by Ivy Smoak
"Congratulations, Alina," he said and leaned in for a hug. I didn't hesitate to hug him back. He smelled like his cologne and sweat. I'm pretty sure the combination was my new favorite smell in the world. I could easily feel the muscles in his back through his shirt. I had the urge to trace every muscle with my fingertips, but kept my hands rooted in place. I reluctantly pulled back when I felt like I had probably been hugging him for too long. But he hadn't stopped hugging me either. Maybe he liked having me in his arms just as much as I liked being in his.
I nervously tugged the bottom of my jersey. "Are you feeling better?"
"What?"
"Last night, Alex said you weren't feeling well..."
"Oh, right." Bryce laughed. I loved the sound of him laughing. "I'm good. My Uber driver just took the bumpiest route possible. That combined with eating way too much Brazilian steak was not a pretty sight."
"I'm sorry about all the texts. I thought you'd been kidnapped." I smiled up at him. He was going to think I was so ridiculous.
"It's okay. It was nice that someone was looking out for me."
The way he said it reminded me of when he was talking about the reason why he was such a good runner. Because he had something to run from. I wanted to ask him about it, but not in front of Kristen and his friends.
He leaned in close to me. "As much as I love my friends, maybe you and I could hang out tonight just us?"
"I'd love that." I coughed awkwardly. "I'd like that I mean." Love? I can't say love this soon. I'm going to freak him out.
Bryce smiled at me. "We'll catch you guys later," he said as he grabbed my hand.
I immediately interlaced my fingers with his. Again, I couldn't help but notice his large, manly hands. My hand felt so small in his.
Kristen looked down at our intertwined hands. "Have fun," she said with a wink.
Chapter 20
Tuesday
Alina
Bryce kept his hand in mine as we sat down side by side on the train. He scooted in close to the armrest, the only thing that was separating us. The train's air conditioning was on full blast, but I could feel Bryce's body heat radiating off of him. His hand was so warm. I felt safe and happy when I was with him. This was how I should be feeling after my game. I wanted to rest my head on his shoulder and close my eyes. But falling asleep wasn't exactly the best use of the only alone time we'd gotten since he'd given me my phone back on that bench.
"You were amazing today." Bryce traced the lines on my palm with his thumb as he spoke.
I wasn't sure if my cheeks blushed because of his compliment or because of the way he was touching me. My whole body felt warm. "Thanks."
"Really. I don't think you lost a single point. I've never seen volleyball like that."
I laughed. "We have a really good team."
"And they're certainly lucky to have you."
Kiss me. But Bryce didn't move any closer to me. Maybe because I was a sweaty mess. He had just come from his practice too. A long shower and some nicer clothes might make our first kiss better anyway. But I wanted to run my hands through his hair and feel the muscles in his back again. I shifted a little closer to the armrest. Maybe he'd get the hint.
"Speaking of people being lucky to have you, I'm guessing Chris came to the game?"
I knew a few ground rules about dating, even though Chris had been my only boyfriend. And one of those rules was that you don't talk about an ex on a date. "Yeah. But it's definitely over. We don't have to talk about that."
Bryce continued to trace my palm with his thumb. It was so soothing. It felt like I could tell him anything. And his silence made it seem like he wanted me to.
"At dinner when Kristen said he hooked up with my arch nemesis, she was talking about the girl that bullied me in school. Gabriela Santos. She plays for Brazil. During our match against Brazil I got this envelope on my seat. I opened it up and it was pictures of Chris with Gabriela. And she was topless. I was so upset, we lost the match. It was all my fault. I just...she just...I couldn't play against her. She did it on purpose to mess with me, I know she did. She has this way of crawling under my skin. And she used my relationship with Chris against me. Chris said he didn't know it was her. And that nothing happened. But then he kept changing his story. Eventually he said she kissed him. But then it was him kissing her back too. And I don't know what else happened, and I don't want to know. I don't want to think about it at all."
