Page 112 of The Forever Vault

Luke: How do you feel?

Cam: Really good. After Team Gold, anything feels possible.

I think the excitement of Ezra’s playtime made him forget the women’s team final was tonight. Coach messaged us, but was fine with us not going in person, considering Miles and Cam had the all-around finals the next afternoon. With Remy’s presence the other night, it was clear O and Austin were still worried for their safety. I’d imagine they’d be staying in as well.

It was apparent based on the schedule that the all-around for the men wasn’t in the primetime slot this Olympics. There were swimming and diving finals already scheduled, and those events proved to be more popular with the American public. I knew it bothered Cam - it bothered me too. You dedicate your whole life to something, and a lot of people still didn’t recognize the skill or sacrifice required. On the flip side, the divers and swimmers worked hard too, and no matter what, somebody had to be at noon.

The better we did here would certainly give gymnastics programs nation-wide a boost. Options for men were becoming scarce. There were rumors Florida University was going to end its program next year, but not if Cam and I had anything to say about it.

A positive side effect of not being scheduled for primetime was that it would be over sooner. We’d actually have time to celebrate with his mom, Noah and Shane at a reasonable hour.

Cam ended up falling asleep in my arms long before the women won the gold. According to the commentators, this was the start of a renaissance for American gymnastics.

Lucky for him, Cam had fallen asleep before the show started next door. As Cam suggested, however, I turned my sound app on to a rainstorm, and that, coupled with Cam’s light snoring, was enough to drown out the moans and fuck yeahs of next door. I was able to fall asleep easily once I shimmied my clothes off.

* * *

The men were divided into four groups of six, based on seed. Cam was seeded third, so he was in the first group and would start on the floor. Miles was eighteenth and squeaked into the last spot of the third group; they would start on the rings. The Japanese duo of Hiruto and Riku who crumbled in London had made it, as did Jack Davies, Inácio Silva, and a long list of familiar names. The newest names to worry about were Alessandro Amante from Italy and Maksim “The Wolf” Volkov from Russia, who was being coached by Vadim Davidov, one of our former competitors.

Woodward and Hudson were with Miles. Noah and I were together, watching Cam warm up. Alessandro approached Cam and said something that made them both laugh and I couldn’t help but feel annoyed. His left leg and right arm were both covered in tattoos and it accentuated the musculature of his twunky body.

“Easy killer,” Noah whispered.

“What?”

“If you manifested a superpower right now, Alessandro would be vaporized. You and Cam forget sometimes that Europeans are a lot more affectionate than Americans. Loosen up.”

Ugh, Noah was right. I was being possessive and suspicious, two very unattractive qualities. I distracted myself momentarily by glancing into the stands. Heather was in the same section as the other day and Erika and Isaak were back as well. Ty caught my eye and waved, and then he made Declan wave too.

Seeing them together always made me think about marriage. It was hard not to when they were so happy and getting married in like a week. Even without their upcoming nuptials, I had been thinking more about it lately, and it was time. I wanted to marry Cam. I wanted to take his last name, and I wanted to keep building our lives together. I was ready to take that next step.

Even though I knew it was stressful for him, hearing Ty talk about the wedding and Declan sealed it. I had wedding fever.

Being boyfriends wasn’t enough for me anymore.

Of course, I picked that moment to look at Cam and he was smiling. He looked like Apollo, the god of the sun. He meant everything to me.

Have I told him that enough?

I needed to get my ass in gear. Ty let his injury consume him, and I was going to take the life lesson learned from a friend and not let that happen to me. It worked out for him, and I had the same thing: a supportive partner, a home to share with him, career goals, and a found family. I didn’t need anything else.

Cam bounded across the floor and practically leapt into my arms.

“I’d ask if you’re ready, but you seem excited.”

“Just letting it out now. I’m going to need to focus when it starts. I’ve got a feeling.”

I didn’t know what he meant, but I was going to let him do whatever he needed.

“Trust your gut, Cam,” Noah said, joining our huddle. “You got Luke’s lucky jock on?”

Cam stepped back to pull the waistband of my jock out from under his leotard, flashing some skin for the audience and the camera that was directly behind us.

Maybe I’d get a bonus from Andrew Christian?

“I should feel weird that Noah knows about that, but somehow I don’t.” I couldn’t help but smile, actually. Seeing Cam in my clothes was one of my biggest turn-ons.

He had the jockstrap. He had the platypus coin. He was ready.