Mark grabbed the back of my neck hard enough to nearly shake me.
“You did it.”
I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
The camera swung toward the crowd and suddenly I saw Mom with both hands clapped over her mouth, crying, Dad beside her, standing and applauding with this expression of stunned pride I knew I would remember for the rest of my life.
Below them, half the US team had completely lost their minds.Noah was literally jumping, Nathan was grinning his head off, and Brooke and Harper waved a US flag above their heads.
Ethan saluted me, his face glowing, and I sent it right back to him.
Then I sought out Luka again. He hadn’t moved. He simply stared at me as if he knew what this moment meant beyond medals and scores and Olympic history.
Through all the noise, the lights, and the overwhelming exhilaration, one thought cut through everything else.
I wanted him beside me when this ended.
Everything after that was a blur of cameras and flags, until we were lined up beneath the lights for the medals ceremony. Volunteers carried the trays forward, the arena still buzzing after hours of competition.
Bronze to France.
Silver to Canada.
Then—
“And Olympic champion…”
The words washed over me as I stepped onto the highest podium.
The gold medal settled around my neck, and I thought about everything that had brought me to this moment. Years of training, of pressure, every four a.m. practice, every injury, every sacrifice.
Every moment wondering if I was enough.
All of it suddenly compressed into one impossible instant beneath bright arena lights while the crowd rose again around me.
I looked toward the stands. Mom had both hands pressed over her mouth now. Dad stood beside her smiling, eyes glistening.
And farther back, there was Luka, his eyes fixed on me as the anthem began.
The world narrowed once more.
I had dreamed about this moment my entire life. The medal, the anthem, the podium… But somehow, it felt fuller because he was here to see it.
My throat seized, and I had to breathe deeply to keep myselftogether while the anthem played. Below the podium, cameras flashed relentlessly.
Olympic champion, America’s golden boy. The words barely felt real.
When our eyes met again, Luka smiled.
Beneath the lights, with gold against my chest and the anthem still echoing around the arena, I realized I had spent the entire ceremony looking for one person.
And he had been there.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Dean
Dinnerwith my parents lasted almost two hours, long enough for the restaurant staff to stop pretending not to recognize me. By dessert, Mom had confiscated my medal because too many strangers kept drifting toward the table with congratulatory smiles and phones half-hidden in their hands.
