Page 52 of Floored By Love

“Here you are, Camden!” Cassandra declared, entering the alcove and inserting herself between the two of us. “Your mother is looking for you.”

“O-okay, thanks.” Cam shrugged and left, giving me one last glance before he disappeared around the corner.

I struggled to contain my snarl.

“Lucas, if you think tha-”

I ignored her and headed into the men’s room. I tried to slam the door behind me but it was one of those slowly closing ones, so I just pretended not to hear the rest of her warning. I guess I should’ve done it while we were both peeing. I would’ve had a captive audience and Cassandra wouldn’t have been able to interrupt us.

Fuck.

The rest of dinner passed and I had no chance to get Cam alone. Cassandra kept dragging me into conversations with the other coaches and I couldn’t be rude without being obvious, and Cecilia and Nia were just being nice.

I messed up the best opportunity I had.

* * *

I had a feeling that Cassandra catching me almost talking to Cam was fuel for her punishing workout the next day. If you asked me a week ago if I thought she could get worse, I would’ve laughed in your face. I would’ve been wrong.

It turns out for the all-around training, you’re on your own. I wasn’t training with Cam. There were some other athletes in the gym. I recognized Inácio and Etienne, but Cam must’ve had a different scheduled time. Everyone was keeping to themselves and it seemed I only had a certain amount of time per apparatus. It felt like fifteen or so minutes. Cassandra had my phone so I couldn’t check.

That was another thing that changed last night. She went through my phone again. She hadn’t done that for years, but I guess seeing me with Cam sparked her paranoia. It was rightfully sparked, but I wasn’t going to tell her that.

Once I got to the sixth apparatus, I started to breathe easier. Training was almost over and I could relax the rest of the day and try to find Cam somehow. At least, that’s what I thought.

“Alright, Lucas, let’s go hit the weight room.”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me. Weight room. Let’s go.”

“You do realize I have a competition tomorrow, right?”

“Yes, Lucas. I am aware.” She glared at me while I gathered my things. She did not hand me my phone back.

After an hour of weightlifting, a shower, and a light lunch, Cassandra took me on a five mile run with her. It was only after that, once we were back at the hotel, she let me have my phone again.

“We're done training for the day, Lucas. We’ll have another session at the practice arena before tomorrow’s event.”

I went into my bedroom and locked the door. I checked my phone. I had a good luck text from my mom, one from O asking if I was okay, and a missed call from a blocked number. I ignored my mom and the call and texted O.

Luke: All good. Cassandra whipped my ass today. She had my phone too.

Orion: Was wondering what happened to you.

Orion: Good luck tomorrow. Maybe after you win big, she’ll let up a little?

Luke: Thanks, man. We’ll see.

I stripped off and showered. Well, the first five or so minutes, I just lay in the tub with the shower spraying my body. I was that tired. I finally stood up, soaped up, and scrubbed all my sweaty parts clean. I dried my hair and my torso, wrapped the towel around my waist, and grabbed the remote. I flicked the TV on. It was still on the Olympic channel and diving happened to be on. I didn’t actually know which events Jake did, but maybe he’d show up if I watched long enough. At least, the bodies were nice to look at. I decided to double check.

Luke: Jake diving now?

Graham: Yes.

Luke: I’ll be rooting for him.

Graham: Thanks, Luke.