Fighting to Win (The Elite Book 1) (2 page)

A
ball
of dread filled Julia’s stomach as she opened the door to one of the recreation rooms at the athletes’ village. This would be the first time the swim and diving teams would be together at an official USA Swimming media event.

She hadn’t seen Mitch since that glimpse at the airport. At least they hadn’t been on the same flight. Nothing would’ve been worse than knowing a few rows of seats separated them.

The whole flight down she’d worried about him, hoping that he’d been able to deal with his fear of flying without letting on to everyone else. Well, Drake had been flying with him, so hopefully his friend had acted like a Valium and kept Mitch calm.

As for her, she’d sat next to Lulu, who was competing in the synchronized diving. Lulu and her diving partner, Brooke, were included in the handful of people on the team who hadn’t ostracized her when the allegations broke in the press. They’d even been friendly to her at the trials, which couldn’t be said of Trina. Trina Watson had been her biggest competitor in vying for the guaranteed place on the team. Trina had not been happy when she’d won. When the news that another position had opened up in the ten-meter platform competition and Trina got her wish to compete at the Olympics, Julia cringed inside because she knew it would be unpleasant being around her.

Julia could pretty much guarantee that there wouldn’t be any friendly photos between the two of them. Oh, they would do the right thing and smile and be photographed together in a professional aspect. But in a social arena? Nope, no fun selfies with Trina.

She could do this. She
would
do this. After the Games, she could evaluate what she wanted to do with her life after the Olympics. Prior to the bribing allegations, she’d planned on continuing competing. Now maybe winning a medal here should be her swan song, and she could finish her career on a high note. What she would do after diving she didn’t know. For the last few years, her whole life had consisted of spending time on the trampolines, perfecting her somersaults, before heading to the pool to see if she could achieve those same twists in mid-air before hitting the water.

A yawn wracked her body. Attending the welcome reception for the American press was the last place she wanted to be. Sleep had been elusive the last couple of nights; it always took her time to adjust to a different bed and different surroundings. You’d think she’d be used to traveling by now.

Julia tried to find a friendly face in the room. The fact Mitch stood a head taller than everyone meant she should be able to stay at the opposite end of the room from wherever he was.

“Hi Julia.”

Unless he walked up behind her, then she wouldn’t be able to avoid him. She took a moment to savor the sound of his voice saying her name again. There was nothing special about how he said it. Only that hearing it always made her heart quiver and her lips part, waiting for the moment when he would kiss her.

She closed her eyes as the sensations rippled through her, as if he had kissed her. Taking a deep breath, she forced her lips to stretch into something that resembled a smile—but probably looked more like a grimace—before she faced Mitch.

“Hi.” The word wobbled out of her. How hard was it to say a two-letter word? Pretty hard, obviously, as she’d totally mucked it up right then. She cleared her throat. “How are you, Mitch?”

Now that sounded better. No hint of nervousness in her voice. Her heart was another matter. The pounding echoed in her ears as it pumped her blood around her body in a rush.

“It’s the Olympics. I’m great.”

Julia cocked her head. There were lines of tension around his eyes and mouth. Or were the lines of weariness? Either way, he may say he was great, but he looked anything but.

On a reflex she didn’t have a hope of stopping, she reached out and touched his cheek, her thumb brushing against the side of his mouth.

After a sharp intake of breath, he grabbed her hand, halting the movement.

She took a step back, her hand still caught in his. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have done that.”

Pulling her arm free from his hold, she turned and walked blindly into the crowd of people. Her cheeks, she was sure, were a flaming red from the embarrassment of touching Mitch when she had no right or no place to.

How many people had seen her? Seen them together.

Julia found an empty corner. She leaned against the back wall and took some calming breaths.

What was I thinking?

She hadn’t been. That was the problem. Her mind had gotten frazzled the moment she heard Mitch’s voice behind her. All she’d wanted to do was fall into his arms and tell him she was sorry. She hadn’t wanted to hurt him. She’d faked cheating on Mitch and telling him she didn’t love him anymore to protect him. He obviously wasn’t going to do anything to protect himself. His chances at another Olympics were at stake. Surely, Anabel, his coach, was happy with Julia’s actions.

“Jules.” The word was whispered close to her ears, and she realized Mitch had followed her.

Pulling in the same strength she used to break up with him, she stood straight. As straight as she did when she was on the edge of the diving platform. “Don’t, Mitch.”

“Don’t what?”

“Don’t do whatever it is you think you want to do. We’re in a room full of press, all of them itching to write a story about you. About me. About us. Our past. The last think you need is to get negative press.”

All through her little speech she avoided looking at him. Now she stared directly into the dark depths of brown eyes. “It’s better if we keep some distance between us at media events like this.”

Their gazes locked in a battle of wills. Hers begging him to listen to her. His arguing, like he’d always done.

Why had he chosen this moment to approach her? This event, where everyone was no doubt watching them?

“Think about where we are, Mitch,” she hissed at him. “This isn’t the time nor the place.”

“There will never be a right time. It’s better to get a face-to-face meeting between us done now rather in the midst of the Games.”

