Cheater: A Summer Games Short Read (Going for Gold) (2 page)

A
s soon as
we entered my room, Bryn was on her knees, taking my cock into her mouth. This was exactly what I needed. It was the perfect way to ease the tension in my body and my brain. If oral sex were a medal event, Bryn would take the gold for sure.

“You’ve got to stop or slow down.” I pushed her luscious lips away from me. She released my dick with a pop. “If you don’t, it’s going to be over before it begins.” Hard as a rock and wanting to lose myself in her body, I pulled her up and backed her to the edge of my bed. Her yoga pants peeled easily from her legs. Bryn never wore panties—she didn’t like the lines. The strength in her legs was obvious. Muscles bulged from her calves to her stonelike ass. Not for the first time, I thought,
Damn, what a beautiful sight.

Taking her lead, I dropped to my knees and buried my face between her legs. She loved it when I licked her softly and worked my way to a bite. I sucked and nibbled until she shouted my name. Yes, she was a screamer, but it didn’t matter because I was the only person occupying the west wing.

“God, I needed that.” She rose up on her elbows and looked at me. “What the hell did you do to Nick? He never let up on Wade for one second.”

I hated it when she brought other men into the bedroom. “Do we have to talk about it now?” I covered my hard-on with a condom and climbed between her widespread legs.

Her smile broadened. Hands as strong as her thighs reached behind my ass to pull me deep into her body.

Velvet.

Hot.

Wet.

Heaven.

I pumped out my frustration and poured out my hurt and sorrow. Bryn was always a willing vessel. “I love you,” I whispered as I found my release inside of her.

“You’re so sweet.” When I rolled off her body, she rolled out of the bed. She didn’t snuggle. She was mission-motivated, and I respected her drive.

The condom was barely off before she started talking shop. “I’ll get the village all scoped out before you get there.” She opened the minifridge in my bedroom and pulled out a bottle of water. “We should be in the same building. I’m on floor thirty, room 3037. Wade is on the tenth floor. Did you get your room assignment yet?”

She flopped back down on the bed and began doing scissors. The woman had no modesty. Didn’t she realize how hard it was to carry on a conversation when her legs were spread in front of me every other second? I’d been buried to the root only minutes before, but with very little time, I’d be ready again.

In order to distract myself, I walked to my desk, where Beth always had my mail waiting. The top envelope was from the housing department. I tore it open and pulled out the page.

“I’m tenth floor, room 1005.”

“Really?” She bolted upright. “You’re rooming with Wade. My two favorite guys together.”

Wade Langley was the captain of the men’s team. We’d been teammates for years, lived in the same town, trained with the same coach. At twenty-three, he was taking his last stab at the gold in Rio. He was my role model, and I especially envied his flawless floor exercise. Wade walked a fine line between confidence and arrogance but managed to find a fan following from toddlers to grandmothers.

“It’s so cool that four of us from Colorado are going.” Bryn’s best friend, Gabrielle Fortney, was also headed to Rio. Gymnastics made us friends—made us family, even. “Solidarity in numbers and all that.” She bent over and pulled on her pants.

“You’re not leaving already, are you?”

“Oh, sweetie, I have to go.” She walked over and smacked my ass while I pulled on a pair of clean shorts. “I have to pack. Besides, you have an early practice.” She climbed up my body and kissed me full and hard.
Why does she always leave me wanting more?
I thought. I couldn’t get enough of her.

“Tomorrow night?” It wasn’t really a question, just a confirmation. I ran my hand through her hair. She wasn’t a natural blonde, but it looked good on her.

“You know it.” She nipped at my lower lip. “It’s our last night together until you get to Rio.” She was leaving with the team on a morning flight the day after tomorrow. I was staying behind until the eleventh hour. With Mom dying, I had limited minutes to spend with her.

“I’m going to miss you,” I said as I searched her green eyes for emotion. In the Maes family, love was never considered a weakness, but Bryn was different. She came from the school that followed the adage, “Never show your weakness.”

Her only response was a tight hug and a message for my mom. “Tell your mom I hope she feels better.”

“I will,” I said. I reluctantly walked her out to her fancy sports car. Her gold Porsche was a status symbol and reflected her dream of a second gold in Rio. After winning the gold in London, she’d settle for nothing less.

* * *

N
ick worked
me to exhaustion the next morning. I started with thirty minutes of warm-ups followed by three hours of floor exercise.

“Damn it, Alec. Yesterday you were over-rotating. Today you’re pulling out prematurely. You’re not back in level five, get your shit together.” Nick only resorted to swearing when he was frustrated.

I sat on the mat and dropped my head to my knees. Exhausted didn’t begin to describe what I felt. I was emotionally and physically spent. “I’m sorry. I can’t keep my mind on the mat.”

Nick collapsed beside me. “Your mom?”

“She’s fading fast, Nick. She weighs less than my gym bag.” I pulled my hands through my cropped hair. “Maybe this isn’t the right time for me to go.”

Nick wrapped his arm around my shoulders in a fatherly fashion. “Don’t forget—this is her dream, too.”

“She’s dying from cancer, and I’m leaving her.” My voice sank with each word. I swallowed the lump in my throat.

“She’s living with cancer, Alec. Don’t make her die from disappointment. Get your ass to Rio, and bring her home a gold medal.” Nick bolted upright. He was in his late fifties but moved like a man half his age. “Get up. We have a vault to perfect.”

