Page 158 of The Forever Vault

It seemed like I did the math wrong, but it was over. The score would be what it was.

I tried to seem like I didn’t care, but what Luke said felt right. It was my event. This one meant more to me than the others because of all the work I put into the skill. I couldn’t help but notice the other athletes fidgeting. My score, the last score, would determine where everyone else ranked.

16.400.

The relief dropped from my head through my stomach and Luke wrapped his good arm around me. “I’m so fucking proud of you.”

I felt someone jump on my back, but Luke and I took the extra weight as if it were nothing. After they screamed “You did it,” I knew it was Ezra.

“You did it too, buddy,” I replied.

Eventually, Ezra climbed off me and Luke, and the others came over, including João and Etienne, to congratulate us. In less than fifteen minutes, I was on the podium, gold medal around my neck, crying like a baby to the Star-Spangled Banner.

29

Lucas

“Camden! Camden! Over here!”

Cam motioned to the hyper reporter, who quickly asked, “You currently have four gold medals and two bronze medals from San Francisco with one event final left, how does that feel?”

Cam’s smile hadn’t turned off since we entered the room. He didn’t love the press events, but I’m guessing my quick blowjob in the locker room boosted his spirits.

“It felt great. It feels great. I’m proud to represent the United States, and with my teammates, to show that the male gymnasts of America are contenders. We haven’t received the same amount of attention as some other teams or sports, but if winning a few medals was what needed to happen, I’m glad it did.”

“This question’s for Lucas.”

I turned to the crowd of reporters, half-surprised. After Cam’s gold medal performance, I wasn’t expecting any attention.

“You were forced to transition to the role of coach rather quickly. Is coaching something you’ll continue to do? Do you and Camden have any plans to retire from gymnastics, or other ideas for your future?”

“To a certain extent, every athlete is a coach. You’re constantly looking at your own performance and critiquing it. To be honest, coaching Cam was a way that we could spend more time together and keep me a little closer to the Olympics.”

“Which I didn’t mind at all,” Cam added, soliciting a few chuckles from the crowd.

“As for retirement, I think we have yet to make a final decision on that, though statistically, this was likely our last Olympics. Regarding other plans, I’ve convinced Cam to model some underwear again with me soon.”

Someone in the room wolf-whistled.

“Cam and I have never been shy about our relationship, and I think we both want to push the puritanical American envelope a little bit. Kind of play with masculinity, athleticism, sexuality and culture.”

Cam’s mischievous grin was not helping me control my dick.

Another reporter took advantage of the silence. “You two have intense chemistry, and we all know you’re superstitious about competitions. It’s rumored there’s a lucky jockstrap and you’ve spoken publicly about the platypus coin from your first date…”

Where’s this going?

“...In London, you were asked a question about your future and you flipped for it - platypus was marriage, logo was undecided - but you never told us the results. Anything you’d like to share now?”

Before I could answer, Cam said, “Actually there is something I’d like to share. All of my medals, with Lucas Rivera. He deserves them as much as me, maybe more, since he never had a chance to prove it here. But he was the one who made the team, and then I happened to be the one to essentially finish what he started. As for the results of that flip-”

I’m not sure what came over me, but in seconds, I had pushed back the chair and I was on one knee behind the table in front of Cam, looking up into his eyes. When I grabbed his hand, his eyes grew wider.

“Cam, I’ve wanted to do this-”

“Into the mic! Say it into the mic!”

I pulled the mic off the table and awkwardly held that with one hand while I held Cam’s with the other.