Page 94 of Floored By Love

“Yeah,” Orion’s head dipped and I could barely hear the last part. “We haven’t texted in a few days, ‘cause I didn’t know what to say, and I let all these thoughts cloud my head out there before that pass, and-”

“It’s okay, Orion. It’s gonna take some getting used to. The whole flirting-with-a-guy-while-being-an-Olympian thing, but you’ll get there. We’ll talk to the guys tonight and get you sorted. Colton and Luke will have plenty of advice for you.”

“Thanks, Cam.”

15.133.

“Not bad, kid,” Coach said, walking past us.

Orion glanced up. It put him in fifth with one athlete to go.

“Nothing to be ashamed of, Orion. That’s solid.”

“I could’ve had a bronze medal if I didn’t fuck up that last pass though.”

I shrugged. “Shit happens?” Orion managed a chuckle. “Sorry, but it’s true. You live, you learn. Take this experience and use it in every routine in the future. I had so many regrets from Brisbane that I’ve held onto for years, and they’ve allowed me to get where I am now. I can do the things I’m doing now, because I know not to repeat the same mistakes.”

He nodded.

“You can do the same.”

After we showered, Orion said he’d wait in the locker room for me to finish with the doctor. Coach and Noah hovered nearby and had more than enough questions for her.

She ended up prescribing me another anti-inflammatory medication and gave me an inhaler as well. I was to continue my overnight oxygen and use of the humidifier on top of what the hospital doctors had told me to do.

Shane was with Luke, so Noah accompanied me and Orion into the stands. Colton was coming up on the pommel horse, and the girls were next on vault and uneven bars. It would be at least an hour before Colton was up, though I could see the Walkers were already in the stands.

“Cam Cam!”

I heard my mom before I saw her, but her enthusiastic support always brought a smile to my face. I pulled her in for a huge hug. There were two empty seats next to her and Luke, but not enough for Orion to sit with us.

“Orion!” I turned to see Austin wave at us. “I saved you a seat here.” He motioned next to him. “If you want it.”

I leaned in, and said, “Maybe you won’t need those tips after all.”

“Go get him, O,” Luke added, patting him on the back.

“Silver looks good on you, Cam.”

“I’d prefer gold, but I’ll take it, Mom.”

“You can share my gold, babe.”

“Thank you so much, Lucas.” He tried to grab the tongue I stuck out at him.

Erika ran up to our row to give me a hug and congratulated me.

“You better get back down there, chaperone,” I teased. “Your brother is about to become a man if my Olympic experience is any indication.”

“Jesus, it’s like whack-a-mole. One gay bestie settles down, and two more gay dudes pop up looking for love. What is San Francisco gonna be like?”

Erika jogged back down the aisle to sit with her brother and Orion.

My mother interrupted my observation of the courtship down below. “Speaking of your Olympic experience, Camden, Luke was just telling me about his plans for after London.”

“He was?” I wondered where this was going.

“Yeah, I know we hadn’t talked about it, but I...I just wanted to...I mean, if you were cool with-”