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Still trying to catch my breath, I skipped over the black wires on the floor and met up w
ith my team that was now on floor. I dropped my bag, and Kova squatted next to me. He leaned over and unzipped it, rummaging through it for my sports tape. He pulled it out and I turned toward him to give him my ankle.
"How is your foot?"
I thought about his question for a minute. "It's fine. Nothing I can’t handle for a few more days."
He smiled but was looking at my foot as he taped my ankle. Once he was done, he ran his hand over the kinesis tape on my calf and Achilles. He nodded to himself, pleased. He was checking to make sure it was still on good.
"You are incredible to watch. The crowd loves you."
My cheeks blushed. I playfully rolled my eyes. "They love everyone, Kova."
"True, but they are much louder for you."
"You're just saying that."
"No. I am not. They see what I see."
My teeth dug into my bottom lip. Kova stood up, and I asked, "And what do you see?"
He studied me for a moment, then placed his hand out to help me up. His jaw flexed, my gaze fixed on his full, kissable lips.
"I will tell you tomorrow night." My brows furrowed, waiting for him to explain. "Tomorrow night, Adrianna. Now go warm up. Elena altered a tumbling pass."
Nodding, I squinted at him as I walked up the steps to the blue carpeted floor. I had questions, but I didn't want the thoughts to be stuck in my head for the rest of the day, so I shut them out and placed the questions in a drawer for tomorrow.
Each team was given a specific number of minutes to warm-up with tumbling passes. I stepped closer to the corner and looked ahead for Kova who was standing in the opposite corner ready to spot me.
He looked both ways then waved his fingers for me to come.
I turned over my first tumbling pass with Kova spotting right next to me. He halted my body with the palm of his hand so I didn't over rotate.
"Good. Delay the twist for another second and a half the next time," he said, and I nodded.
This was another last-minute change from Elena. I only knew this because I'd had the same passes for almost a year. They were just a little more difficult, especially on my endurance and lack of kidney function. I tried to remain calm as I drew air into my lungs, but they were so tight that it caused me to breathe harder. I stomped in chalk and powdered some on my palms. Kova reached the other corner and it was my turn again. I waited, watching his eyes, then he turned to me and waved.
I swallowed back my nerves and sprinted halfway across the floor. I hurdled into a front handspring, flipping over and punching my feet together into the floor to rebound into a hand-free roundoff, then finally double twisting backwards to land. My feet pounded into the spring floor and I felt the impact grind down my spine. Kova was right there to catch my chest from leaning forward too much. A gush of air rushed from me and I started coughing.
"Are you okay?" he asked, a slight shadow of concern in his eyes.
"I'm fine," I said out of breath. I winced and grabbed the inside of my elbow. I knew vault was going to make it hurt. "I'm just a little out of breath. I'll be good."
Kova's eyes were fixated on mine. I shook my arm out like it didn't faze me, but the truth was, there was a burning pain shooting up my arm. "Okay, because you will need to add a front tuck to the end of the pass for bonus. You will also switch your first tumbling pass."
This time I returned the concerned look. He was adding a bonus front flip and changing my tumbling pass. I waited for him to tell me which new tumbling pass I would do.
"Coach Elena believes that after she watched the other countries perform, if we increase our difficulty right now, it could push us to first."
Thirty-Three
The four of us stood in a circle with our hands in the middle again.
Each coach told us what to do and where we needed to make small tweaks to our routines. Some coaches even suggested pointers to the others. We knew the risks involved with a last-minute change even though we were still prepared if it came to this. Stepping out of bounds, twisting an ankle, over rotating. Anything was possible if your body is out of sync for even a millisecond. We came together and discussed what we had to do in order to take gold.
"Ready, girlies," the smallest one said with the brightest eyes. She sounded like she still hadn't reached puberty even though she was fifteen. "On the count of three."
"One… Two… Three."
