15. Lucas
Lucas
Cam seemed a little distracted approaching the rings, though he and Noah had a chat - likely a pep talk - while Cam adjusted his wrist supports.
I realized my knee was shaking just before Ty put his hand on it and said, “He’s going to do great.”
I took a breath, thanked him, and then waited, along with Cam, for his signal to start. Noah stood behind him, ready to lift him up to the rings.
“Is it okay if I hold your hand?” Heather whispered into my ear. “I’ve never had somebody with me to watch Cam before.”
I glanced at her before nodding. “Sure.”
“Well, not since Cam’s father passed. Surely there have been others in the stands, but not, you know…someone that means as much as you do to Cam. Someone who cares for him as much.”
I knew what she was trying to say. “Someone who loves him.”
She squeezed my hand and said, “Yeah. That.”
There were a few seconds of silence as we watched Noah lift Cam onto the rings, then she continued, “You know if he could’ve changed things back, he would’ve. In a heartbeat.”
“I know.” I squeezed back. “This is how it is. At least one of us has a shot. As shitty as this is”—I motioned to the sling—“it could've been worse for me. It’s at least some consolation that he gets to compete as a result.”
“Oh! Here he goes.”
After ten seconds or so, I’d realized I was holding my breath. With each solid and steady hold in between elements, I became more relaxed.
Fuck, his muscles look good.
I had been training so hard the last month or so, I hadn’t had time to watch any of Cam’s sessions. As much as he had worried about his fitness level when he was called up, it was obvious he had put in the work too. And I hadn’t ever doubted it. Sometimes he would get home after me.
The crowd gasped and then broke into applause after a particularly impressive and difficult combo.
“Holy shit, bro!” Ty yelped. “Did you know he could do that?!” He jostled me in the process and quickly apologized. “Sorry, Luke. You okay?”
“Yeah.”
I watched, holding my breath again, Heather squeezing my fingers as he built momentum for the dismount.
Thank God! He landed with a tiny hop.
One event down. Five to go.
A lot had changed in four years, but one thing hadn’t. Camden Kane was still King of the Vault. The Kane was still the hardest vault, performed last by Cam at the world championships two years ago. As much as others tried to outpace Cam, they couldn’t.
“Yup, he’s got the best score in the vault,” Ty confirmed. “Well, of everyone that’s gone. Still have Japan and Brazil to go.”
I nodded. “There might be two guys that could come close, Ty, but I doubt it.”
He brought his iPad tonight and, already out of habit, had all the scores from earlier in the day entered into the tracking software he had used when he was a coach. It certainly worked a lot faster than Google.
It had a feature that projected the scores needed to qualify for the final.
“Can you change that during the finals so you know what score he needs to medal?” I asked.
“Of course, bro. You just adjust the number of finalists. Like, you can determine what a finalist is by sliding this from eight to three. Or for the all-around, twenty-four.”
“Damn, Shane never had this fancy shit.”
“Language, Lucas. Impressionable young gymnasts,” Heather said, motioning to the crowd of American supporters around us.
I had forgotten she had perfect hearing. “Sorry, Heather.”
“Coach never took my access to the system away. I’m still coaching in Chula Vista, but it's kids, not Olympians. Most days, I’m just a trophy boyfriend.”
“Declan’s busy with his activewear brand?”
“You know it.”
“I do.” I smirked. “I’ve seen you modeling the jockstraps.”
“Did you get the-”
“Yes, we got the package you sent.” I answered.
“I haven’t seen you post on Instagram.”
“Is this your way of asking me to become an unofficial spokesman?”
“I thought that’s what we did when we sent you two the box.”
“I know. There was just this thing coming up on our schedule. Well, two things,” I added. “The Olympics and your wedding.” I had an idea. “Let’s do a few shots when we take wedding photos.”
“Like…in the jockstraps?” Ty asked.
I shrugged. “In whatever Declan wants. It’s his line.”
“That could work. I can mention it to Grayson.”
“Oh, he’d have a field day with that.”
One of the kids in front of us squealed and pointed down, towards the floor. “It’s him! It’s Zephyrus Jones!”
Sure enough, Zeph and Colton were walking up the stairs.
“About time, cowboys!” Ty yelled out.
Colton’s face said he was flipping him off in spirit since he couldn’t do that for real. Those damn impressionable kids were everywhere.
Zeph was semi-swamped with a few kids asking for autographs and he, like he always did, humored them. After he came out of the closet, he wore the mantle of role model well and put community outreach and fan service at the top of his priority list. It was admirable.
