Now he had to wonder if Anabel had said anything to Julia about breaking it off with him.
“No one said anything to me. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that sponsors pull out at any hint of a scandal. I lost nearly all of mine after the bribing headlines hit the Internet.”
He couldn’t tell from her cadence if she was lying or not. It didn’t matter if Anabel said something or not. The onus of the relationship falling apart was on the both of them. The past was the past— the big question now was, could he forgive Julia for what she’d done with Brett?
Did they have a hope of trying to be friends? He couldn’t deny he was still attracted to her. He hadn’t looked at another woman since their breakup. Julia flamed his senses to life like no one ever could.
Mitch sat back down next to her and took one of her hands. He’d always loved holding Julia. Always needed to have that connection with her, even it if was just their knees brushing together.
“I know you would never bribe judges. It’s not in your nature. You didn’t have to go through it all alone. I loved you, Jules.”
She lifted her sunglasses. Her blue eyes were shining with unshed tears. Her hand cupped his jaw. “I know,” she whispered. “But I had to. I had to protect you, Mitch.”
He couldn’t stop himself from leaning forward and slipping a hand around Julia’s neck, bringing her closer to him. “I didn’t need protecting then, and I don’t need it now.”
Mitch closed the distance between them and laid his lips over hers, giving in to the temptation that he’d been denying himself since the moment he saw her standing at the airport. He needed her kiss as much as he needed his next breath.
Julia sighed against his mouth, and he took advantage to slip his tongue in. Her hand moved from his face to his neck, bringing her body closer to his. Her body melted into his like it hadn’t been almost a year since they’d been apart. Since the last time they’d touched.
God, he missed this. Missed being able to touch and kiss Julia whenever he wanted. He hadn’t even looked at another girl since they broke up. He wanted nothing more than to scoop her onto his lap so that she rested against his aching erection. But he was also aware they sat in the middle of a park where anyone could walk past them.
Reluctantly, he pulled away and rested his forehead against hers.
“Meet me after the medal ceremony, Jules. We still have unfinished business between us, and we’re not going to get through it all now. I need to go get ready.”
Julia pulled out of his embrace. He wanted to pull her back. He could almost feel the brick wall she was about to put up. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Don’t shut me out again, Jules. If you aren’t waiting after the medal ceremony, I’ll come looking for you. I know which room you’re in.”
“How do you know that? Now who looks stalkerish?”
“Brooke told me you were sharing, and she happened to mention which building you were in and room number, in case I wanted to visit, were her words.”
With her sunglasses still sitting atop her head he was, once again, able to tell what was going through her mind. There, she blinked her eyes too fast. He’d caught her by surprise, and, yes, that was definitely irritation flitting by. Now her mouth relaxed, so she was coming around to the idea of a surprise visit. Even though they’d been apart since the beginning of December, he could still understand every emotion she felt.
“Fine, I’ll meet you. I was going to watch you anyway,” she finished grudgingly.
Happiness flowed through him. “Then I will make sure I win.”
“Win for yourself. No one else.” Her hand cupped his face again, and he turned his head and kissed the inside of her palm.
“Always.”
7
Clapping a hand over her mouth to smother another yawn, Julia glanced at the time. Mitch’s race should be happening soon. Both Mitch and Brett had secured spots for Team USA. The top two swimmers from Australia finaled, both their times better than Brett’s. Altogether, the final eight competitors’ times were all within seconds of each other.
There was no guarantee that Mitch would win.
The support team for the American swimmers had doubled since the heats earlier in the day as more athletes from other sports came to watch history possibly being made. Mitch not only had to compete in the 400m individual medley final but the 400m freestyle final too. If he won gold in either event, he would tie the record of gold medals won by a single American athlete at the Olympics.
Julia prayed to any deity listening that he would at least get one gold. Two would make it even sweeter. She assumed when he said he’d meet her after the medal ceremony, he meant after his last event.
“Not long now,” Brooke said to her.
“Nope. It’s good to see so many other team members here supporting the swimmers.”
Brooke chuckled. “Drake went around everywhere after the heats to make sure the swim team had a lot of support. I imagine when it comes to the track events, Mitch will be doing the same and gathering support for Drake.”
“So true. In some ways I hope to watch Drake compete in the semis of his event, and in other ways I hope I can’t,” Julia said.
“Yeah, I hope you can’t watch Drake either. I’d rather see you going from press conference to press conference than Trina being the one doing that.”
Julia didn’t know what she’d done to deserve Brooke’s loyalty, but knowing it was there boosted her confidence. “Trina’s been diving well.”
“Sure, but you killed it at the trials. I heard her in the locker room complaining loudly about how you didn’t deserve to be at the trials and she was going to lose again to you. I’d never warmed to her before, but after hearing her rant, I disliked her even more. I was kind of disappointed when a second position in your event became available.”
“You and me both,” Julia muttered.