While he had a point, he had to know what a risk he was taking by coming up to her tonight. She hated confrontations. It had surprised the hell out of her that she’d been able to stand in front of Mitch, confirm what the papers had said about her cheating on him, and tell him she didn’t love him. All lies. But to her, very necessary lies.

Time to play the bitch again. “We can’t go back, Mitch. I thought you accepted that. What we had is over. I’ve moved on.”

Oh God, that hurt to say. Just standing next to him was enough for her to forget all her good intentions and beg him to hold her and kiss her again. And she’d far from moved on. No matter what the press had reported about her and Brett Hunter. She hadn’t seen Brett since that night a savvy paparazzi had caught a picture of her in his arms. A totally innocent incident, but the press didn’t care. She was the major focus of gossip at the time, so they’d painted her as having a raunchy love affair with Brett that had been going on for weeks. How one photo had turned into a long, ongoing affair still baffled her. In fact, Brett’s arms around her had left her cold. But the incident had been what she needed to finally get Mitch to forget about her.

Or so she’d thought.

“You really like digging the knife in, don’t you?”

Julia hated being cruel, but Anabel’s words still sounded in her ears.

“If you love him, you’ll do whatever you need to do so he can focus on the Olympics. I like you, Julia, but I love Mitch. He’s like a son to me. Don’t drag him down with you.”

Yes, she had loved Mitch, and his happiness and success was as important to her as it was to Anabel,

Over Mitch’s shoulder she saw they were attracting attention from some of the reporters. Their eyes were wide, and she could almost see their minds whirring with speculation on what was being said between them. Time to stop giving them something to talk about. “I need to go. Good-bye Mitch.”

Screw this. She’d deal with the PR fallout of leaving early tomorrow, She headed for the exit. She couldn’t think with Mitch nearby, and if she stayed she would be looking for him for the rest of the night. And that wouldn’t be the best thing, for either of them.

O
ne more stroke
and Mitch slammed his hand flat against the cool, tiled wall. He raised his head out of the pool, meeting the eyes of Anabel Wrightson, his coach and the woman he’d come to think of as his mom. She had been there when he had been left alone in the world. There were times he wanted to rail against how his parents had been taken from him. Every time he’d almost succumbed to his anger, Anabel had been there with a hug, and channeled his grief into his swimming. .

Yes, he had a lot to thank her for. Which is why he was trying his hardest to win another gold medal at these games. Once the Games were over, he was planning to retire. Anabel and Eric didn’t know of his plans. He was tired of swimming. Of sacrificing the simple things for the pool, like sleeping in or going out and having a few drinks with friends. Or taking a swim on a hot day and not thinking,
I should be doing laps to increase my time, not lying in an inner tube
. He couldn’t deny swimming had given him a decent bank account and opportunities to travel the world, but it was time to start another chapter of his life.

Of course, when he’d thought about retirement he’d envisaged Julia in his future. That was a stupid dream. But seeing her again made him wish the dream could come true. Her words at the press party had held a finality in them he didn’t want to hear.

Why had he even thought approaching her last night was a good idea? It was supposed to have been so easy to say
hi, how are you?
and move on. Then she’d touched his cheek and memories had bombarded him. Nights they’d spent talking and laughing before falling into bed and losing themselves in each other’s arms. The way she’d curl into him after they’d made love. It had been the perfect time in his life. He shouldn’t have followed her when she’d walked away. He should’ve let her go.

“Good time, Mitch. Not your personal best but pretty good for a first swim after a long flight.”

Anabel’s voiced pulled him from his thoughts. This was where his concentration had to be. In the pool. On his times, improving them so he got gold. Swimming was among the first events held in the Games, he couldn’t afford to let himself get distracted by wasted thoughts.

Gold. That’s what he needed to think about. Gold medals.

He rested his elbows on the edge of the pool. “What was my time?”

“Four minutes, fifteen point three seconds.”

Whoa, that was a really slow. He hadn’t swum the 400m Individual medley in over four minutes, fifteen for months.

Anabel laid a hand on his arm. “I can see by your face you’re disappointed with that time.”

“You said it was a good time. That time is shit.”

She laughed and shook her head. “Mitch, honey, you haven’t been in the pool for a couple of days. It’s the Olympics, and you’re bound to be tense. Just relax, and the next time will be much better. Now let’s do it again.”

M
itch walked into his room
, his muscles aching from his practice session. Nothing a good, hot shower wouldn’t fix.

“Hey, dude, how was practice?”

Drake was sitting on his bed, dressed in running gear and tying his shoelaces. It was his turn to hit the track and get familiar with Rio’s climate.

“Shit. Hope yours goes better than mine.”

Drake laughed. “Your definition of a
shit
practice is far different to mine. You probably got another PB.”

“Not even close. My times kept getting worse and worse as I practiced.”

The first time he did had been his best of the day. Yet Anabel wasn’t worried, which surprised him. Instead, he was the one who was totally stressed.

He flopped down on his bed. “This is going to be a crappy Olympics for me. I might as well go home now.”

“Oh, please, who is this whiner in my room? Certainly not one I’d want to share my room with.”

