Page 126 of The Forever Vault

“Morning, gentlemen. Nice tattoos.”

“Thanks, Coach.” Cam greeted Woodward with a smile.

I was already standing, so I got a hug.

“Either of you see Ezra today? And if the answer is no, I’m going to insist you stay in the village for the rest of the Olympics, Cam.”

“We haven’t seen him,” I answered.

“Sorry, Coach.”

Well, shit, if I didn’t feel like an ass, keeping Cam in my bed when he needed to be helping the next generation of athletes.

Woodward shrugged. “He’s a bit reckless, despite the progress Zane’s made with him. I don’t even know if he’s taking his medication. His mom texted me this morning because she hadn’t heard from him all night. What do you tell a mom who’s worried about her twenty-two year old gay son who was out celebrating with America’s Sack Pack.”

“America’s sack what?” Cam said, pushing himself off the floor.

“You heard me.”

Cam and I burst into laughter. I couldn’t believe he just said that. By the time we recovered a few minutes later, we both had tears streaming down our cheeks and were barely holding each other up.

“I supposed I could just call you trouble. Colton, Zeph, Declan, Ty, you two. Thankfully, you haven’t dragged Miles into it yet.”

“Because Hudson wouldn’t let him,” Cam whispered into my ear.

“Agreed.”

“Don’t think I didn’t hear that. Carol told me what I was in for this time around with the Games in the States. I said, ‘Those boys will be so responsible, you’ll see.’ Now, she’s doing the told-you-so dance.”

“Well, I can go look for him,” I offered. “Light the Sack Pack beacons around the Bay.”

“Will you?” Woodward ignored the dig. “I wasn’t above sending Zane into the village, but it’s not like this was an official practice.”

“It was in the app,” Cam said.

“As an optional team-building exercise.”

“He’s probably just hung over. I’ll see if I can find him,” I suggested.

“You ready, Cam?” Noah asked, coming over with Shane. “What the hell is that on your arm?!”

“Well, if it isn’t Mr. Sullivan. Want to help me go look for a lost twink?”

Shane’s eyebrows perked up, as I watched Noah shake his head.

“I’ll explain as we go.” I pulled Shane in for a half-hug, mouthing ‘good luck’ to Cam as I passed him, then led Shane out of the gym.

“Do I wanna know?” Shane asked, once we were outside.

I shrugged. “Went to Folsom with the guys. He was with Zeph and Colton when we left.”

“Oh, Jesus.”

“Hey, he’s the one that showed up with a puppy tail up his ass, so don’t give me that. Cam and I wouldn’t have had the balls to do that when we were that young.”

“No, you just had the balls to start a secret relationship at the Olympics.”

“Well, yeah.”