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I wrapped a hand around my foot, struggling a bit. "Control equals glory for you. You like having the upper hand because that's how you win," I said.
"Ah, you think you know me so well." Kova shifted closer, giving Holly and Reagan a friendly smile. They blushed ten shades of red.
Kova kneeled to the side of me, his thick thigh pressed to my back. I was off balance and placed a hand in front of me to steady myself. With the pressure of his hand slowly sliding to my stomach, Kova forced me to sit up straighter. Shifting my hips, I pulled my shoulders back…and felt him, hot and long tapping gently on my back. If he had worn boxers then I might not have felt anything. But of course, Kova didn't own any, so I felt all of him.
I sucked in a breath and watched to see if my teammates would think anything of his hand movement. I knew they couldn't see his penis touching me so provocatively from behind. Not once in front of anyone else had he so boldly touched me like this.
Easing my leg down, I released a quiet breath as my muscles loosened. I stretched well on my own, but with Kova’s helping hand it was always more intense. He had the ability to manipulate my body to the extreme, and I really did love to stretch like this. Kova shifted to the other side and mimicked his stance, pressing his body closer than before. This time he was plastered against me, and the girls didn't even bat an eye.
He wanted me to feel him, to show me his control ran deeper than just gymnastics.
"Do you trust me?" Kova asked, and repeated the words louder for Holly and Reagan. They nodded, while I hesitated for a minute. "If you do not trust me, then we have a problem. This control you speak of so sweetly is for your benefit."
If it were even possible, their faces were as red as a fire hydrant.
"Lots to work on today. Do not waste my time."
Kova moved over to work on both Holly and Reagan, but didn’t get as close to them as he did me. All the while, our eyes stayed glued to each other's. The intensity he bled into me was the distraction I’d desperately needed. He always gave me what I needed. Even when I didn't know what I was missing, he was just there, silently encouraging me on. He was my biggest cheerleader. He believed in me. He saw my dream when no one else could.
He was my salvation.
And in moments like this, when I could feel his passion, I forgot every negative thing he’d done and said to me. I smiled and appreciated all that he’d actually done to get me where I am today, because I hadn't been so innocent and naïve either. He’d gone out of his way to give me what I’ve asked for when he didn't have to. Kova may be controlling, but I was demanding.
Two negatives make a positive. And that's what we were. Two flaws. But when put together, we were amplified in the most dazzling, inconceivable way imaginable.
"Did you not sleep last night?" Reagan asked a handful of minutes later as we stood near the vault. "You look terrible."
I kept my focus on the floor and stomped my feet in the container of chalk. "It was just one of those long nights." I finally looked at her. "I tossed and turned, you know. Couldn't sleep."
She observed me a little too closely. I knew my eyelids were swollen and my eyes glossy. Another symptom of kidney disease, I had learned, but after all the tears I’d shed last night, I assumed the puffiness was from that.
"Yeah. And after this next meet is when it gets real for you. You know, that is, if you qualify at this one to go overseas where the big dogs compete. Then it's the Olympic Trials for you, if you're lucky."
"I'm pretty confident," I said. My lips were a tight smile. "If I made it this far, there's a reason for that."
"Ladies!" Kova yelled, and we both looked in his direction. "Stop the gossip and let us go."
I stomped my feet in the powder again, smiling at the floor. "Kova and his lack of contractions," I said. "I swear, those three words are his favorite."
"I know," Reagan responded. "Let us go," she mocked, and I chuckled. "Someone needs to tell him he sounds like a robot."
"I mentioned it to him once and suggested he take some classes. He said he wasn't doing his job if that was what I had on my mind."
Reagan glanced at me for a long moment, then burst out laughing. "That's such a Kova comment."
I smiled. "I know."
"You ladies want an extra hour of conditioning? Get your asses moving!"
"Go on," I said, my voice low, and got behind her.
We'd been practicing vault all morning and it was helping me keep my mind off yesterday. My focus had been solid and my training even better. Vault was one of two apparatuses I excelled at. It was my golden ticket.
Reagan landed and Kova gave her a few pointers, then he turned toward me and waved for me to go. I inhaled a deep breath then exhaled, and got in the zone.
Running toward the stationary object, I visualized what I needed to do, then I turned over my roundoff, backflipping onto the vault, and pushed off as hard as I could with my shoulders and hands. I soared through the air, euphoria bursting from me as I held on tight and twisted with force and drive.
I opened up and spotted the ground, then held my breath. With both feet together, I stuck my landing and fought not to hop.