Mitch pulled his shoe off and threw it at Drake. “Shut up.”

Drake caught the shoe effortlessly and tossed it on the ground.

“Wanna tell me what’s really going on? Does it have something to do with what happened at last night’s press party between you and a certain former girlfriend? Rumor has it you looked pretty intense, and Julia walked out before she’d even spoken to a reporter.”

Of course Drake knew about last night’s fiasco. He was a gossip magnet and loved every juicy morsel that clung to him.

“Yeah, we spoke, and that’s it. Time to move on. As to why I was off today”—he leaned down and pulled off his other shoe— “it’s my first practice. I’m meeting Anabel later this afternoon to have another session, seeing as the finals will be run in the evening.”

“I’d heard there was a bit more than speaking involved.”

Dammit
. His attempt at changing the subject rolled off Drake’s back like water rolled off a swim cap.

He was pretty sure what Drake heard was about as far from the truth as possible, so he might as well deal with all the questions now.

“What did you hear? Because I’ve no doubt what really happened between Julia and I is completely different.”

“Well, let’s see. One story had you both talking and looking like a reconciliation was in the cards. Another one said that you fought and she walked out on you. And finally, there’s this notion that she touched your cheek and the sparks flying between the both of you could’ve set the room on fire. Which one is true?”

Mitch bit back a groan. “All of them.”

“All of them?”

“Yeah. We talked, she touched my cheek. and we didn’t quite argue, but as you know she walked out.”

Drake whistled low. “Interesting.”

“What’s interesting about it? Nothing is going to happen. Not here.”

“Why did you talk to her where there were so many people watching in the first place? You could’ve chosen any other place.”

“Doesn’t matter why I did it or where I did it. It’s done, and she made it more clear than that she doesn’t want to have anything to do with me.”

Saying the words twisted the knife she’d put in between his ribs last night when she reminded him they were over. But he’d let it go before; he needed to let it go now.

“You’re again sounding like a whiny teenager who lost his first ever girlfriend. Dude, I was there when you and Lucy broke up. You definitely didn’t whine when it happened then. If memory serves me right, you moved on quickly to the next pretty girl. You were never lacking in female company before you and Julia got together. If you look hard enough, you’ll find plenty of willing girls around here angling for a good time. Especially one with America’s super swimming star.”

Sleeping around at the Olympics wasn’t something Mitch ever did, and he didn’t intend to start now.

“Yeah, nah, I’ve got medals to win, not beds to raid. And as for the sounding like a whiny teenager…” He flipped Drake off.

Drake laughed. “I’m outta here.”

“Later.”

As the door closed behind his friend, Mitch headed for the shower. Seemed silly to have a shower before he hit the gym for a workout, but he wanted to rinse the chlorine off.

Twenty minutes later he strolled into the gym and almost walked out again. Running on the treadmill, wearing Spandex short shorts and a crop top, was Julia, her legs moving in a measured rhythm.

He watched her for a few minutes. He should do what he should’ve done last night: walk out and come back later. But he had another practice session later on, so he needed to get a weight workout in.

As he was about to head over to the workout area, Julia glanced around and spied him. She stumbled and would’ve fallen if she hadn’t grabbed the handrails. Punching a button on the machine, she slowed to a walk.

He needed to stop wasting time. Needed to stop standing around like a gawking nerd seeing a pretty girl for the first time. Forcing his feet to move, he made his way to the free weight station. He picked up some twenty-pound barbells and began to concentrate on his bicep curls. If he didn’t, he’d most likely drop the weights and give himself an injury.

Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Julia had stepped off the treadmill and was standing there, as if she weren’t sure what to do next. He was under no illusion that she would come over and strike up a conversation.

He put the barbells back and walked over to the leg press machine. He was halfway through his repetitions when a shadow fell over him.

“Hey, Mitch.”

He finished his set before he turned to Julia. Her dark hair was pulled up into a messy bun on the top of her head. Some tendrils had escaped during her workout and curled softly around her ears. Standing this close to her, he could see a strip of her taut stomach between her crop top and shorts. His fingers itched to trace the line of the hot pink material.

He grabbed the towel wrapped around his neck and, after wiping his hands quickly, tossed it over his shorts, hoping it would hide his body’s reaction to memories of touching Julia.

“Julia.” He nodded. “What are you doing here? I was under the impression that being near me would destroy your reputation.”

Her face flushed almost the color of her workout gear. “Uh. Okay, guess I deserved that.”

Yeah, that probably was a low blow. But he was still angry with her for what she and Brett did to him. The humiliation he’d had to deal with seeing their faces splashed all over the tabloids.

He got off the machine, the action putting him within touching distance of Julia. “Yes, you deserved that and so much more. I was trying to be
nice
to you last night. Trying to make an uncomfortable situation better than it was. Instead, you acted as if you’re the wronged party in everything.
You
were the one who decided the grass was greener on the other side. Why aren’t you hassling Brett now instead of me?”

Without waiting for a response, he strode past her and headed for the exit, his anger steaming more with every step he took away from the gym. Away from Julia.

He’d known trying to be civil with her was going to be difficult. He didn’t realize just how hard it was going to be.