bit,” I said, dropping my towel on a chair next to him.
“Have fun!”
I dove into the deeper end of the pool, happy that it wasn’t too crowded.
There was probably some big event we were all missing.
It was easy to get lost in your own sport, forgetting there were like twenty others happening every day.
I relished the cool water flowing over my skin.
My only regret was that I wasn’t naked. Swimming naked was almost better than sex.
It felt so freeing to float and swim in the water with nothing on.
It was sensual for me. Feeling the water caress my body.