4. Camden #2
“Yes, but don’t tell him I said that.” Colton smiled. “And don’t let it go to your head.”
“Oh, it’s not going there, I assure you.” He winked.
“Nice one, Cam,” Noah said, as I landed another vault.
I had spent the last few years working the foam pit, trying to increase my difficulty, and it was finally paying off.
Noah and I had come up with a new vault.
I was planning on debuting it here, and if I landed it, they would name it after me - the Kane.
I was excited and terrified at the same time.
If I failed, it would be nothing and I probably wouldn’t medal at all.
But after the last Olympics, when Etienne pushed me to second place, I had vowed something like that would never happen again.
I just had to hope no one else was as crazy as me.
“The Kane’s looking like a sure thing,” Noah added, as I walked over to him.
“Don’t jinx it,” I shot back, but couldn’t stop my smile as I sat down. “You really think so?”
“You’ve been landing it every day now. It’s second nature at this point.” He sat next to me.
“How’s it going?”
“Well, you said it yourself that it’s a ‘sure thing’.”
“Not what I meant, Cam,” he said, nodding towards Luke. I followed the gesture and saw Luke on the pommel horse. He had improved. Probably all that muscle. “Hey,” Noah interrupted my thoughts, “if you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine. Just wanted to see where your head’s at.”
“No, it’s not that. And I’m not distracted, if that’s what you’re thinking. But, just seeing him so often… Being back here...” I paused.
“It’s making you wonder what happened and if he still cares as much as you do?” Noah finished for me.
“Yeah.” I sighed heavily. “Jesus, you’re perceptive.”
He laughed. “It’s like I’ve spent the last seven years as your trainer and friend. Maybe you’ll find a moment to talk to him?” he suggested. “Without her around.”
I needed to change the subject, because Luke definitely could become a distraction. “What’s next?” I asked.
“I think you’re good here for today, actually. But try to get a weightlifting session in later?”
“Can do, Noah,” I said, gathering my stuff.
“Someone say weightlifting?” I heard from behind me. It was Tyler.
“Yeah Coach, wanna join me?” I asked. I hadn’t spent much time with Tyler since I arrived. It would be nice to catch up.
“Sure thing, Cam. You ready?”
I nodded, and we headed to the shuttle area.
“So, how’s it feel to be a coach?” I asked.
“It’s weird, but after I hurt my shoulder, I knew it was time to retire.”
“Yeah, I remember seeing that. I’m guessing it felt as awful as it looked?”
“Probably worse.” He smiled. “But it’s all healed now. I just didn’t want to push my body after that. I still have full use of it and I didn’t want to risk something permanent.”
“Makes sense. I’m sorry I didn’t reach out more. I-”
“It’s alright, Cam. I understand. It was a shitty situation.” I had to agree. “You found Colton though?” he asked, his voice rising.
“Colton found me.” My eyes narrowed. “And we’re just friends.”
“I wasn’t asking. Not my business, bro.”
“Sure you weren’t, Tyler.”
The shuttle arrived, and we boarded. It was just us.
“He’s very handsome.”
“Oh my god, Tyler. Shut up! I said we’re just friends. How do you even know he’s gay?”
“My spider sense tingled when I met him.”
“Is that what you’re calling it now? You know better than anyone, Tyler, that even if I knew something, it’s not my business to tell.”
“I know that, Cam.”
“Who are you asking for, then? You’re taken.”
Tyler smiled and said, “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
“Have you talked to him?”
“I’m not gonna be your go-between, so I’ll tell you what I told him. You guys need to talk.”
I paused, letting his advice sink in while I tried to figure out what to say.
“What do I say to him, Ty? Why did you break my heart? Was it worth it to leave?” I asked, raising my voice louder than I meant to. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to yell.”
“It’s fine, Cam,” he said, putting his hand on my leg. “It won’t be easy, but that’s a start. If it’s worth it to know, then ask it. It can’t get much worse, can it?”
I thought about what he said for a minute. “Look at you, all wise and shit. One relationship,” I air-quoted, “and you’re an expert.”
“It helps that I may have talked to my brother about you guys.”
I rolled my eyes. “Of course you did. And what did Owen have to say?”
“Exactly what I’m telling you. Talk to each other.”
“Okay, okay, I get it. I’ll think about it.”
We were silent for the rest of the trip. The shuttle dropped us near the dorms. “I don’t know about you, Tyler, but I need some ice cream.”
“What about weightlifting?”
“Noah didn’t say we had to do it right away. Just some time this afternoon.”
“Since when did you become the bad boy of the team?”
“Since when did you become a stick-in-the-mud, Coach?”
“Fine, bro. We can go get ice cream, but don’t come crying to me when you feel sick to your stomach doing pushups later.”
Tyler had to go mid-workout, something about a coach’s meeting he forgot about, so he wasn’t there when I started feeling sick to my stomach.
Laughing at his prophetic rightness, I powered through my sets of bicep curls.
I wasn’t quite looking to taper as much as I had before the last games.
With more muscle mass, it was a slightly different scenario.
I was, however, still trying to be relaxed, though that was getting harder to do with the Luke situation.
I headed over to the bench press and loaded up the bar.
After several sets, I added more weight, pushing close to my maximum.
Looking back, it was a dumb decision, but at that moment, I wanted to push myself.
I realized after the eleventh rep that I wouldn’t get a twelfth, and despite my effort, the bar and the weight were getting closer to my chest and neck.
I thought about crying out for help when I felt the weight pull up and watched the bar nestle itself into the rack.
I mumbled out a thank you and realized two things.
One, my savior was Luke, and two, he wasn’t wearing any underwear.
I could see his dick up his shorts as he stood over my face.
As I focused on the foreskin and remembered what it was like to play with it the first time, my dick responded and quickly filled the jock I was wearing.
I could see my tent as I sat up, but I hoped he hadn’t noticed.