I realized I was rambling. But for some reason I couldn't stop. "He said it was my fault. That if I didn't still resent Gabriela I wouldn't be upset about the whole thing. But that's not true. I'd still be upset with him for cheating on me, no matter who it was with. And he said it was my fault for not celebrating the way he wanted to celebrate after he got his gold medal. But I couldn't. My coach has a sex ban, and I couldn't risk being benched. We have to win gold. I need the money." I swallowed hard. I don't know why I didn't stop talking. Now Bryce was going to think all I cared about was money. Which wasn't true.
I looked down at our hands. "I mean, it's not just about the money for me. I know that there's more important things than money. I want to win. I want to beat Gabriela." I put my face in my free hand. "And there's more important things than revenge. This is all coming out wrong."
Bryce laughed. "Hey." He put his fingertips under my chin and tilted my face back to his. "I get it. Beating your arch nemesis, especially after what she just did, will be the most satisfying feeling in the world. That's not revenge. That's overcoming something. And everyone here wants the money that comes with gold. There's nothing wrong with that being an incentive for victory."
"All I meant to say was that Chris and I are done."
Bryce laughed again and his fingers dropped from my chin. "I'm glad to hear that." He squeezed my hand. "Tell me about why you need the money."
"I..." I let my voice trail off. Chris had told me my plan was dumb. That I should be using my education after I retire from volleyball. Or that I should go pro. I didn't want to do those things, though. They didn't make me as happy. And Bryce wasn't Chris. He loved dessert. Maybe he'd understand. I looked up into his blue eyes. "My grandma owns a bakery. But she has beginning stages of Alzheimer's and has to retire. The bakery is kind of in disarray. It needs new ovens and basically a remodeling in general. My parents don't want to front the cost of all that. They're planning to sell it. But it was my dream to take over for my grandma. I love baking. All my best memories from my childhood were in that bakery. I need the money so I can take over the lease and buy the necessary equipment to keep it going. This is my only shot. They're selling the bakery at the end of the month if I can't take over."
"See, that's a good reason." Bryce smiled. "Is your grandmother's bakery in Wilmington?"
"Yeah. It's the cutest little shop. And it's actually in a really good location. If I could fix it up, I know it could do really well again."
"I envy you."
I laughed. "Why on earth would you envy me?"
"Because you know what you want to do after all this. I just graduated too, and I have no idea what I want to do."
"Are you going to keep running after the ITAs?"
"I don't know. It depends on a lot of things." He looked out the window. We were passing some of the beautiful mountains in Rio. But it didn't seem like he was actually seeing them. He seemed lost in thought.
"You said you run because you had something to run from. What was it?"
Bryce shrugged. "Everything. I felt like all I did was run. We grew up in foster care. Bad foster parents, even worse foster siblings. It wasn't...easy."
My heart seemed to constrict. That was why he knew what it was like to be bullied. "You said we?"
Bryce smiled. "Yeah, me and my little sister, Em."
"Is that why you're so good at comforting girls when they cry?"
He laughed. "I guess I've had quite a bit of practice." He looked down at our hands, rubbing his thumb against my palm again.
I loved
that feeling. I never wanted him to stop touching me. "Why do you run now?"
He looked back up at me. "I need the money too. To pay for Em's college. I don't want her to have to start her career with a bunch of debt."
"That's really sweet."
"Or horrible, since I'm motivated by money?" He raised his eyebrow at me.
I laughed. "Well, sweet and horrible. Maybe I could come to your race tomorrow and cheer you on?"
"I'd love that."
I bit my lip. It was almost like he said it because he knew I said love earlier by accident. "Where does Em go to school?"
"Penn U."
"Oh, in Philly? That's actually really close to where I live. Do you visit her a lot?"
"Not as much as I'd like to. But if I win gold tomorrow, I'll be able to more often. Me and my greedy ways."
I gently nudged his arm with my free hand. "You knew what I meant." My hand hesitated on his arm a moment too long. God his bicep felt amazing. "Sorry, I..." I let my voice trail off and laughed awkwardly as I removed my hand.
