15. Lucas
Lucas
Coming back to the hotel, I was surprised to find Cassandra still awake. She stayed up to make sure I got back safely.
Weird.
And when she said, “You were amazing today. I’m really proud of you, Lucas,” I knew I looked foolish with my mouth hung open in surprise.
I still had Ginuwine’s Pony stuck in my head as I snuggled into the blankets, enjoying their softness against my naked body.
I woke up the next morning dead tired, grateful to have slept in. I rolled over to reach the nightstand and pulled my phone off the charger.
Mom: Proud of you, mijo. Congratulations. We recorded it. I can’t wait to watch it later.
Dad: Meetings all day today, but I just heard the news. All the sacrifice was worth it. I knew you could do it if you had a clear path.
Dad: See you in a few days.
Well, I appreciated the texts, but it was still difficult without them here. I was hopeful I could stand my ground with them this time and fully explain that Cam wasn’t a hindrance to my focus. The ball would be in their court.
I still couldn’t believe I let Colton drag the team to Cheeky Blokes, of all places. Since I didn’t shower when I got home last night, I could smell the sweat and cologne of the dancers still on me. Yummy. I grumbled inwardly, knowing I’d have to wash my sheets.
I had fun, though seeing that twink grind on Cam was not a highlight. He didn’t seem entirely comfortable there because he got pretty drunk, and I had never seen him like that. It took a good deal of effort to resist taking care of him. He had Colton for that.
That was part of the reason I stopped at one drink.
I wanted everyone to be okay. The other part didn’t trust my drunk brain not to go find a bathroom stall with one of the strippers and let him take whatever he wanted.
I was horny for Cam, but I was afraid that under the influence of alcohol, my mouth wouldn’t care whose dick it sucked.
I was not about to fuck it all up when I was so close to telling Cam everything.
At the end of the night, the least I could do was get everyone a cab back to the village.
I closed my messages and opened a browser to read about last night’s competition. I had lots of hits. USA Gymnastics had already shared a photo of me on Instagram. I checked my email and sure enough, Cassandra had sent some for me to use. I found a different one and posted.
#goldisgreat #teamUSA #grateful #happy
Before I could even close the app, I already had forty-three reactions and five comments.
I real-time responded to a few of the comments and resisted checking to see if Cam had posted anything, though I was curious.
Knowing my parents still monitored my accounts, I didn’t want to alert them before they arrived that I still had an interest.
After all, I had other ways of finding his photos. It was called Google. Any news story about the all-around finals would include him.
It was so sweet that he teared up at the medal ceremony.
Something like that never happened to me.
I was excited whenever I won, but never that emotional about it.
I knew I didn’t want to delve too deeply into the reasons for it.
Instead, I enjoyed waking up slowly and Cassandra giving me the day off from pounding on my bedroom door.
Eventually, I put my phone back on the charger and flipped the covers back.
Heading to the bathroom, I turned the shower on before taking a piss.
The steam rising from the shower called my name as I shook the last few drops from the head of my dick.
I pulled the glass door open and stepped under the hot stream of water.
There was nothing quite like a hot shower after a gold medal. It somehow felt better. Everything did. I smiled to myself and finished rinsing off the soap.
Today was going to be a good day.
Cassandra had a big breakfast waiting for me. She must’ve heard the shower.
“Hey, thought you could use a pleasant surprise. I made your favorite. Chocolate chip pancakes.”
“Wow. Thank you.”
“I thought you deserved to sleep in, especially after getting back so late. But you have a live interview with Robin Roberts and George Stephanopoulos on Good Morning America this afternoon.”
I nodded. “Just me?”
“Just you. They’ve sent over the outline and the questions,” she said, sliding a small packet towards me.
“Thanks. I’ll check it out.”
“It’ll be a piece of cake. There’s also a short meeting and training session today. Hopefully, you remembered?”
I nodded again since my mouth was full of syrup and chocolate and cooked-to-perfection batter. I swallowed. “These pancakes are delicious. Thanks again.”
“You’re welcome, but don’t stuff yourself. Training starts in two hours. And take whatever you want to wear for the interview with you. They might just want your Team USA jacket, but who knows? We probably won't have time to come back.”
“Hey, gold medalist! Any hunky men carry you onto a stage lately?” O greeted me with a fist bump and a big smile. He was lounging on the mat by the parallel bars.
“Why, O? Are you volunteering?”
“I think I could lift you, but not like that guy. He was built.”
“Was Alex traumatized?”
“Nope, he had fun. He said it was interesting to watch all of us interact with the dancers. I don’t know if you noticed, but the bartender gave Alex a necklace last night.”
“Like a gift?”
“It had a sign on it that said ‘Breeder.’ He thought it was hilarious. He’s happy being our token straight.”
“That’s hysterical. Did they let him-”
“Keep it?”
“Alex!” I turned to see him swagger up. He was wearing the necklace. “You got to keep it! I’m glad you had such a good time.”
“Eh, it was okay. I got a lot of attention, though. Apparently gay guys like to try to convert straight guys? It was a big self-esteem boost, and I didn’t have to pay for a single drink.”
Cam and Colton entered the gym. Cam looked a little worse for wear.
“You okay Cam?” Alex asked.
“He’s still recovering from his one-man drinking competition last night,” Colton answered for him.
“I did not hear that,” Woodward said.
“Sorry, Coach.”
“You’re here, Cam, and you’re a silver medalist. That’s what matters. But seriously, I hope you learned your lesson. Now, for today…”
Cassandra actually took it easy on me today.