Colton was closer to Cam than me, but I had heard enough conversations between the two to know a lot of their history. While they were quite open about their sexuality and their time apart, they were less vocal about their reunion and other more serious issues.
I suppose that should be expected. It was always easier to joke about dicks or fucking in the locker room at the gym than it was to explain super complicated thoughts and feelings to your peers. Even to your friends.
“Howdy, Mrs. Kane.” Colton tipped an imaginary hat towards her, then looked around at our group. “Austin not here?”
Oh shit.
He wasn’t. Neither was Erika for that matter. I hadn’t even noticed.
My phone vibrated in my hand.
Cam: What’s wrong?
I smiled.
Luke: Stalker.
Cam: I’m done with the vault. I have like 15 minutes until my next event.
Luke: Just realized Austin’s not here.
Luke: Same with Erika.
Cam: They’re on their way. So says Orion.
Cam: Something about false labor.
Luke: Jesus. If it’s already that far along…
Cam: I know. It’s going to be soon.
Sure enough, not ten minutes later, I spotted Austin’s wavy brown hair coming into the arena near the bottom of the stairs, though he stopped and turned to wait. My assumption that it was for Erika was correct. And Isaak too. That’s a surprise.
Both men offered their hands to help her up the stairs, and within a few minutes, they had found their place in the empty seats in the row in front of us…along with the tall, muscular, blond guy that came up in front of them.
Before they sat down, Heather gushed over Erika’s belly for a few seconds and Erika gave both her and I a quick hug.
As soon as she sat, Erika let out a loud breath and Isaak immediately handed her a bottle of water from the small backpack he had.
“Did I miss him?” Austin turned to ask me, before scanning the floor to find the team.
“You missed him on the rings, but that’s it. He still has his other two left.”
“I’m sorry, Austin.” Erika leaned into his bicep.
“You don’t have to keep apologizing. Trust me, O gets it. Your baby is important to us.”
I tapped Austin on the shoulder, drawing a look from the bearded Thor look-alike. “Who’s the Norse God? He with you?”
Austin looked confused for half a second until I motioned with my chin at the behemoth next to him.
“Oh, that’s Remy,” he answered, then whispered, “My bodyguard.”
I leaned closer. “Is there another threat?”
Austin shook his head. “Same one.”
“I thought he was-”
“Parole,” Erika said over her shoulder.
Austin nodded in agreement, his mouth in a tight line.
“Fuck!” I glanced at Heather, thankful she hadn't heard me. “What shitty timing. I’m sorry you have to even think about that again.” Our heads were leaned towards each other conspiratorially. I didn’t think our voices would carry far due to the ambient noise of the arena.
“It is what it is. We’re dealing with it,” Austin said.
“I’m guessing O is-”
“Focusing on the Olympics, like I told him to.”
“Not what I was going to say, Austin.”
“Oh, I know what you were going to say. His protective instincts went into overdrive. Remy was the compromise.”
Remy looked my way again, but I could only imagine what O wanted to do to protect Austin. In the same situation, I would do anything for Cam. Thankfully, neither of us had ever had a stalker before.
Knock on wood.
“How did you find him anyway?”
Austin pointed his thumb at his sister.
Erika answered, “Through Isaak’s company. They collaborate with a private security firm for special events and when they travel with…sensitive things,” adding air quotes to the last word.
I hadn’t realized Isaak’s company would have that need, but with all the development and competition in Silicon Valley, it made sense.
The team had moved on to the parallel bars, though after a minute, Ezra seemed to be panicking.
He was picking the other guys’ jackets and bags up and putting them back down.
After a few more items, he jogged back to the seats by the vault - what is he doing?
- and started looking for something there.
The Brits had already settled into that area.
I watched as Ezra approached them, a little more tentative now that he was closer.
His face quickly flushed pink as he turned towards Jack Davies, who was holding a duffle bag and water bottle.
Ezra paused in front of him for a few seconds before grabbing both items and jogging back to Zane and the guys.
That kid had immense talent, but his focus definitely needed improvement.
His forgetfulness made his warm-up time almost non-existent, which wasn’t good for him since he was the first up for the team on the bars. Cam had texted me the order.
I watched as Coach and Zane gave him an earful - not that it helped Ezra - as he quickly pulled his shorts down and off, leaving him in his leotard, searching for his pants in his duffle bag.
He finally found them and was able to get the bars chalked and a few moves in before the signal for the next rotation.
I don’t know how he did it, but Ezra managed a solid routine.
“That kid is dadgum lucky as shit,” Colton said, musing to Zeph.
I had to agree.