Going for Gold (28 page)

Alina

I slowly opened my eyes. For a moment I thought it had all
been a dream. But my head was definitely pressed against Bryce's chest. It
wasn't a dream. I breathed in his heavenly scent and listened to his steady
heartbeat. If it had been a dream, it really would have been more of a fantasy
than anything else.

It was tempting to close my eyes again and fall back asleep,
but I was too giddy.
He's really here.
I wanted to kiss every inch of
his perfect body. But I didn't want to wake him up. I tried to focus on how
secure I felt with his arms wrapped around me. I had no idea what the future
held, but I knew I wanted to wake up every morning intertwined with him. Maybe
I was being naive. Bryce seemed just as eager to be with me as I was to be with
him, though.

I looked up at his face. He looked like he was sleeping so
peacefully. I couldn't believe everything he had been through in the past few
weeks. And he had kept me out of the loop to protect me. He was trying to keep
me safe.
Because he loves me.
Bryce Walker loves me.

I couldn't resist touching him anymore. I reached up and ran
my palm across the scruff on his chiseled jaw line.
God, he's so sexy.

Bryce groaned in his sleep.

I didn't bother moving my hand.

He slowly opened his eyes and smiled. "Are you watching
me sleep?"

I shrugged. "Maybe."

He laughed and rolled over on top of me, pinning me to the
mattress.

"I really like waking up next to you."

He smiled and ran his hand down my back until he was grabbing
my ass. "I love waking up next to you, Alina." He kissed the side of
my neck.

"Is this place really yours?" For some reason I had
this fear that he was going to say, "Just kidding," and hop on a
plane and leave forever. This apartment was really nice. I knew how expensive
real-estate was on this street. That was part of the reason why I couldn't
afford to keep the bakery without the money for winning gold.

He kissed the side of my neck again and rolled onto his back,
pulling me on top of him.

I loved the feeling of his muscles beneath me.

"Actually, I was hoping to talk to you about that,"
he said.

I swallowed hard. I shouldn't have said anything. I should
have just savored this moment. "You're not staying?"
Of course
he's not staying.
I tried to sit up, but he grabbed my waist.

"Alina." He smiled as he reached up and tucked a
lose strand of hair behind my ear. "Of course I'm staying. What I was
hoping was that you'd want to stay here with me."

I looked into his blue eyes. The way he was looking at me
made me feel warm and fuzzy. "Are you asking me to move in with you?"

"Too fast and crazy?"

I pressed my lips together and shook my head. If I let him
see the huge grin I was holding back, he'd think I was a lunatic.

"So, is that a yes?"

"But I don't have a job. I don't even know what I want
to do."

"And I don't know what I want to do either. Maybe we can
figure that out together."

The smile that I was trying to hold back was escaping. Before
he had walked into the bakery, it felt like my life was over. And now it felt
like it was just beginning.

"I love your smile."

His words just made me smile even more. "I think I like
fast and crazy."

"So that's a yes?"

I nodded my head.

"And just so we're 100 percent on the same page here, I
want to be exclusive. So, no more gangbangs."

I winced and laughed at the same time. "I swear that was
just a onetime thing."

"I just wanted to make sure."

I lightly shoved his shoulder. "Let me make you the best
breakfast of your life to help make up for it." I climbed off his lap and grabbed
the clothes that I had been wearing yesterday.

He sat up in bed and watched me get dressed. "Yeah, I
could get used to this."

I smiled at him and walked out of his bedroom. It looked like
the apartment had been recently remodeled, especially the kitchen. Dark wooden
cabinets and marble countertops, topped off with brand new stainless steel
appliances. I hoped he didn't use too much of his gold medal winnings on this
place. He said it was for Em's college tuition.

I opened up the fridge. It was completely empty except for a
case of water bottles.

"I literally don't have anything to eat in there,"
Bryce said.

I looked over my shoulder and watched him walk into the
kitchen. He was pulling a T-shirt over his head. I could definitely get used to
this too. I smiled to myself. "I can't exactly make anything out of water.
Except boiling water."

