29. Camden #2
“What rumors?” Colton asked quickly. I could hear the anxiety in his voice.
“There’s a rumor that you carried Cam out of the dorm during the fire incident. Is that what happened?”
I could see him breathe a sigh of relief. “Yes, ma’am. Uh...miss.”
“Wow. I know you’re strong, based on your pommel horse routine, but really? You can lift him?” she asked, pointing to me. “Cam’s pretty built. You’re sure you’re not exaggerating?”
Colton stood up, all swagger, and before I could say anything, he had pulled me off my stool and threw me over his shoulder.
Completely taken by surprise, all I could think about was my ass, framed by my tight pants, being shown on national television. I hope they can’t see Luke’s jockstrap through the fabric. Today of all days he had to dress me.
“Well, I stand corrected. How many floors did you carry him?”
Colton answered with me still on his shoulders. I put my hand on my chin, pretending to be bored.
“That’s impressive. And you don’t remember any of it, Cam?”
Colton turned so I could face April. “Put me down, Hercules,” I said, squirming.
He obliged, and I rearranged my waistline - my pants had ridden up - before sitting back on my stool.
“That’s right, April. I fell asleep that night, and didn’t regain consciousness until the next morning when I was in the hospital.”
“Wow, that must’ve been scary. Not knowing where you were or how you got there.”
“Or be able to talk,” Alex added.
“Really?”
“Yeah, I had to use a notepad. But, it wasn’t so bad waking up. Luke was there, waiting.”
April gave me a knowing look. She had already been told the non-Brisbane story of how we started dating.
Shane, Noah, Luke and I had agreed on pretending our relationship started in London, after years of semi-flirting and knowing glances.
“Is that when your feelings for Cam bubbled to the surface, Luke? The public is dying to know,” April asked.
“Well, I’ve known Cam for years. We went to the same college for a while-”
“Until you transferred to New York?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Did that have anything to do with Cam?”
Fuck. That wasn’t one of the questions on the list.
Luke shrugged. “I didn’t do as well as I would’ve liked in Brisbane, so my parents and I thought it would be better if I tried a different program. That’s all.”
That seemed to satisfy her because she turned her attention to me.
“So, Cam, at what point did you start having feelings for Luke? I mean, kissing him on live television to announce your sexuality to the world? That’s a gutsy move. The clip on YouTube has over a hundred million views and it was posted three days ago.”
“Well, I’ve known I was gay pretty much my whole life. As soon as I started having…those feelings. It was for guys, not girls. And not sure if you’ve noticed, but Luke’s pretty nice to look at.”
“Just pretty nice?” Lukas asked.
I ignored him. "We spent a lot of time in Brisbane together, and over the years since, we’d see each other at competitions. For my part, there was a definite crush. When I woke up in the hospital with him by my side, we sort of had a moment, and everything spilled out.”
I heard Colton snicker.
“Well, it certainly seems like a storybook romance. Any plans for the rest of your time in London?”
“We have the gymnastics gala later tonight,” I said.
“I’d love to do some more sightseeing,” Luke added.
The other guys agreed, and Colton said, “There’s still a few days of Olympics left. I’m fixin’ to see what other events I can.”
“Well, I’d like to offer my congratulations to all of you.
I’ve been told that you are the most decorated men’s gymnastics team in American history in twenty-four years.
And you did that with a dramatic dormitory fire rescue, and two of you becoming more than teammates.
That’s a lot of pressure.” She smiled at the camera, then turned to look at us to say.
“I’m excited to see what the next four years have in store.
Maybe America will see you again in San Francisco? Back to you in the studio, Savannah.”
She continued to smile at the camera for a few seconds until someone said, “Aaand…cut.”
Each one of us shook her hand and thanked her before she left.
“That was great, guys,” Coach said, joining us from behind the cameras.
Tyler, Shane, and Noah were there as well.
“You can go change in the locker room if needed.” He looked down at his watch.
“We have the arena until six to rehearse for tonight. Whoever’s doing something. Is it just Cam and Luke?”
We nodded.
“I’m tempted to find a pair of leather chaps and perform a western routine, but I’ll let Cam and Luke keep their spotlight.”
The gala was incredible. I semi-cursed Luke’s parents for fucking things up in Brisbane. I was so distracted by the drama with Luke’s parents, I hadn’t even remembered the gala was happening.
I was planning on making up for it tonight, but Luke was scheduled to perform earlier in the event. I wasn’t until later.
As a participant, we could watch from the benches used by the athletes during the events. We didn’t have to sit in the stands.
The gala was basically a gigantic showcase for gymnasts’ talents. Any Olympian gymnast could take part, and they could pretty much do anything they wanted as long as it wasn’t forbidden.
I was excited to see Luke’s routine. He was already warming up on the podium, waiting for another athlete to finish. I had no idea what he was doing. During rehearsal, I had been too focused on planning mine out.
We had a laugh over that, but were happy it would be a surprise for both of us. I only practiced some of my tumbling passes. I hadn’t given everything away.
“LUCAS RIVERA. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.”
Luke made his way over to the parallel bars. He turned to wave and smile at each side of the arena before facing the bars.
I heard the music start. I recognized it immediately and couldn’t help but smile. This was going to be so good.
It’s definitely going to get hot in here.
As Nelly’s song kicked into gear, Luke started shaking his ass to the music. Fuck, he was good with his hips. Just a little bit of…uh, uh. After a few shuffles, shimmies, and one drop to the floor, Luke centered himself under the bars and hoisted himself up into his first combo.
Watching him on the bars was something else. He had such control over his body that he moved to the music even while holding a handstand. When the right lyric came, Luke made sure his feet were on one bar, and his hands were on the other, so he could give his ass a shake while Nelly said the word.
I had tears forming now from the laughter. The crowd was getting into it, too. Not many hip-hop songs had been used for choreography, which appeared to have been a mistake, as quite a few people were dancing in the stands.
Luke did a few more combos and strength moves before landing on his feet, standing on the bars. He then encouraged everyone to get up and dance. Again, flawlessly in time to the music.
Maybe Luke should be a choreographer?
But I knew the song, and I knew what was coming, so I stood up to get a better view. I did my best to dance as well. This genre of music wasn’t my body’s forte, but this was my boyfriend, and I hoped he was about to strip, and I was definitely supportive of that.
Luke pointed at me. Apparently, I was the one he felt like touching just now.
He had to do that, of course. Because a public strip tease wasn’t enough. He had to point me out just before the climax of the song.
The chorus started, and Luke reached for the right strap of his leotard and pulled it downward. After doing the same thing with the other side, he pushed the nylon down his torso, revealing the body I had worshiped too many times to count.
Speaking of counting, all ten of his abs were also on display.
“Take it all off!” I heard someone yell from the stands.
Luke smiled and wagged his finger before pushing himself up into a handstand. He completed two back tosses in a row, and seamlessly transferred into a backward double salto tucked dismount that he landed perfectly.
This was why Luke had won the gold medal. Because he could do kick-ass gymnastics skills while half-dressed and grinding to Nelly.
I wanted to scream, but didn’t want to push it, so instead I applauded his bravado, and had my arms open for him when he came off the podium for a hug. He pulled back, moved his hands from my waist to my face, and kissed me as if he needed it.
The crowd was wild with applause and screams. The cheekier spectators threw a few catcalls and whistles in. Probably Tyler.
“Thanks, I needed that.”
“You looked pretty nice up there,” I said.
“Think you can top that?”
“Oh, I’ll be topping that later, for sure.”
Luke’s eyes bugged a little until a smile broke through. “I’ll hold you to that, good sir.”