His eyes lingered on my lips. I watched his Adam's apple rise and then fall. He's going to kiss me!
"You're making it really hard to be respectful." He leaned forward slightly. I could smell his cologne. I wanted to lick his skin and taste it.
I took a deep breath. All I wanted was his clothes on the floor of the train. "What if I don't want you to be respectful?"
Phones buzzing and ringing all around us both made us jump. Bryce dropped my hand and pulled his phone out of his pocket. "Shit." His eyebrows lowered.
"What's wrong?"
"They found Liam."
"Is he okay?"
"No." He leaned forward, putting his elbows on his knees. "They found his body."
"Oh my God." I put my hand over my mouth.
The train squealed as it started to come to a stop.
"I'm sorry, I have to go." He slid his phone into his pocket and stood up.
"Bryce, I'm so sorry. Did you know him?"
"What? Yeah. Kind of." He ran his hand through his hair. His face looked pale.
"Do you want to go get dinner and we can talk about it?"
"No. I'm sorry, I have to go," he repeated when the train stopped moving. He lifted out a single rose from his backpack and handed it to me. "Congratulations on your win, Alina." He leaned forward and kissed my cheek. And the next thing I knew he was pushing his way past the other athletes getting off the train. I looked out the window to see him run off the train. He stopped in the middle of the street and bent over with his hands on his knees. It looked like he was going to throw up. Maybe he still wasn't feeling well.
I tried to shove my way through the other athletes too, but I wasn't as big as Bryce. It took me a few minutes to get off the train. And Bryce was already gone.
Chapter 21
Tuesday
Bryce
I pulled my phone out as I walked toward the village square. There was a text message from Alina, asking if I had gotten sick again and if I was feeling okay. She asked if she could bring me soup. No one ever worried about me. For some reason her concern made me feel warm and fuzzy. I meant what I had said to her earlier. It was nice that someone was looking out for me, that someone actually cared. Em worried about me to a certain degree, but I was the one that took care of her, not the other way around.
I typed out a text. "Sorry about running out on you. You're right, I wasn't feeling well." I hated lying, but I couldn't pull her into the mess I was in. "As great as soup sounds, I don't think us being alone together in my room is great for my chances at gold tomorrow or yours this weekend," I added and pressed send. I didn't care if it was forward. She knew how I felt about her. And I was pretty sure I knew how she felt about me. She was staring at me earlier like she wanted me to fuck her right in the train. But she needed to focus on winning her games so she could get the money she needed to take over for her grandmother. I wasn't going to stand in the way of making her dreams come true. Thinking about the way her face lit up when she talked about the bakery made me smile. She had to win gold. She just had to.
Besides, I had my own race to worry about. I needed to focus so that I wouldn't end up like Liam. Or worse...if they did something to Em. Just the thought made me actually feel like vomiting.
After I got this meeting out of the way, I'd try to get some sleep. I wasn't favored to win. Ervan Cook from Jamaica was supposed to win all of his races, including the one against me. But no one knew how hard I had been training. I wouldn't cheat to get my gold. And I knew I didn't have to. I could do this. For Em.
Isadora was waiting for me outside the north village exit, just as instructed. Part of me expected her to show up in thigh-high leather boots and a short leather skirt, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that she had instead worn a fairly normal outfit of jean shorts and a cut off Team Brazil tank top.
"Hi, Isadora," I said. "Thanks for agreeing to help me out."
"You decide to fuck me?" she asked.
"What? No. I really need your help."
"Oh," she replied with a small smile. And for the first time, I thought her smile might actually be genuine. "What do you need for me to do?"
"We can talk about that once we get inside. But first we need to figure out how to get you through security. I was thinking I could go through with my security pass, and then I could pass it to you through the fence. They might notice that the picture..."
"Are the guards all men?" asked Isadora.
"Uh, yeah, I think so."