I started with some light yoga and stretching and then did some basic run-throughs on the vault, parallel bar and high bar since those were the event finals I qualified for.
It actually surprised me to have made the vault.
Cam and I would be up against each other again.
Cam. He seemed to have bounced back a little from when he arrived.
He was smiling, and it was the most gorgeous thing I’d seen all day.
I still remembered when he pushed me against the wall that first night and the growl that came out of nowhere.
I wanted that Cam back. Bossy Cam. And yeah, the best time to reminisce and get horny was definitely right before the team shower.
Coach just said he’d see us tomorrow. No big speech today. Colton and Cam were whispering on the way into the locker room, and I felt the familiar flare of jealousy rekindle inside of me.
“What are you up to tonight?” O asked me.
“I have an interview with GMA this afternoon, but probably staring at my phone or watching a movie. Why?”
“That sounds boring. You should come with us. We’re exploring again.”
Us? I really hoped that meant Cam.
“Yeah, Alex wanted to check out a museum and I don’t want to sit in the village again while all of London is waiting out there!”
I stripped out of my tank and shorts. “Sounds good,” I said. Lowering my voice, I asked, “Are Cam and Colton coming?”
“I don’t know,” he whispered. “What are you two doing tonight?” O yelled across the room, right after I slipped my jockstrap off, so I was completely naked at the exact moment they both looked over at us.
I noticed Cam’s eyes divert immediately, but Colton kept his locked in our direction.
I did not imagine his gaze dropping to my junk.
He looked. I tried not to react, but I felt the blood entering my dick almost immediately.
Cursing my superhuman circulatory system, I turned to head to the shower, waiting for their answer.
“We’re fixin’ to go see a musical. Sorry, it was a last-minute decision. Having a big, gay night out.”
“Another one? And without me and Luke?” O pouted. I held my breath.
“Don’t pitch a hissy fit. We can go out another night. Musicals are kind of our thing. We saw Book of Mormon last year in Tampa, and then Lion King in New York the year before.”
Cam was in New York?
“Well, alright. I’ll be sure to enjoy the museum with Alex and Luke that much more without you,” O teased.
“Y’all are gonna miss us,” Colton replied, slipping into the stall next to me. Cam had followed him, and I tried not to stare at his ass as he walked by, but failed. He still hadn’t said anything, and I was wondering why.
“What museum are we going to?” I asked. If Cam wouldn’t say anything, I still could.
“The National Gallery,” Alex answered. “And it’s free!”
“Bonus!”
I smiled at O. We would still have fun, but I was still hoping to get Cam alone.
Try, try again. And again and again.
Another dressing room would’ve worked for me, though I didn’t see that happening in a museum. Or at a musical.
Once Cassandra knew Cam wasn’t going, she was fine with me heading to the museum after the interview, which went well. Robin and George were both very personable. They kept it light and happy, and thankfully, they did not ask about my parents or about the made-up tiff with Cam.
Despite the abundance of muscles flexing under our shirts and the attention they seemed to garner, Alex, O, and I weren’t approached by anyone in the museum. On the one hand, it was great to have a little freedom, but the one person I wanted to talk to was with tall, tan and Texan.
“What’s up your butt?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know, O?” He just grinned back at me. “And nothing. That’s what’s up there.”
“Aw, well I-”
“Please don’t suggest that again.”
“Presumptuous much, Lucas Rivera? I was going to say I’m sure you’ll have time to talk to Cam sooner or later.”
“I’m hoping for sooner. Like yesterday.”
“Well, what’s stopping you?”
“Cassandra? Fate? Horrible timing?” I tried to laugh, but it was frustrating.
“You don’t think it could upset him and mess with his head?”
“Honestly, no. I mean, he’s already won two silver medals. And I just have a feeling. You saw his reaction in the gym.”
“Oh, so a hard dick means that someone likes you?”
Alex found us lagging. “Are you guys coming? You’re missing the Van Gogh!”
“It’s not going anywhere, is it?” I asked.
Alex rolled his eyes and waved us toward him.
“I thought museums had a lot of nudes,” O wondered out loud next to me. The woman next to us gave us an annoyed look, but the teenager with her smirked.
“You guys are so cliché!” Alex lamented.
“What? Sure the sunflowers are pretty, but they just don’t speak to me.”
“O needs more skin than that. Any statues? They always have nice butts.”
“Nope, no statues. We’d have to go to the British Museum for those. I think they have some Botticellis here though.”
“Body-whaties?” I asked.
“Sandro Botticelli. He’s a painter.”
“And he painted butts?”
“Possibly, but would male nipples suffice?” Alex asked. “He painted a lot of mythological stuff.”
“Nipples will work,” O said.
“I agree. And you’ve seen my tattoo, right?” I asked, lifting my shirt. “Kind of a fan.”
I smirked as I watched a man dressed in a shirt and tie distracted by my revealed torso stumble into someone else.
We saw more than enough nipples and what seemed like the museum’s entire collection.
Alex was an enthusiastic museum-goer for a poli sci major.
He explained his mother was an art teacher, so he grew up going to a lot of museums. Having never been to London, there were quite a few on his list that he wanted to see.
It was already getting dark and a lot later than I thought it would be when we left the museum. I hadn’t received a summons from Cassandra, so I suggested we get some dinner and go find some gay bars. I saw Alex’s eyes widen.
“Is that okay, Alex?”
“Yeah, totally. I can handle two nights in a row. It’s not any worse than your locker room banter, anyway. And I got hit on last night, so that was a bonus.”