Bryce laughed. "I've heard about this place that has
great pastries down the street. Do you want to check it out?"

"My grandma's bakery had the best pastries."

He wrapped his arms around me. "It's going to be
okay."

"I know. And I'm sure this other place is good too. I
just..." I let my voice trail off.

He placed a kiss on my forehead.

"Let's go check it out. Maybe I can get a job there in
the meantime."

He looked down at me and smiled. "Maybe I will too. It
would be cool to be able to walk to work."

I grabbed his hand. "I didn't realize that you were so
passionate about bakeries."

"Well, I'm passionate about you. And eating baked
goods."

I laughed.

He kept his hand in mine as we walked along the sidewalk. It
was a beautiful summer day. It was like we had walked along this path a million
times together. I just felt so comfortable with him.

"Close your eyes."

"What?"

"I have a surprise for you."

"But I'm going to trip."

He laughed and picked me up in his arms. "Close your
eyes now."

I followed his instructions. "You showing up was the
only surprise I needed. Asking me to be your girlfriend and to move in with you
was pretty great too though."

"I think you're going to like this one too."

"Well, you're whisking me off my feet."

"Keep your eyes closed." A few seconds later he
placed me back down on my feet. "Okay, open them."

I opened my eyes and looked up at him. "You're very
handsome, Bryce." I clasped my hands around his neck.

He smiled. "Turn around, Alina."

I looked over my shoulder. We were standing in front of my
grandmother's bakery. Only, it had a fresh coat of paint. It looked amazing.
Maybe the new owners were going to take good care of it. And then I realized
that Kristen, Tim, Alex, and some slutty looking girl that I didn't recognize
were inside, painting the walls.

"Bryce, what did you..."

"I bought it for you." He grabbed my chin and
turned my face back to his.

I thought about his fancy new apartment. And how much money
it was going to take to put into the bakery. "Bryce, you can't buy the
bakery for me. I can't pay you back."

"I don't want you to pay me back. And the sale was
final." He reached into his pocket and handed me the key. It was the same
one I had been using ever since I was a little girl.

"Bryce." My eyes started to water. He really was my
knight in shining armor.

"I was hoping to make you smile, not cry." He ran
his thumb under my eye, wiping away my tears.

"I don't...I don't understand. I thought you were using
your money from winning gold to help pay for your sister's college
tuition?"

"I did. But I recently came into a lot of money."

"How?"

"Remember how I mentioned Rodrigo last night? Well, I
got Isadora to steal his betting ticket." He nodded toward the window. I
looked over my shoulder. He must have been talking about the girl that was
currently making out with Alex.

"The one with Alex?"

"Yeah, Alex has a thing for Brazilian prostitutes."
Bryce cleared his throat. "Shit, I wasn't supposed to tell anyone
that."

I laughed. "So...she stole his ticket and...?"

"And split the winnings with me."

"What were the winnings?"

"Millions."

I laughed. "Right."

"No, really. It was a parlay. Rodrigo needed all these
super unlikely things to occur in order to win. And the payout was huge."

"So, you're a millionaire?"

He shrugged. "Yeah, I guess I am. But without you
winning the tiebreaker, we wouldn't have won anything." His arms tightened
around me as he smiled.

"That doesn't mean you had to buy my bakery back. Bryce,
that's your money. I can't accept this."

"Well, I was kind of thinking we could run it together.
My degree is in marketing, and I think I could help make it grow."

I shook my head. "You're the fastest man alive. You're a
millionaire. Any minute, people are going to be calling you for endorsements
and all sorts of stuff. Why on earth are you in Wilmington, Delaware hanging
out with me?"

He laughed. "There isn't any other place in the world
that I'd rather be."

"I don't understand it, but I am so glad that you're
here." I stood up on my tiptoes and kissed him. "Why didn't you tell
me last night?" I laughed. "I was so upset about losing the
bakery."

"I wanted to make sure you wanted to be with me for me.
Not just because of this. Despite what you seem to think, you're the one that's
out of my league."

I laughed and moved my hands to the sides of his face.
"Bryce Walker, I am head over heels for you."