"Then it is no problem. I show you." Isadora confidently walked over to the security checkpoint and put her bag on the scanner. The guard waved her through the metal detector and then put a hand up to stop her.
"ID please," he said.
Isadora reached into her pockets and came up empty. She feigned a confused look and then reached into her bra to pretend like she might have stashed it in there instead.
"I don't know where it went," she said, in an accent that didn't sound as thick. "I must have left it in my dorm."
The guard shook his head. "Sorry, no entry without an ID."
"What if you search me? I promise I'm not carrying any naughty weapons." Isadora bent over the conveyer belt and spread her legs. When the guard didn't immediately respond, she shook her ass a little.
"Are you trying to get me fired?" asked the guard. "I guess you can pass, but don't tell anyone."
Isadora stood up and smiled at him. "Thank you."
Damn, she's actually pretty good at this. This might work even better than I had hoped.
I went through next without any issues and then met up with Isadora again.
"How'd you know that would work?" I asked.
"Just because Rodrigo uses me for my body doesn't mean I don't have other talents too," she said in her normal accent. "Men are, what do you say," she paused for a second, searching for the word, "stupid."
"Do you not like Rodrigo?"
"My feeling does not matter. I belong to him."
"Have you ever tried to escape?"
"I've thought sometimes, but it's impossible. And I have nobody close in my life. I would have no money and nowhere to go."
"What if I told you I could help?"
She looked at me skeptically. "Why help me?"
"Rodrigo threatened to kill my sister. He threatens to take what's most important to me, I'll take what's most important to him."
"I'm not most important to him. That is money."
"That's why you're going to take his money too. Somewhere, he has a slip of paper that's going to be worth millions if I succeed in rigging the games for him. All you have to do is find it and steal it from him."
"Where would I go to?"
"Disappear. Go wherever you want. You'll have all the money you ever need."
"I will consider. Is that why you brought me here? For talking?"
"No, I also need you to help me with something else. Did you bring the sex toys?"
; Isadora opened her bag and started pulling out toys. "Dildos, butt plugs, anal beads, vibrators, cock rings."
"Good."
"Strap ons, ping pong balls, a rubber chicken..."
Rubber chicken? What? "Okay, I get the idea. You came well prepared."
"So what are these for?"
"There's a table tennis player named Marco Kramer. He's staying in Room 712 of Dorm 9. I want you to go there and show him the time of his life."
Isadora frowned. "How will that sabotage? You think I'm unpleasant to be with? I'm good at the sex."
"No. I'm sure you are. Just make sure that by the time you're done with him, he has trouble walking."
"You want me to use the sex toys on the ass?"
"It sounds weird when you say it like that, but yes."
"That's easy. This one will work especially well for the ass." Isadora reached into her bag and pulled out a floppy black dildo that was easily a foot long.
Poor Marco. "I'd rather not know exactly how it goes down. Just get it done."
"Okay. Anything else you need of me?"
"That's all. Thanks for your help, Isadora. And good luck finding Rodrigo's ticket. I don't know what he did to your family, but we'll make him pay."
Chapter 22
Wednesday
Alina
"Alright, that's enough film study for today," said Coach Hammond. "I think you girls are ready for Italy tomorrow."
I let out a sigh of relief. For the past 45 minutes I had been watching the clock counting down to when we were supposed to get out. I knew that getting out on schedule would give us time to get to the track to see Bryce's race, I just never thought Coach would actually not keep us late.
"There is one more thing though," continued Coach.
Damn it. Is she really going to make us run more stairs?
"The US ITA Committee sent me a memo today about the tiebreaker event. Apparently they think it's appropriate to waste our valuable practice time on something that is never even going to happen, but nonetheless, I have to talk to you about it. As you've probably heard, the USA and Brazil could potentially have the same medal count at the end of the games, so per the official ITA rulebook, they have to start planning for a tiebreaker event. For some reason, the geniuses making the rules thought it would be a good idea to let the host nation choose the event, which in this case means Brazil got to choose an event in which they believe they're superior to the USA."
