9. Lucas
Lucas
“I take it your day was good?”
“Yeah,” I answered. “Shane distracted me with a trip to the zoo. We, uh, lost track of time, and then for whatever reason, it took forever to get an Uber.”
Cam leaned in for a kiss, but before we could add tongue, Woodward interrupted.
“Your tracksuit is here.” He held up a garment bag. “I’m glad Cassandra grabbed it for you.”
I mouthed a thank you to her, then glanced back at Cam. He was staring at me.
He tried to whisper. “How are you feeling?”
“A little sweaty.” I shrugged.
“I meant your chest, you goof.”
“I know. And…it feels alright. I took the pain meds this morning, so they’re apparently working.”
“By the way, I have them with me if you need more. I think you can take one or two every eight hours,” Shane said, then stepped back.
“After this, USA Gymnastics will send out the official press release and announce it on their social media platforms that the team has officially changed. No need to keep the secret after that.”
I nodded and didn’t bother asking if there was anywhere to change. Cam and I just made our way over to a corner and thankfully, it seemed everyone in the room was giving us a brief moment of privacy.
“I wish I could’ve been with you today.”
I looked up at Cam as I kicked my flip-flops off and tried to take off my shorts.
Cam noticed I was having trouble with my button-up fly, so he helped me out of them and I turned away from everyone.
My ass was less embarrassing of a view than my hardening dick.
Cam’s hands fiddling around in that area were more than enough to turn me on, especially since I was super-horny.
Despite wanting to perform for Ezra, my adrenaline had worn off as soon as Cam and I fell into the twin bed in the dorm at the village.
I was out in a few minutes, and we didn’t have time to fool around in the morning.
It had been a few days since the last time - Cam blowing me at his hotel. Well, my hotel now.
I saw him smile as he noticed my jockstrap straining.
“Glad to see that still works,” Cam said, before freezing. “Shit. I didn’t mean to-”
“It’s okay, Cam. It was funny. And you’ll be better than glad to see it work later.” I leaned down to whisper, “I’m gonna lay on my bed tonight and watch you ride me.”
“You’re up for that?” he asked, pulling my pants up for me.
“What does it look like to you?” I eyed my dick. “Plus, I don’t need both hands for you to do that.”
That finally got him to smile, and he helped me out of my shirt.
I was just going to change back after the press conference anyway, so we skipped the team shirt and just put the jacket on over the sling.
It was a pain, literally, to dress and undress with it, and the doctor had said the less movement the better.
Cam gathered everything together, stuffed it in the garment bag, and we rejoined the team.
“Fuck, that was intensely erotic,” Ezra blurted.
I couldn’t help but laugh. “So you were watching?”
“What else was I supposed to do?”
“Do you feel the same, Luke? Any worse?” Woodward asked.
“About the same. Still getting used to only using one arm for everything. Nice to have help.”
“Cam makes a good nurse,” Ezra continued.
“His experience with the Thunder will certainly help me.”
“I’m not quite a physical therapist yet,” Cam added.
But before we could get into a discussion of Cam’s future any further, the press coordinator knocked and told us it was time.
I heard the chatter stop as soon as Cam entered the room behind me.
Since the conference was about us, Cam and I flanked Coach in the center of the dais.
He got straight to the point, but it was clear after the third question that the press still didn’t believe it despite Cam’s presence and Coach’s pronouncement.
I stood up and started to unzip my jacket.
Cam knew what I was trying to do and came over to help me out of the jacket.
It was annoying, but as the saying goes, seeing is believing.
And of course, it clicked as soon as the room saw my sling.
Not quite what I had in mind for today, standing shirtless on a dais getting photographed with my sling, but here we were.
The first few questions we couldn’t even answer without the MRI results, and once that became clear, the press turned to my feelings instead and the impact of the injury on Cam and I’s relationship.
After years of this kind of stuff, I had learned not to roll my eyes.
It helped that Cam was on the ball with answers, knowing which questions I absolutely did not want to answer, and letting me take the ones that didn’t make me want to leave the room.
After about thirty minutes of focusing on me and Cam, Coach steered the reporters back to the team and Ezra, Miles and Preston got their first taste of the Olympic spotlight. Orion got a few, considering he was also here with his boyfriend, and it was Austin’s first Olympics.
Their situation reminded me of Brisbane, except Cam and I were hiding our relationship back then, which was a little bit of a difference. After all these years, I was happy to know it wasn’t sneaking around that made it special for us.
“So, did you call your mom this morning? I’m guessing you didn’t want her to find out from the news.”
