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This was the closest I’d been to gymnastics since I quit when I was sixteen. I knew my former coach—and probably most of his staff—was in that gym across the hall. My heart raced and dread set in. I pushed those thoughts aside, trying to focus on cheer practice.
When practice was done, I walked across the hallway and entered the other gym. I hid behind a set of stacked mats and observed, hopefully, unnoticed. It seemed like a lifetime ago that gymnastics had been my life, but somehow, I forced myself to remain detached, and blinked hard several times to stay composed.
I saw my former coach barking out commands at one of the girls on the balance beam who went into a front aerial but missed the landing, and a loud thud sounded as she straddled the beam and crumpled over, falling to the mat. She was crying, and Coach was over her immediately, yelling at her and calling her out for being overweight and not talented enough to do what he called a ‘standard’ move.
She finally got to her feet and limped toward the beam. Bile rose in my throat as past memories resurged. I watched with shaky breath when I saw her jump back on the beam, wobbling unsteadily, her shoulders slumped in fear. She fell again. Coach was irate. He forced her to her feet and shoved her toward the beam again, and the fear on her face was sickening. I turned and left, not being able to stomach anymore, but I heard the fall behind me. More cries. More yelling.
Running down the hall, I ducked into the ladies’ room and leaned against the wall, holding my stomach and fighting down all those unwanted memories.I can’t think about it. I won’t. Suppressing my feelings had become second nature.I’m not weak.I’m not that person. I forced myself to relax until I was somewhat composed. When I left the restroom, I was lost in my head, walking out of the gym on autopilot.
“Sorina?”
I jumped in surprise, seeing Nicu beside me. He smiled down at me, but I could tell he wondered why I was here. “Hey. Just finished up with cheer practice.” I thumbed the door behind me. “I saw you earlier, going into the gym.”
“Oh, yeah?” He slid an arm around me in a half hug. “And you weren’t going to say hi?”
“I didn’t want to keep you from practice.”
“I will always make time for you,draga.”Darling. Nicu always affectionally called me that in the past. His arm stayed around me as we walked down the sidewalk. “I saw you watching us,” he said quietly.
I schooled my face. “You know I can’t resist watching my favorite gymnast.”
“I try to keep my fans entertained,” he quipped.
“I see Alexandru is still as charming as ever.”
“Yes. He is still a dickfuck.”
I laughed. “You mean dickhead?”
He shrugged, lines pulling at the corners of his mouth. “Dickfuck, dickhead, whatever you want to call him. Luckily, he’s not my coach.”
“I know.” He should be lucky. I stopped and faced him, curious to find out more about the girl who I’d witnessed at practice.
“There’s my girl.” I craned my head to see Dmitri approaching us. He walked up behind me and wrapped his arms around my stomach, pulling me close against him and leaving a bigger gap between Nicu and me. “How are you feeling today?”
“Fine.” I was puzzled by why he was asking and confused by his affection in public. Especially after how he behaved the other night when he saw me with Nicu. Maybe he realized he was being unreasonable. I tried to pull away, but he tightened his hold.
“Good.” He nuzzled my cheek. “I know how sore you were the other night.”
“Dmitri,” I warned, as a wave of embarrassment spread across my skin. I was going to kill him.
“It’s all right, sweetheart. I promise I’ll make it up to you. It’s not every day that the woman of your dreams gives you the special gift of their virginity.” Oh. My. God. Words failed me, and I wished the Earth would suck me under. I flashed a glance at Nicu, who shifted uncomfortably.
Dmitri extended one of his hands out while keeping the other one firm on my stomach. “I’m Dmitri, and you are…” I watched in shock as he continued this farce of amicability. I should’ve known he’d have an ulterior motive. He wasn’t pleasant to anyone.
“Nicu,” he answered, slack jawed, and clumsily shook his hand.
“Nice to meet you. Anyway, I need to take my girl and feed her so she’ll have enough energy for later. Oh, and can you keep this between us? Because this one is old-fashioned and doesn’t like to talk about her extracurricular activities.”
Nicu gave a vacant nod.
“Thanks, man. I knew I could count on you.” Before I could blink, Dmitri tugged my chin to his and planted his mouth on mine in a deep, possessive kiss.
When our lips parted, I caught Nicu already at the gym entrance. I spun around, drowning in humiliation. “Why did you do that?”
“Do what? Tell the truth?”
I needed to count down from ten before I strangled him. “You did that on purpose.”