“I heard that,” Brooke said, wagging her finger.
Julia laughed. “It will be our little secret.”
Conversation died when the music sounded, announcing the arrival of the competitors. Julia’s heart leapt to her throat, and she clamped her mouth shut against it. As he had been the previous times he’d come out for his event, Mitch had his headphones on and he was shaking his arms, keeping them loose.
He made his way to his chair, and Julia wished he’d look in her direction, but she knew he wouldn’t do that until he’d finished the race. Once he hit the pool deck in a major competition, his focus was always totally on the event.
“Oh God, I can’t watch.”
Brooke’s hand landed on her arm. “Of course you can. You’ve done it a million times before.”
“Slight exaggeration, but things were different between us then.”
“Doesn’t matter. You’re here supporting him and the rest of the team. You can keep your ass firmly planted on this seat next to me. I need moral support too.”
Julia turned to her friend. “What do you mean by that?”
“Well…” Brooke’s face turned red. “I really want Mitch to win, but I wouldn’t mind it if Dane won.”
“Dane Parkland, the Australian swimmer?”
“Uh huh.”
“We’re going to talk about this later,” she stated as the announcer began introducing swimmers to the crowd.
Brooke nodded as she clapped loudly when Dane’s name was called. Mitch’s name was next, and the roar from the people around Julia almost deafened her.
Normally Drake would be sitting beside her, and she would grab his hand to hold onto for support. He wasn’t anywhere in the vicinity, which was unusual, but she couldn’t worry about that. Instead she grabbed Brooke’s hand.
“May the best man win,” she said to Brooke.
“A dead heat would be interesting, wouldn’t it?”
Julia laughed. “Yes, although what would happen then? Two gold medals awarded?”
“I have no idea.”
Julia
squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath before opening them again in time to see Mitch step up onto the starting block. He was, no doubt, visualizing his every stroke, every turn, and the moment he finished. She hoped whatever he saw came true.
“On your marks. Get set.”
The gun sounded and all eight men entered the pool with a massive splash. Julia jumped up with the rest of the people around her, all leaning forward to see whose head would pop up out of the water first.
Her breath hitched when Dane’s head appeared a fraction of a second before Mitch’s. Their arms pounded in and out of the water, almost in perfect synchronization as they headed down the pool. They turned together. Whoever came out of the turn first always seemed to have the better advantage over the rest of the pack. Her focus wasn’t on the other racers; her eyes were glued to Mitch’s position in the pool.
She screamed loudly when Mitch’s dark head broke the water after the turn. Dane wasn’t that far behind, but Mitch had a slight edge over him. The 400m individual medley was a long, physical race involving all four swimming strokes. She knew Mitch would be pacing himself, but with Dane so close, he was going to have to dig deep if he wanted to ensure the victory was his.
The last forty meters seemed to go in slow motion, with neither man giving an inch. She knew freestyle was one of Mitch’s strongest disciplines; it appeared to be Dane’s too. It was one of the closest finals she’d ever watched..
“I can’t look,” she muttered, but looking elsewhere wasn’t an option.
Each man pushed himself to the brink, and in a massive splash both hit the wall. Julia couldn’t tell if Mitch hit first or Dane did.
“Who won?” Brooke asked.
“I don’t know.”
Everyone’s eyes were fixed on the electronic leaderboard. Julia held her breath.
And there it was.
She jumped up and down and grabbed Brooke. Mitch had won. He’d won his fifth gold medal in this third straight Olympics.
“Oh my God, he did it, Brooke. He did it!”
“I know. What a race.”
Julia fixed her attention back to the board—Mitch had won by three one-hundredths of a second.
“Holy crap, it was close.”
On the deck, Mitch was now out of the pool, accepting hugs from his fellow competitors.
Relief poured through her —their time together at the park hadn’t been a distraction for Mitch. Perhaps it was only her reliving the kiss they’d shared. She hadn’t realized how much she’d missed his touch until the moment he’d placed his lips over hers.
Mitch looked into the crowd, tracking the rows of people until he found who he was looking for.
Her.
He smiled, and she clapped her hands above her head. If possible, his smile grew bigger. At the moment, everything felt close to perfect.
An hour later everyone in the aquatic center stood for the final national anthem. This time it wasn’t going to be the “Star-Spangled Banner.” The 400m freestyle final had been completed, and this time Dane beat Mitch. Even though she knew Mitch would’ve loved to win another gold, she had a feeling he was happy with his silver. A silver at the Olympics was an amazing accomplishment. Hell, she’d be happy if a silver medal was in her future. It wasn’t like this was his last race yet.
Now the time had come for her to meet Mitch. It was getting late, and she had an early morning practice session. No doubt Mitch would have one too.
The sound of the Australian national anthem filled the center, and the Australians in the crowd sang loudly along with the man standing on the highest podium.
