Fighting to Win (The Elite Book 1)

by Nicole Flockton

  She’d decided last night that she was going to let him know everything that had happened between her and Brett. She was determined to set the record straight so they could go into their events without the specter of the past hanging over them—until she’d watched the press conference after Mitch’s medal win.

  After the way the reporter attempted to goad a response out of Mitch and Brett about her relationship with the both of them, she knew that she had to keep her distance.

  So here she was, standing in front of Mitch’s room. She couldn’t put it off any longer. She raised her fist and knocked on the door. It opened before she’d finished her second knock, almost like Mitch knew she had been standing there.

  “Oh hey, Julia, I was about to go looking for you.”

  His greeting was less than enthusiastic, considering how he’d kissed her on the pool deck the previous evening.

  “Can I come in?”

  He took a step back and held the door open wider for her. She kept her gaze from Mitch’s bed. If she didn’t, she’d remember how good it had felt to be in his arms again. To feel his body moving over hers in a smooth motion.

  “Is Drake around?”

  “Nah. He’s with the physio again.”

  “Is he okay?” She knew Drake had been injured after the Olympic trials. If he was hurt, hopefully it wasn’t serious enough to stop him from competing in his events.

  “I think so, but I also think he has a thing for Tamara.”

  “Okay well, good. Umm. Not good that he could be hurt, but good that—” Julia stopped herself from spouting out more useless words. What she needed to do was say what she needed to and then get the hell out of here so she could focus on her events. She would be competing in a little over a week, and if she wanted to win she needed to concentrate on her dives, not on Mitch.

  Wrapping her arms around her body, she looked up at the ceiling. “I think it would be best if what happened yesterday here in this room and last night at the pool doesn’t happen again.”

  There, she’d said it. Her words had sounded strong and convincing. Man, she should get an Oscar or at the very least a Golden Globe for that performance. Even she could almost believe she meant every word she said.

  “I agree.”

  Whoa!

  What?

  Mitch agreed with her. Surely, she’d heard that wrong. Disappointment shot through her, which was ridiculous given she’d been the one to suggest it first. “Oh, okay. Well, that’s good. I’m glad we agree.”

  Why did his agreement hurt so much? The previous year, she’d had no luck getting him to buy into their separation. Why did he agree with her so easily this time?

  “Yeah, I was coming to tell you the same thing.”

  He stood by the door, arms crossed over his hard, muscled chest, an impenetrable force. Looking exactly like the Olympic athlete he was.

  Her feet needed to move. She needed to get out of the room now, before she did something stupid like tell him it was all a mistake.

  “Great. Well, I guess I’ll see you around.”

  She brushed past him, hoping against hope that he would stop her. That he would push the door shut, stopping her from exiting his room.

  He didn’t.

  He let her leave without even acknowledging her parting words. The door clicked shut behind her, a tiny sound but it reverberated around her like a sonic boom.

  Had that really just happened? Why was she so upset? Wasn’t this what she wanted? After the press conference she’d known the scrutiny over how Mitch performed for the rest of the games would be intense. No one would care too much about her performance. She wasn’t a medal chance, regardless that she was the current world champion of her event. The Games were a completely different kettle of fish. Mitch was the big star, and if he failed to win another gold then the press would no doubt blame her for it.

  With heavy feet and an even heavier heart, she walked back down the hallway to exit the building.

  No matter how much her heart ached, this was how it had to be. After the Games were over … well, then Mitch better watch out. She was going to do everything she could to claim back her man.

  * * *

  Julia didn’t normally listen to music before a dive. Mitch had convinced her to try it at the world championships, and she had to admit the variety of songs on her playlist soothed her. Today, however, the music didn’t seem to help at all. Her nerves were rattling out a hyperactive beat that, if they were in time with the songs, wouldn’t be so bad. However, her nerves threatened to explode into puddle at her feet like the water dripping off after a dive.

  Today was her event. Finally.

  The last week had been practice, practice, practice. She had gone to watch Mitch race, but she’d made sure she didn’t attract any media attention. Mitch had seen her and nodded. No special smile. Or even a wink. He won two more events and ended up with a total of four gold and one silver. His Olympics had been a huge success. She was happy for him, while inside she cried at how her hope for a new start with Mitch was ripped away from them again.

  She’d pushed those emotions to the bottom of her feet.

  Thankfully, the press hadn’t seemed to notice they weren’t spending time together. The fact Brett was caught kissing a young gymnast from Canada had taken the heat off her and Mitch. She pitied the PR person assigned to deal with him. She didn’t know what was going on with Brett, but he was making a name for himself at these Games and it wasn’t from his performance in the pool.

  Julia stood and rolled her neck, loosening the tight muscles. As she swiveled, pink painted toenails filled her vision.

  Trina.

  The last person she wanted to see before she was about to compete, even if she was her teammate. Trina had been a little shit the last couple of days, bringing up the bribery scandal by asking Julia how many of the Olympic judges were Facebook friends with her. It had taken everything within her to walk away. She wanted to attract the press with her good diving. Not because of a fight with Trina.