My first run was a disaster. I hit the springboard off balance and nearly flew over the horse. After a thorough dressing-down from Nick, I attacked the vault with renewed passion. Nick was right; my mom had spent her entire life helping me reach my dream. Once I’d made elite, she’d traveled with the team until her annual mammogram came back abnormal. That was eighteen months ago; since then, she’d gone from a stunning, healthy woman to a shell of herself.

“Show me your Tsukahara double pike, and stick the damn landing.” He took his position midway down the mat to watch.

Those seconds I was in the air, I knew I’d nailed it. Spinning head over heels twice, I spotted my landing, and when my feet hit the mat, I was velcroed in place. It was a flawless execution of a notoriously difficult vault—a beautiful moment that buoyed my confidence.

After I stuck the next two attempts, I left the gym feeling like the elite athlete I was. So excited to share my good news, I dialed Bryn the minute I entered my truck.

“Hello.” Breathless and sexy, her voice vibrated through my body.

“Just calling to share my news.”

By the sound of voices in the background, Bryn wasn’t alone. “I love good news. Tell me.” It was easy to see why everyone gravitated toward her. She might not have been warm and fuzzy, but she was a natural cheerleader, and her enthusiasm was contagious.

“I nailed my vault today.” Just saying that made the weight of potential failure shift off my shoulders.

“Now you need to stick your landing on your floor routine. You pull out too fast.” She was laughing.

“You sound like Nick, except it sounds so much worse coming from your mouth.” Not since I was sixteen and having sex for the first time would I have been considered premature in that department. I was a long-haul guy—with emphasis on
long
.

“You’re too cute.” She paused for a moment. “Alec, I gotta run. I’ve still got to pack, and I’m running out of time.”

“Okay, babe. I’ll see you tonight.”

“Oh, about that...I might not be able to make it. Wade and I are meeting to talk about coordinating some team events while we’re in Rio.”

That was the last thing I expected to hear, and to be honest, it didn’t sit well. I could feel a burning in my gut, and it took me a second to figure out that I was jealous. Which was silly—there was no need to be jealous when you had it all. “Do you want me to come along? It’s going to be several days before I see you again.”

“No, you stay with your mom. The whole purpose of you staying behind is so you can spend time with her.”

Bryn was right; in just a day or so, I’d be in Rio with her for a couple of weeks. My time was limited with my mom.

“Okay, but if you find yourself in need of a preflight fuck, I’ll leave my door open.”

That comment would have offended most girls, but not Bryn. She had a twisted sense of humor; she’d be wet and ready.

“I love it when you talk dirty to me.”

“I’m heading home. See you soon.” I wasn’t sure whether “soon” was three days from now in Rio or a quick clandestine visit tonight. All I knew was it wasn’t soon enough: I needed her.

I wouldn’t have described myself as needy before my mother’s diagnosis, but ever since then, everything had felt like it was slipping away from me. If the constant desire to be close to Bryn made me needy, I’d live with it for now.

* * *

M
om was
in the kitchen when I got home. She was wearing makeup and was dressed in real clothes. I’d gotten so used to seeing her in pajamas, I almost forgot that she didn’t live in her bedroom.

“Mom, you look great. I take it you’re feeling better.” Her soft pink lips spread into a wide smile. It was like rays of sunshine shot from her face.

“I want to go out. Have you had lunch?” She patted her portable oxygen tank and adjusted her tubing.

It was closer to dinner than lunch, but if Marlene Maes wanted to go out, I’d take her. The last time I’d had a meal out with my parents was a year ago. Once Mom started chemo, life changed drastically. “Can I take a quick shower? I’d hate to stink for my date.”

“Hurry. I’ll call your father and have him meet us at the Grange.”

The Grange was a high-end steak and seafood house. Mom had chosen it because I could easily stick to my high-protein and low-carb regimen there. Lots of people carbo-loaded before competition, but I kept to a steady diet of lean protein and greens. Gymnastics was anaerobic in nature, with short, powerful bursts of activity that were best fueled by protein.

I rushed upstairs and readied myself. When I walked back into the kitchen, Beth and Mom were picking out new curtains for the living room. Maybe Nick was right. Maybe she
was
living with cancer, and the last week had simply been a blip in time.

With care, I loaded her into my truck and drove off the estate. My dad was waiting in front of the restaurant when we arrived. Dressed in his uniform, an immaculately tailored gray suit, he held a single stargazer lily in his hand; my mom took the flower and held it to her nose, blushing. It all felt like I was an interloper on my parents’ first date.

We walked into the restaurant where the hostess sat us in a secluded booth where we shot countless selfies, ordered an amazing dinner, and talked about the weeks to come.

My mom cleared her throat and lifted her water glass. “To gold medal moments.”

We lifted our water and tapped the glasses together in the center of the table.

My father picked up his napkin and placed it on the table in front of him. “Alec, your birth was our gold medal moment.” He covered my mom’s thin hand and gave her a warm smile. “It doesn’t matter if you win or lose. What matters is that you got there, and you did your best.”

When Mom began to tire, Dad bundled her up and took her home. I followed so I could pack for Rio. While I drove, I thought about my parents. Someday, I wanted what they had. What Bryn and I had paled in comparison to what my parents possessed. Theirs was a timeless love. It was as if the universe had paired them in some kind of divine plan.

By ten that night, Bryn hadn’t come by, and when I called, her cellphone went straight to voicemail. Her plane left at the crack of dawn, so I figured she’d turned in early. Despite not seeing her that night, I was smiling through the moment I fell asleep. The day had turned out to be the best I’d had in a long time. I hoped it was a sign of things to come.