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I yawned and looked at the clock. “I’m gonna go. I’m so tired and luckily I don’t have gym tomorrow. I plan to sleep in and catch up on my homework.”
“Let me know if you need me to do any more research for you. If you need to talk about it, I’m here for you, Ria.”
I smiled into the phone. “Thanks, girl. You’re the best. Are you going to call me Ria from now on?”
“Every minute I can,” she retorted. “And remember, no penetration, Ria.” Then she hung up.
After grabbing a bottle of water, I jumped into bed, thanking my lucky stars I didn’t have to face Kova tomorrow. I had the following day off to panic about what had happened. It was going to be awkward once I went back to practice, but I knew how to train my emotions and conceal my thoughts. Only thing I needed to do was not make it obvious and ignore Coach as much as possible. That wouldn’t be a hard feat. He tended to be an asshole at the gym anyway. An angry Russian dick.
Just before I was about to doze off, my phone beeped.
Coach: Did you make it home okay?
My heart dropped. I responded with a quick yes, clutching my phone to see if he would say anything else. But after ten minutes of silence, I ended up passing out.
Ignoring Coach was an issue I expected to hurdle after what had happened between us, but fortunately I didn’t have to work through it the next day. Or the next.
He’d been absent from the gym for three days now and I wasn’t sure whether I was happy about it or not. Madeline took over and I worked closely with her. While she was my vault coach, Kova was my main coach and he oversaw my schedule—which skills I’d learn and when. It was a completely different type of training with her. I wasn’t stressed to the max, I didn’t make mistakes, and I felt a bit more confident. I was actually able to eat something, too. I didn’t feel the need to impress her the way I did with Kova. She didn’t ridicule every little breath I took, she encouraged me and gave me hope. Hope was what gymnasts thrived on, and mine had gone down the drain. There were moments of the day when I wished she was my coach. She was a great instructor, but Kova’s attention to detail was exceptional, and that mattered in the world of gymnastics.
Kova’s absence only built the impending awkwardness of having to see him when he did return, which was apparently today. No coach or gymnast ever missed gym time unless it was absolutely life altering. No one knew why he was out, only that he had business he needed to attend to.
But I had a feeling I knew what it was.
Alfred dropped me off early to practice. None of my teammates had shown up yet, so I shoved my stuff into my locker and did my usual morning run. My calf started acting up again, a twinge of heat encompassed it, but I shook it off and finished. I noticed it flaring up a little more lately. Nothing a little Motrin couldn’t fix.
After I came inside and wiped myself down, I got ready to head inside the gym to start stretching. I loved being the only one here, breathing in the air and mentally preparing myself for training. I smiled. A new day, a new goal, a new ambition. My love for the sport was embedded deep in my bones and something I couldn’t quite explain.
Rounding the corner and walking down the quiet hallway, I wasn’t paying attention as I separated the wristbands that had gotten stuck together by the Velcro, and I walked straight into someone.
A whoosh escaped my throat. “Oh, I’m so—” I froze.
&n
bsp; Kova.
My jaw dropped, all logical thoughts escaped me. “Hey,” I said delicately.
Kova stood tall in front of me, his broad shoulders back, and his face unreadable. I wasn’t terribly short, but he was six feet, so he towered over me.
“You were gone.”
He said nothing.
“Are you okay?”
Again, nothing.
“We should probably talk?”
He just stared right through me.
“Ummm...” I proceeded but stopped when his hands locked on my upper arms. He shuffled me to the side, walked past me and ignored all questions.
Oh, good. So we skipped dick and went straight into asshole mode—awesome!
Anger bubbled in my veins. Arrogance was written all over his saunter as he made his way back to his office. I had to grind my jaw to keep from lashing out.
“So you’re just going to overlook...everything?”