  Summoning a polite smile, she completed her neck revolution and pulled her headphones off so they hung around her neck.

  “Hey, Trina.”

  “Julia.”

  The other woman stood there, not saying anything else. What did she want? The silence stretched between them. Well, screw this stress. The event was about to start.

  “Is there something you want, Trina? Something other than to take cheap shots?”

  “No, I just thought I’d come by and wish you luck.”

  Any other competitor and Julia would have believed they really did wish her luck. But Trina never did anything out of the goodness of her heart. However calling her out for her insincerity wouldn’t be a good idea either.

  “Thanks, and good luck to you too. Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to take some time to prepare before I get out onto the platform.”

  “Enjoy it, because you certainly won’t be standing on the winner’s podium. I’ll wave to you from the number one spot.”

  Julia jammed her headphones back on her head. She wouldn’t let Trina psych her out. No matter what happened, she would give everything she had to her dives. And it would be her waving from the number one position, not Trina.

  12

  If the way Mitch’s stomach pitched in circles was anything like what Julia had gone through watching him, he didn’t want to experience it too often. He probably should be anywhere else but sitting in the stands waiting for Julia to compete. She didn’t know he was here. She probably wasn’t expecting him to turn up, but he hadn’t been able to keep away. Not after the way she came to watch him compete even after they agreed to keep distance between each other.

  “You doing all right, dude?” Drake took a seat next to him.

  “Sure, and shouldn’t you be practicing or something?”

  “Coach is okay with me taking it easy, seeing as the semis for the 1,500m isn’t until tomorrow. He was happy for me to support one of my favorite people.�
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  “I thought that was the physio you’ve been spending all your time with?”

  Drake rolled his eyes. “I said one of my favorite people. That woman lives to torture me.”

  Mitch snorted. “You love it, admit it. You have a lot of favorite people, huh?”

  “Sure do, and you’re close to the top of the list.”

  “Why aren’t I at the top? Aren’t I your best friend?” Mitch plastered his best hangdog expression on his face.

  “Dude, you’re crazy. And that would just be plain weird.”

  “Well, whatever, I’m glad you’re here.”

  A soft punch landed on his upper arm.

  “When is she diving?”

  “She’s fifth. Trina is sixth.”

  Drake whistled. “Now that’s going to make the competition really interesting.”

  “It’s either going to psych Trina out or spur her on. Regardless of the drama Julia had to go through to get here, she’s a damn good diver and the current world champion. I have every faith that she’s going to nail all her dives.”

  “Don’t jinx her.”

  The music sounded around the arena, and Julia and the rest of the competitors walked out. It was amazing how quickly the diving event went by. It wasn’t like swimming with races taking a couple of minutes each. Basically, a diver climbed up the ladder, walked out to the edge of the platform, took a couple of deep breaths and then sailed off the edge before landing into the water a few seconds later.

  “Do you know any of the other competitors?”

  “A few names I recognize from the world championship, but I don’t really remember how well they dived then. My focus was only on Julia.”

  Conversation between them faded as the first competitor took to the platform. Her dive was low on the difficulty scale, and she completed it cleanly. Her scores were credible but not knock-them-out-of-the-park high.

  Mitch didn’t pay much attention to the next three competitors. Then it was Julia’s turn. His legs started to bounce out a nervous tattoo. This was it. The big moment when all the focus would be on her. And on the judges to see how they would score her.

  Part of him wanted to look away. Early on in their relationship, he’d always worried she would slam her head on the platform. He still held his breath on her more difficult dives, but the anxiety wasn’t as bad as it had been before.

  With a small bounce she was up in the air, clearing the platform, somersaulting twice before straightening out like an arrow to enter the water with the smallest splash.

  To his eye, her dive had a degree of difficulty higher than the previous divers and she’d executed it perfectly. The way the crowd was cheering, they thought so too.

  In her zone, Julia didn’t look up to the crowd, not even toward the area where the rest of the diving team was sitting. There was Brooke clapping madly, and since she was a fellow diver he had to assume that Julia had completed a great dive.

  Yep, solid eights all round, and it catapulted her into the lead. It was only the first dive, but Mitch had a good feeling her excellent form will continue with the rest of her dives.

  “Holy shit, she nailed that one, didn’t she?” Drake asked.

  “Yeah. She did.”

  “Do you think she’ll medal?”

  He shrugged. “It’s hard to say; this is the semis. She has to do enough to get through to the finals. And we’ve got the Chinese and Russians. Those girls are tough competitors, and you never know who’s going to have an off day or a remarkable day.”

  “Well, let’s hope our girl is in the latter.”

  Our girl.

  He knew Drake had no romantic overtures toward Julia. However, he liked the sound of those two words. Or maybe he preferred the version my girl. Yes, he preferred that term a lot more.

  “Trina’s up,” Drake nudged him with his elbow.

