10. Camden #3
My mom was easy to spot. She was holding a big sign that said ‘Go Cam Go! Team USA!’
“Hi, Mom.” I scooped her into a hug.
“Oh my goodness, Cam Cam. I’m so proud of you. I can’t believe how good you were.”
“You can’t? But I’ve worked so hard to be this good.” I pouted.
“Oh, you know what I mean,” she said, slapping my shoulder.
I looked around at the other guys with their families, but I didn’t see Luke.
“Have you seen Luke’s parents?”
“I haven’t seen them, Cam.” She lowered her voice, then asked, “Did you two work things out? You seemed so friendly today.”
Orion must’ve overheard me. He leaned over towards us and said, “Luke’s parents aren’t coming for another week or so. Something with the business.” He shrugged.
“Thanks, Orion. I hadn’t heard that.” Well, that explained why he wasn’t here. He must’ve already left with Cassandra. I didn’t see him break away after the press conference. And now I was thinking about him too much. His stupid infectious smile.
“That’s just awful,” my mom interrupted my thoughts. “I can’t imagine what’s so important that they’d miss their son at the Olympics. And he was so good tonight.”
“Better than me?”
“Nobody’s better than you, Cam.”
I recognized that voice and I could feel my smile wrinkles pop next to my eyes. It was the voice of my best friend.
“Erika!!!” I screamed, turning around only to be slammed into by her smaller frame. Her muscles meant it was a solid hit. “Watch the goods, sister.”
“Lord knows you might need them after that performance out there.” She backed off and waggled her eyebrows.
“I wouldn’t know what you’d be referring to.”
“How are you doing, Erika?”
“I’m doing well, Heather. Thanks for asking. I’d be better if I saw this hermit more,” she added, poking me in the stomach.
“Well, not all of us have fancy financier fiancés.”
“Funny,” this deep, smoky voice said. “Betcha can’t say that three times fast.”
I glanced next to Erika and scrunched my eyebrows, wondering why this fan was intruding on a private conversation. It was kind of rude, but I instinctively tried to smile.
“Oh my god, do you not recognize him, Cam?”
I felt a small panic creep into my brain and my cheeks pinkened. I looked at the guy closer. He was built. I mean...sploosh. Even though it was dark out, I could tell his tight t-shirt was doing a poor job of containing the muscles underneath.
“Are you checking out my brother?!” Erika half-screamed, giving my stomach another poke.
Her brother? “Austin?” I asked, my voice accidentally breaking an octave higher. “I was not!”
“Uh, yeah,” he answered, shifting his weight back and forth between his feet. He brushed his hand back through his hair. “I guess I’ve grown. I ended up taking my gym workouts a little seriously that summer.”
“More like every summer. He’s downplaying his prowess. He’s like a super state champ wrestler now. His coach is here with us for the trip. I’m here for you, the girls, and to make sure this one sees all the wrestling matches he wants.”
“Wow. That’s amazing.” I had no idea.
“My parents wouldn’t let me come unless I stayed with Erika.”
I nodded.
“I don’t know why I said that.” His cheeks turned red and his fidgeting increased. “Or that.” Another swipe through his hair.
Fuck. I wondered if he was nervous because he had a thing for me.
Not that it was a tremendous problem. He was Colton’s height, but probably had twenty pounds more muscle.
Despite my athletic ability, I could tell he was stronger than me.
I willed myself not to look at his crotch because he was Erika’s brother. I could not go there.
“Where are you staying, Erika?” my mom asked, snapping me out of fantasyland.
“We found an Airbnb by Covent Garden. It was cheaper than a hotel. The owner wanted out of town for the Olympics. Something about the massive crowds of people turned him away.”
“Oh, that sounds nice.”
“Wanna hang tomorrow before the women go on, Cam?”
“Sure, sounds good. Shoot me a text.”
“Nice to see you, Cam. You did great tonight.”
“Uh...thanks-” Adonis, “-Austin. See ya!”
“Well, sweetie, it’s late and I need to get back to my hotel.”
I kissed and hugged my mom goodbye and went to go wait for Colton and the guys to be done so we could tube it back to the village.
I thought about Austin’s new body, but the face morphed into Luke’s. I was always horny after a competition and tried to push the lust down. It could wait until the dorms.
Today was a good day, and not just because of our performance.
Things felt like Brisbane, if only for a few moments, but deep down, I knew everything had changed between me and Luke.
After all, we needed to be told to be nice to each other in order for it to happen.
That was fucked up. Not that we weren’t nice before, we just avoided each other completely.
Now, we were nice and close. But it was fake, even if part of me wanted it to be real.
I had to turn to the tried-and-true method of cum expulsion to turn my rambling brain off and fall asleep.