He pressed his forehead against mine. "I love you,
Alina."

"Yo!" Alex said, poking his head out the door.
"While you two were shagging all night, we've been doing all the work. Get
in here."

Bryce laughed. "That's actually pretty accurate."

I lightly pushed his arm and laughed. "Is Isadora really
a prostitute?" I whispered to Bryce before we walked into the bakery.

"Not anymore. I'm pretty sure Alex and her are together.
She's a millionaire too. If there's one thing Alex wanted besides a prostitute,
it was a sugar momma."

I laughed. "I don't know why that doesn't surprise me at
all."

Everyone turned toward us with huge smiles on their faces
when we walked into the bakery. Except for Tim, who was kind of hovering behind
Kristen.

"Guys, thank you so much."

"Just hit me and get it over with," Tim said and
stepped out from behind Kristen.

I glanced at Bryce. "Um...what? I was saying thank
you."

He looked nervously at Kristen. "I was in Kristen's
bedroom the other night when you two were talking."

Kristen nodded and put her hands about a foot apart.
"He's huge," she mouthed.

Oh my God.
"Wait, Kristen, did you know that Bryce
was in Wilmington?"

"Yeah, but I couldn't ruin the surprise."

I laughed and walked over to Tim. "I don't want to hit
you." Instead I gave him a huge hug.

"I knew it," he said, once I released him from my
hug. "You did appreciate the perfect men I found. I was telling Bryce that
you'd like their above average length and girth. You're welcome, Alina."
He beamed at me.

"Yeah...don't push it."

"I told you it would work out, my love," Tim said
and slapped Bryce on the back, completely ignoring what I had just said.

Bryce laughed. "Now when I tell you to stop saying that
you should actually listen, or Kristen will get jealous."

"Nonsense. Kristen is fine with our relationship."

Alex cleared his throat. "You should listen to Bryce,
man. Oh, and Alina, this is Isadora."

"It's really nice to meet you," I said and shook
her hand.

"Nice to meet you as well," she said in English
with a Brazilian accent. "And you never have to worry about Rodrigo again.
I killed him. I love your bakery! It is so cute."

"Aw, thanks. Wait, what?"
Did she just say she
killed Rodrigo?

Alex laughed awkwardly. "English is her second language.
I'm sure you didn't mean that, right Isadora?"

"No, that's what I mean," she said. "I shot
him in the face."

We were all silent for a second.

"You're so funny," Alex said. He turned to Isadora
and whispered something in her ear. "Anyway, back to painting."

She shrugged. "Sure...I'm just kidding," she said
and grabbed a paintbrush. "That's what you all say when you make a
lie?"

"Mhm. See, she was just joking." Alex picked up a
paintbrush too.

When they were out of earshot, I turned to Bryce. "You
don't really think..."

"I'm pretty sure she was serious. Look it up. Rodrigo
was shot at Copacabana Palace the day of the tiebreaker."

I put my hand over my mouth. "Oh my God, I saw a news
report about that."

"Anyway, let me show you the new ovens." He grabbed
my hand and pulled me behind the counter. "Aren't these great?" he
asked.

My phone started buzzing. I pulled it out of my pocket. It
was my agent. He probably wanted to terminate our contract. There was no point
in delaying it. I lifted up my phone.

"Hey, Scott."

"Alina! The phones have been ringing nonstop. Why
haven't you been answering my calls?"

"I've been out of town."

"Yeah, well, we need to talk. I know you wanted to
retire after the ITAs, but you have a ton of offers for pro teams."

I looked over at Bryce. He was examining the new oven. He
turned to me and put his thumb up. There was no way I was going to drop
everything and move to some other city to play pro. I had never wanted to do
that. And with Bryce right in front of me, the thought was even less appealing.

"Scott, I haven't changed my mind. I'm officially
retired."

"Okay, well, there's other offers on the table too.
Reality TV, endorsements for sex toys, adult films..."

Adult films? God no.
"Actually, Scott," I
said, cutting him off. "I think I'm good. Remember the bakery I told you
about? It's all worked out."