Cheater: A Summer Games Short Read (Going for Gold) (7 page)

T
he next two
nights were spent just sleeping in each other’s arms, and it was perfect. That’s not to say that I didn’t cop a feel here and there, or that she didn’t pull my arm over her and tuck it under her breast. I was in both heaven and hell each time she snuggled her fine ass against me.

We’d entered a light part of our schedules, so we had lots of time to tour. We spent it at the beach where I slathered her with sunscreen and shaded her with an umbrella. I loved Collette’s alabaster skin. The way it glowed against my darker skin was magical. Brazilian women dressed in nothing more than strings were everywhere, but Collette never seemed to notice. She exuded confidence in everything she did.

“What makes you who you are?” I traced her belly button with my finger.

“We are all created by our circumstances, are we not?”

“Sure, but you’re like the rock of Gibraltar.”

She turned over, putting her bottom in the air. My hand naturally traced the edge of her suit. She wiggled when my hand slipped between her thighs to stroke her.

Her breath hitched. “I’m no rock.” She rotated to her back. “I’m like ice cream melting into your hands.” She opened her legs like she was granting access.

I adjusted the big umbrella so it created a tent around us. Her hands found my chest. Delicate fingers traced my muscles. Her lips found mine. We kissed while I stroked her through her suit. The material was damp. With slow deliberation I slipped my hand inside. I knew she’d be bare. Most gymnasts eliminated hair altogether.

Hot and wet, she ground herself against my hand until I slipped a finger inside her. Her breathing increased with the motion of my finger. When I pressed the second into her tight core, she came off the sand to meet each thrust.

When my thumb found her swollen bundle, she moaned. It was a fucking beautiful sound—low and deep, and full of passion. I watched her face flush, and her chest rise, while I brought her to climax. She stiffened and began to quake. Her tight pussy pulsed around my fingers. I didn’t stop until she begged. I loved that too. One day instead of begging me to stop, she’d be begging me for more. I pulled my fingers from her heat and licked them clean. She watched with fascination as I savored her taste.

“That was hot.” Passion clouded her voice. She ran her hand down my trunks and groped my stiff cock. God it felt good. I wanted her, but I wasn’t taking her on the beach, and I wasn’t going to settle for a hand job. I wanted more from Collette Lamont. I wanted it all.

“As much as I love your hand on my dick, we have to go. I’m not what you’d call a quiet lover.”

“Let’s go then. I’d love to hear your bedroom voice.” Collette moved fast when she was motivated.

On the walk back she called her parents. She explained to me that there wasn’t going be time once we got back to the bedroom. Within a few minutes, she handed me the phone, and I chatted with her mother like we were old friends. Her mom was devastated she couldn’t be at the Games, but I promised to take pictures and keep her posted. Collette’s mom thanked me and then promised to castrate me if I hurt her daughter. Collette was like her mom; she exuded passion and honesty, yet instilled just enough fear to keep me in line.

My phone rang as we reached her dorm. Dad never called, so the fact that his face popped up on my screen sent my heart plummeting. Dad loved me, but he was a man’s man. His Hispanic heritage had dictated his hands-off approach to raising a son.

My fingers shook as I pressed the answer button. I didn’t say hello. The lump in my throat made it impossible. I knew what was coming. Things had taken a turn for the worse, or Mom had passed away.

“Alec.” Dad’s voice was grim.

“Dad?” My voice cracked. My steps faltered. Collette led me to a nearby bench. I collapsed into the wooden seat. She fell to her knees before me and laid her head in my lap. Mindlessly I played with her hair while I waited for my dad to talk.

“She’s alive. She’s stable.” Dad released a loud exhale. “She threw a blood clot today and suffered a cardiac arrest.”

“I’m coming home.”

“That’s why I’m calling. Your mom wants to talk to you.”

There was a shuffling sound, and then the familiar whoosh of the oxygen tank with its background chorus of beeps and blips. It was a symphony I despised.

Mom’s voice was barely a whisper. “Alec, you are not coming home. Promise me you’ll stay to the end.”

I couldn’t promise her.

“Alec.” Her voice was even more determined. “Promise me.”

The tears cascaded down my cheeks and dripped from my chin to Collette’s hair. I formed the first word but couldn’t force it from my lips.

“Alec, there is nothing you can do for me here, but there is something you can do for me there. Make your mother proud. Stay strong. Stay in Rio. I’ll never ask for anything else. Promise me.”

“I promise.” The words released on their own accord. My voice quaked and cracked. “I love you, Mom. Wait for me, okay?”

“Oh, Alec, I’ll always be there with you.”

Dad took the phone and said that Mom was going to rest.

* * *

T
hat night
, I lay in Collette’s arms and sobbed. It wasn’t a manly thing to do, but I did it anyway. I spilled all of my sorrows. She held me against her chest and crooned to me in French. I had no idea what she said, but it had a soothing effect that coaxed me to sleep.

The next day, she was up early and ready for practice. She left me a kiss and a cup of coffee. The night before seemed a lifetime away. I picked up my phone and scrolled through the most recent pictures. Mom didn’t need to waste any energy worrying about me. I chose a picture that Collette had taken that looked like I was tucked into Christ’s open arms. I sent it to her with this message: “Mom, don’t worry about me. I’ve got you and Christ on my side.”

She replied immediately with, “I’m not worried, you’re a Maes.” In my head I finished her sentence:
And we conquer.

