I looked at the screen, at everything waiting on the other side of one decision.
“Not yet.”
Mila rolled her eyes, but said nothing.
I slipped the phone back into my pocket.
The choice was no longer theoretical.
By Monday morning, I would either be on a flight home or walking away from everything I’d spent my life building.
Surprisingly, the thought didn’t terrify me.
It felt inevitable.
Dean
By the timeLuka and Mila finally reappeared, the rest of us had migrated to a quiet stretch of corridor close to the athlete exit. Ethan was in the middle of explaining, in great detail, exactly how many pizzas he intended to order.
I spotted them first. “There they are.”
The conversation stopped immediately.
Ethan took one look at Luka and pressed a hand against his chest. “Thank God.”
Luka frowned. “For what?”
“We weren’t sure you’d survived.”
Mila laughed. “What did you expect?”
“Any meeting that starts with federation officials and ends with the phraseprivate wordautomatically sounds like the opening chapter of a spy novel.” Ethan let out an exaggerated sigh of relief. “And here you are.”
“Yes, still alive,” Luka informed him with a smile.
“For now.”
Luka blinked. “Thank you for your confidence.” The corner of his mouth twitched.
The sight was enough to get me breathing normally again.
Mila slipped an arm through Donna’s and began steering her toward the exit. “Come on. If we stand here much longer, Ethan will start discussing pizza toppings. Again.”
I snorted. “You’re too late. What do you think he’s been talking about ever since you left?”
The walk toward the Metro was loud and chaotic, everyone talking at once. I held Luka’s hand, our fingers laced. Athletes passed us in both directions. Volunteers waved. Several people stopped Luka and I to offer congratulations. One elderly volunteer hugged Luka so enthusiastically that he looked completely bewildered for nearly half a minute afterward.
By the time we reached the Village, everyone was cold, hungry, and still talking over each other.
“We’ve got an hour before we meet in the lobby,” Noah announced.
“What are we supposed to do for an entire hour?” Ethan complained.
Noah arched his eyebrows. “Shower? Change clothes?” He smirked. “You forget, I know exactly how long it takes you to get dressed.”
“Ooh, insults.” Then Ethan stared at a guy heading toward the elevators. The guy turned and smiled at him.
A slow, deliberate kind of smile.
