Page 23 of The Forever Vault

“Welcome to the big leagues, Ezra. You might have your first rival.”

He grabbed a pillow and let out a brief muffled scream into it.

* * *

“You’ve been on that phone since we all sat down. What’s up?” O asked, before taking another bite of his eggs.

I answered for Ezra. “He has a rival now. I’m sure he’s obsessing over the latest tweet.”

“I am not!”

I grabbed his phone before he could react. “Riiight. I was wrong. You’re not obsessing over tweets, you’re ogling him instead!” A shirtless Jack filled the screen.

“I’m just looking at his profile.”

“That’s not his profile. Those are his abs.”

O leaned over to take a look, and added, “And his crotch.”

“Give that back to me!” Ezra snagged his phone, shoved it into his pocket, and focused on his oatmeal. As he started to push his spoon around, he changed the subject. “You got any sage advice, veteran Olympians? Unless you want to harass me some more?”

For the next twenty or so minutes before we had to leave for practice, O and I told them about our first Olympic experiences.

By now, Cam and I had admitted to the press that our relationship started in Brisbane, and that we took a break between then and London. We lied about the break, saying it was to work on our gymnastics, but only a few people knew the reality of my parents’ ultimatum and my cowardice. To an extent, I was still in touch with my mother, but my father and I had never fully healed the rift. Other than one awkward Christmas visit with Cam, I hadn’t been to see them in the last four years. My home was in Florida now.

I knew Ezra wasn’t asking about the personal side of the Olympics, but I shared it anyway. With that covered, I explained things from the athletic perspective, including the crippling anxiety in the locker room before going into the arena, and the overwhelming emotions that hit before your first event begins, especially in front of such a large crowd.

O talked mostly about his nerves and advice on how to combat them. If he was becoming more confident in London, he was a full-blown superstar now. Halfway or so to a law degree and he had already partnered with a non-profit to open the first of what could be many scholarship-based gymnastics centers in areas with higher immigrant populations.

“I still can’t believe you’re going to law school and you're in a relationship. How do you have time to do it all? I feel like I’m barely getting by,” Ezra said.

My phone buzzed.

Cam: Have a good day of training. Love you.

Cam: The boys on for tonight? Colton and Zeph will be there.

Luke: Yes, they’re excited lol. Love you more.

Cam: <3

The conversation had continued without me. I tried to catch up. “Remind you of what?” I asked Ezra.

“His rivalry!” O teased.

“We should go, guys. We don’t want to be late.”

I had almost forgotten Miles was there. He was super quiet, and reminded me of O in college. And not that it was my responsibility to make him come out of his shell, but I was going to do everything I could to make him comfortable. Having O as a roommate would be a good match for him.

“You heard the boss, gentlemen,” O teased, drawing a smile from Miles. “Let’s get going.”

“Are you alright, Luke?”

“Yeah, I must’ve slept on it funny,” I replied, rubbing my chest and left shoulder.

“Right.” Shane didn’t sound like he believed me. “Just be careful with whatever you do outside of the gym. Sexual acrobatics can-”

“Okay, that’s enough of that. You’re practically my dad. I don’t want to talk about-” I made an erratic gesture, “-with you.”