I decided that with Mom’s situation so dire, I’d up my calls and send even more pictures during our remaining week in Rio. She was happiest when we talked about the Games, so that’s how I would conquer from so far away.

I couldn’t be alone to dwell on my life, so I went to the gym to watch Collette practice her beam routine. Her team hadn’t made the finals, so all that she had left were her individual events. Canada wasn’t a powerhouse in women’s gymnastics, but it clearly continued to send its best. Collette was a force to be reckoned with. She would be competing head to head against Bryn on both the beam and in the floor exercise. I couldn’t wait to see the showdown.

After a while, I wandered over to the rings, even though my scheduled time hadn’t arrived yet. Wade was there, wrapping his wrists to prep for the rings. I’d have to wait until he was finished. “Alec, how’s your mom?” he asked.

It pained me to think about my mom’s health. I swiped a hand over my face. “I wish she were here, but she’s too busy trying to stay alive. She has good days and bad days. Lately the bad seem to be taking over.”

Wade stepped off the mat and walked over to me. “Call her up. Let’s invite her to practice.” And so we did. Wade gave up his ring time to play videographer in the video we dubbed
From Brazil with Love
. We’d been moving from apparatus to apparatus so Mom could see the full routine. Even Collette came over to say hello. She’d been practicing her beam routine when she saw me totally flub my floor exercise.

“Alec. You and I have to make time to work on that landing.” Collette popped in front of the camera. “Hi, Mrs. Maes. Alec doesn’t realize it yet, but he needs me.”

My mom’s laughter turned the day into perfection.

Although practice could be considered a wash, the day itself was an exercise in mending fences. Wade had taken something from me a week ago, but he gave himself selflessly today. I’d never forget what he did to me, but I could forgive him. He was only half of the equation, and now that I’d met Collette, I was pretty certain both he and Bryn had given me a gift.

* * *

“
C
ome back to my place
.” Collette and I walked hand in hand from the practice gym. “There’s a party in our dorm. You know what they say about those Canadians.”

“No, what do they say?”

“You can’t spell party without an eh.” She was the cutest, dorkiest girl I’d ever met.

“A party, eh?” I did my best Canuck. “Let’s go.” I wasn’t in the mood to party, but I was in the mood to see Collette smile.

When we arrived on her floor, the party was bleeding into the halls. Nearly every dorm door was open, and people slid from room to room. A diver named Giselle had just won silver, so the whole team was celebrating. We room-hopped until I had to leave. Tomorrow started the men’s team event, and I needed to be well-rested. We’d placed third in the qualifying rounds, which meant we weren’t performing at our best. Nick insisted on early lights-out so we’d be ready.

It was hard to leave Collette. I wanted her snuggled up to my body. She was the first woman I’d ever spent the night with. Bryn had come for sex and then left. We never lay in each other’s arms and talked about our life after the Games. For Bryn, there was no life after the Games. For Collette, her life would begin once the Games were over. She wanted college, and marriage, and babies.

“I’m coming over just until you fall asleep.” Collette was demanding, but she came from a place of selflessness.

“I’ll be all right.” The words left my mouth, but they didn’t sound true.

“Alec, don’t lie to me. You need me.”

She was right. I needed her because when I was with her, everything was okay. Hand in hand, we walked from her dorm, down two buildings to mine.

“Don’t look now, but apple girl is climbing up someone’s tree.”

I followed her line of sight to a tree in front of my dorm. Collette was right. Bryn was climbing a guy I recognized as a Russian gymnast. His name was Ivan or Igor or something like that. The man had her pants halfway down her legs. A week ago I would have erupted into a rage, but tonight it barely registered with me.

Another athlete passed by and yelled, “Get a room.”

Bryn looked up, ready to give him the finger until she saw us. Her face, once flushed by passion, now turned crimson. I wasn’t sure whether it was embarrassment or anger, and I didn’t care.

At the elevator, I dipped my hand into the half-empty bowl of condoms. My dorm was on track to an empty bowl by the week’s end. Collette opened my palm and took them away.

“You won’t need those tonight.” She tossed them back into the bowl and pressed the up button.

“Will I ever need them?”

“Will I ever see a perfect floor routine?” She hopped into the elevator. “Pick your jaw up from the floor. Remember, I reward perfection.”

Wade was already in bed when we arrived. He still wasn’t up to par after being so sick. It turned out he had just gotten food poisoning; the blood work that Nick insisted on had come back negative for Zika. The whole team had let out a sigh of relief when we heard, but not for the reasons you’d think. We knew it wasn’t contagious unless you were having unprotected sex (and to my knowledge none of the guys were that sweet on Wade). The relief came from keeping the best gymnast on board for the team event, which would take place tomorrow.

I climbed naked between the sheets and rolled on my side toward Collette, who was on top of the blankets.

“Are you trying to tempt me?” She sank beside me and ran her tongue over my bare shoulder.

Maybe I was. Normally I slept in shorts, but tonight my balls were so heavy even my boxers felt constricting.

“Am I?”

“How sound of a sleeper is Wade?”

If we didn’t need condoms, that could only mean one thing, I thought: Collette’s palm was getting an intimate introduction to my cock.

Boy was I wrong. She pulled back the sheet and looked at my burgeoning length. Her tongue slicked her cherry lips before she shimmied down my body. Supple lips sucked in the tip, and explored the ridge. A flat tongue swept down the engorged vein that throbbed for release.