  There was something about Trina that rubbed Mitch the wrong way. She had always tried hard to flirt with him at diving events. Get him alone. It had sucked, and he’d always managed to find a way to nicely put her off. It was clear Trina disliked Julia, in a way that was more than team competitiveness. There was always a bite in her comments to Julia. And Julia, being Julia, would let those words roll off her back. Did that bother Trina more than if Julia snapped back?

  Trina’s dive was a disaster. She came out of her turn too early, and her legs kicked over a bit when she entered the water, causing a splash much larger than Julia’s.

  The crowd cheered and clapped politely, but even they knew it wasn’t as good.

  Trina’s scores were in the mid to low sixes. But again, it was a first dive. Anything could happen.

  “Whoa, she doesn’t look happy,” Mitch commented as she walked back toward her coach.

  “Nope, things look good for Julia.”

  Never one to put the cart before the horse, Mitch tried to rein in Drake’s enthusiasm. She didn’t have this in the bag. “Long way to go, dude. Long way to go.”

  13

  She’d made it. The rank outsider. It hadn’t mattered that she was the reigning world champion. Because of her limited opportunity to get into competition form after the investigation, no one expected her to make the finals of the 10m platform diving event at the Olympic Games. She’d proven them all wrong.

  “You ready, Julia?”

  “Yep.” Mick’s eyes were glowing with pride. She’d finished the preliminary round in first place. But there were only two points seperated her and the second-place girl from Russia.

  Most of the other competitors would believe that because her early dives had been hard, the ones in the finals would be easier, therefore putting her chances of winning gold at next to zero. Instead, she’d saved her most challenging moves for last.

  God, she hoped this strategy succeeded. From the moment the scandal had broken and all had seem lost, Mick had kept her focused on her diving while helping her to clear her name. It had been a tough time, but now all their hard work was going to pay off.

  She was confident, and so was Mick.

  “Good girl, and as I’ve always said, relax, let your body and muscles lead you. You’ve got this. And no matter what happens, know that I’m proud to be your coach.”

  Mick was never emotional, but his words were heartfelt and meant the world to her. She hugged him, hard.

  “Thank you, Mick. Thank you for everything. Your guidance. Your belief in me. I wouldn’t be here without you.”

  His response was to squeeze her for a moment and then step out.

  “Go get ’em.”

  With a nod, she headed out of the locker room, ready to face the crowds and her competitors. Trina had made it by the skin of her teeth, but Julia was confident that the other woman wouldn’t be a threat. The Russian and Chinese girls, the ones she’d beaten in Russia at the Worlds, were the ones she had to worry about.

  Julia quickly pushed the thoughts away and replaced them with Mick’s words of encouragement.

  She totally had this.

  * * *

  Almost an hour later, with two dives completed, Julia was behind the Russian by fifteen points. This was the final dive of the event. Potentially the final dive of her career.

  Everything hinged on the next twenty seconds. All her dreams. But whatever happened in the next few minutes, she had nothing to be ashamed. Winning a silver medal was a pretty damn good result. No one had given her a chance at all of qualifying for the team, let alone medalling.

  Taking a deep breath, she climbed the ladder. In her mind she was envisioning the tumbles she had to complete before coming out into a twist then unfurling and hitting the water ramrod straight.

  Timing was everything.

  The walk to the front of the platform loomed before her. In reality it was only a small distance, but to her it seemed a mile long.

  Her toes gripped the familiar course edge of the platform. The smell of chlorine clung to her skin. The drip of water slid down her back. All familiar smells and sensations. On
ly intensified in this moment. She focused, mentally picturing the dive in beats and movements one last time. The crowd noise faded, and she took a deep breath, bounced up on her toes before leaping into the air and curling into the somersault position. One. Tumble. Two. Break out to curve her arm around her head. Three. Twist. Four. Sight the water. Five. Straighten. Six Arms locked straight. Left hand on top of right hand. Seven. Legs as straight as her arms. Toes pointed to the heavens.

  Then splash. Entry complete. Bubbles of water swirled around her as she twisted and kicked her way to the surface. The moment her head broke the water sounds rushed back into her consciousness.

  She’d done it. Everything about the dive had felt perfect. She only hoped the judges agreed.

  With baited breath, Julia climbed out of the pool and looked at the scoreboard. Still blank, the judges hadn’t entered their results. Then the screen lit up. The numbers didn’t register—she felt only Mick’s arms closing tightly around her.

  “You did it,” he shouted. “You won.”

  Only then did her vision clear and the scoreboard come into focus. She’d scored nines and tens, enough to put her in first place.

  All the pent up emotions, the ones she’d refused to let overwhelm her since Russia last year, pummeled through her and she started to cry. Great, loud sobs. She didn’t care that she had a camera in her face. That millions of people were seeing her ugly cry. She was an Olympic champion, goddammit. Against all the odds she’d proven everyone wrong. No one could question her performance. Her dives had been flawless. She’d deserved each and every one of the points she’d been awarded.

  With her vision still blurred with tears, she didn’t recognize the large body that swept her close once Mick released her.

  “Oh, Jules, I’m so proud of you. Congratulations, baby! Congratulations.”

  She rubbed a hand across her eyes. “Mitch, you’re here? You came?”