God, she hoped that in a few days, time she’d be standing on that same podium too. While taking gold would be wonderful, she’d be happy with any medal.
“I’m going to catch up with Dane.”
Lost in her thoughts, Julia hadn’t heard the anthem finish. “Sure, Brooke, but I want to hear everything about you and Dane when you get back. Don’t be too late.”
Brooke laughed as Julia waggled her finger at her. “Right, I promise not to be late, Mom. But what about you? Are you going to try and catch up with Mitch?”
“Yeah, I’ll try. No doubt the press will want to talk to him, and Anabel will want to ensure he doesn’t have too late a night.”
Brooke grabbed her hands. “Do it. Now I’ve got a hot Aussie to congratulate.”
She gathered up her bag and jacket and made her way through the crowd. One more medal ceremony and the night would be over.
Julia waited outside the arena, breathing in the warm night air. People moved around her, talking about the great swimming they’d seen that evening and commenting on how the first day of the games had been everything and more than what they’d hoped for.
“Julia, what are you doing here?”
She whirled around. “Oh, hey, Anabel, I’m uh…” Julia paused. Would Mitch want her to let Anabel know she was waiting for him?
“If you’re waiting for Mitch,” Anabel said, “you’ll be waiting a while. When he spoke to me he said he had about four press conferences to deal with.”
Julia glanced at her watch. Those interviews could take as long as half an hour, which means she could be waiting for up to two hours.
“Well, it’s understandable—he’s one of the few athletes who has won five golds in three Olympics.”
“It should’ve been six.”
Surprisingly, there was acid in Anabel’s voice. In all the time she’d known the other woman, bitterness over a loss had never been her way. Disappointment, yes.
“Well, you’ve got to admit the Australians have a strong swim team. Dane just missed out on gold in the individual medley against Mitch.”
“Whatever, Mitch is one gold less than what we’d planned.”
Julia wanted to say that even the best laid plans didn’t always come to fruition, but she had a feeling Anabel didn’t want to listen to anything she had to say.
“So is the reason you’re standing out here because you’re waiting for Mitch, or were you about to walk back to the athletes’ village?”
She’d guessed that Anabel was hoping for the latter and not the former. While the prospect of standing outside for two hours held no appeal, Julia had given Mitch her word. After everything she’d done to him, no matter how good the intentions, she wouldn’t go back on her word tonight.
At that moment, the door to the aquatic center opened and a group of athletes walked out, Mitch among them. He stopped when he came upon Julia and Anabel.
“Anabel, I didn’t think you’d still be waiting.” Surprise laced Mitch’s words.
“I wasn’t waiting, per se, I was talking to Julia, and why are you outside? Don’t you have press conferences to deal with?”
“I answered a couple of questions with the relay team but decided to let the rest of the guys deal with the rest. I wanted to”—he paused and flicked a look a Julia. Please don’t say you came outside because of me. “—uh, I told Julia to meet me, and I wanted to let her know that I was going to be tied up for a little while.”
“I had just mentioned that to her.”
Julia felt like she was intruding on a private family conversation. A conversation she shouldn’t be listening to. Retreat was the best course of action.
“I’ve got an early practice, so I’ll catch up with you soon,” she replied. Then she threw caution to the wind and walked over to Mitch. She leaned up and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Congratulations on your win. It was a great race. ’Night, Anabel. Good to see you again.”
Taking a step back from Mitch, she waved to them both and then turned to head down the path toward the athletes’ village.
She didn’t look back even though she wanted to. If she looked back, she would be tempted to say to hell with it and run back into Mitch’s arms.
8
“Julia, what’s wrong with you? You came of that turn far too early. You would’ve been deducted at least three points because of that splash on entry.”<
br />
Mitch cringed at Mick’s critical tone. He couldn’t blame her coach; Julia’s dive was probably one of the worst he’d seen her do.
“I know. I know,” she responded.
“Well, get back up there and do it again. Try to relax and enjoy the process. You’re too tense.”
Mitch could see her lips moving as she walked along the deck back toward the diving platforms. He imagined what she was saying was less than complimentary to herself.
When she reached the end of the platform, he willed her to nail the dive this time around. A few seconds later, she was tumbling through the air before her arms and legs straightened. She cleaved the water on entry, and as she disappeared beneath the surface, the resulting splash was minimal. His breath whooshed out of him as he heard Mick clapping.
“That’s my girl,” Mick said as Julia reached the edge of the pool. “That was beautiful. See what happens when you relax?”
“Yes.”
“Now go shower, and we’ll have another practice at four o’clock, okay?”
“Sounds good, Mick.”
Mitch made his way down from the stands to the pool. He knew she would probably do another two or three dives before she headed to the showers.
“That last dive was good, Jules. Keep doing that and you’ll be a shoo-in for a medal.”
Fighting to Win (The Elite Book 1) Page 4