Cam and I finally had privacy and were enjoying a quick lunch at a café outside of the village.
“Yeah, I called.”
“How was it?”
I wanted to say, ‘Like it always is,’ but I knew Cam was just being supportive. “She was sorry, shocked…didn’t really know what to say. I told her not to come. I hope that’s okay with you, but I didn’t feel like dealing with her right now.”
“And your dad?”
“He texted.”
Cam nodded.
“I’ll be happy to see your mom,” I said.
“She’ll be happy to see you.”
We didn’t need to say it out loud, but Cam knew that they were my family. My mother and I had repaired our relationship, but it would never be what Cam and Heather had. And we were fine to ignore the elephant in the room that was my father. It was better for me to focus on the future anyway.
“I’ve got some news as well.”
“Oh?” I asked, putting my sandwich down.
“Now don’t freak out.”
Uh oh.
“You know Ezra’s coach, Zane?”
“Yeah?”
“It’s Zane Hunter.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I stood up so quickly my chair fell over.
“What? Are you going to go beat him up with one arm? Sit down, it’s fine.”
“Wait, it is?”
“Well, it will be.”
I put my chair back in place and sat down. “I asked Ezra his last name. It was something with a K.”
“Korhonen.”
“Yeah. That.”
“He got married. Took his husband’s name.”
I took a deep breath and exhaled. “Well, that explains it. I’m so sorry I didn’t recognize him.”
“Well, when’s the last time you thought about him? It had been a few years for me, so…it’s understandable.”
“I know, but still. Fuck.” I wiped my hand across my face, eyes closed, trying to regain some composure. “What happened?”
“Oh, I recognized him immediately. I swear I could see the rage materialize, I was that pissed, so I pulled him into Coach’s office where I laid into him.
He talked and apologized. It’s still new and it’ll take some time, but I’ll be okay.
Turns out, some guy in college gave him the same treatment.
Unfortunately, that’s what made him realize how terrible he treated me. ”
“And it took him this long to say something?”
“Apparently he tried and failed, multiple times, and if I’m following the advice I gave you about your mother, people can change. I mean, it’s not perfect, but she did change.”
“This.” I reached across the table to grab his hand. “This is why I love you. You’re such a good person. I don’t think I could forgive someone after that.”
“Well, let’s not get too ahead of ourselves. It’s okay, not perfect. I figure I need to, you know, focus on the Olympics first, and possibly deal with intense personal trauma after.”
“True. You just seem so chill about it.”
“Well, I wasn’t so chill at the reveal.”
I finished my sandwich as Cam told me in more detail exactly everything that happened. After he finished, I jokingly said, “I bet his husband’s ugly,” hoping it would make Cam smile. “And missing teeth.”
It did.
“Haven’t met him yet, but let’s hope so. Where are we meeting Shane again?”
“Passing me off to my babysitter already?”
“No! I just want to make sure you have someone to look after you.”
“I’m not helpless.”
Cam leveled me with a look. “You can’t even undress yourself. Why’d you pick button-ups today? How did you even pee at the zoo?”
“Oh, alright. Shane had to help me! Happy?”
Cam smirked. “Just take all our help and shut it.”
“Is this how I treated you in London?”
That shut him up for a minute.
“I’m just trying to help.”
“Oh I know, Cam. I was only teasing.”
“I know I’m not the alternate anymore, which is great, but it’s hard to see you like this. I still can’t believe it.”
And then a tear fell down my sweet Cam’s face.
I stood up and went to his side of the table, sitting next to him in the booth. “Well, we’ve been through a lot, and we’ll get through this. If anyone can do it, it’s us. You’ll do great. I know it.”
Cam sniffled and wiped his eyes with his napkin. “Shit. I should be the one comforting you.”
“Well, it doesn’t always work like that. It doesn’t matter what’s happening. If you need me, I’ll be there.”
“It’s Ty,” I told Shane. We were walking back to the hotel from the village. Noah wanted Cam to train in the afternoon as well until the games started.
“Say hi for me. I’ll give you some space,” Shane said before he slowed down to walk behind me.
“Hey Ty, what’s up?”
“What’s up? That’s all you have to say? You should’ve told me right away! How’s your chest? Any details you couldn’t announce?”
“Wow. Someone’s pushy.”
“Come on, bro. If anyone knows what you’re dealing with, it’s me. Be real.”
“I didn’t want to bother you. Your wedding is like a week away.”
I heard him sigh on the other end. “Luke. I love Declan, but he and our moms can handle it. I’m coming up there today or tomorrow.”
“You don’t need to do that.”