Out of Bounds (The Summer Games #2)(79)

“It’s just a cartwheel with no hands,” my coach insisted. “Bend your knee hard and go for it.”

“I can’t,” I cried, nerves eating away at me.

“You can!” he boomed, rattling my fears. “Try!”

I couldn’t explain the roadblock in front of me, the fear trying to weave its way through my body. Don’t do this. You could get hurt. Play it safe.

“Try Brie. TRY.”

It’d taken two days and a whole lot of tears before I’d finally picked my hands up off the floor. I’d eaten shit, hard, but I hadn’t given up. A week later, I could do an aerial in my sleep.

At this point, I had the skills. I’d done them a million times over. The trouble came when I considered the fact that I’d never done them on an Olympic stage. The pressure had gotten to me a bit the day before, but I knew finals would be so much harder. The only thing I could do was trust my body and conquer my fears.

By the early afternoon, I’d worked through the skills I thought might give me trouble the next day. For every three skills I stuck perfectly, I got a water break and a few minutes of stretching on the floor. Gymnasts slowly started to trickle in, but we didn’t talk. We carved out our own space in the gym and stayed there.

I was gently moving through my floor routine, marking the tumbling passes, when Erik walked in with the rest of my team. Rosie, Molly, and Lexi smiled and waved when they saw me, but I finished marking my routine before walking over to meet them.

“How long have you been here?” Molly asked, eyeing the chalk staining my navy blue leotard.

I shrugged. “A while.”

She nodded. “I would have come with you, y’know.”

“I know.”

I just needed some space—from the team, from Erik, from everything.

Too bad I wasn’t going to get it.

Erik turned his attention to me and his blue eyes were as sharp as knives. His hair was tousled and his gray shirt was tight enough to display the defined slope of his chest and shoulders. My stomach clenched with nerves. I wanted to ask him where he’d gone the night before. I wanted to ask him what he’d thought of my performance and most of all, I wanted to know why he’d left me there, why he hadn’t taken me with him.

“What have you worked on already?” he asked, his voice even and calm.

I moved my gaze over his shoulder. “Everything.”

He nodded. “Go back to the village then; I don’t want you getting hurt before tomorrow.”

“I’m not done yet.”

“Brie.”

He was already annoyed, which meant his fuse was even shorter than normal.

I turned and threw my next sentence over my shoulder. “I’m going to eat lunch, but I’m coming back after that.”

I took the shuttle back to the village and ate in the food court on the first floor of the athlete complex. There were athletes everywhere, and most of the tables were already taken by the time I slid into a spare seat in the corner. I scarfed down my grilled chicken and vegetables, starved after my morning workout. Erik didn’t want me to work too hard, but I wanted to go through a few more routines before I called it a day.

By the time I made it back to the training complex, it was late afternoon. Most of the gymnasts were trickling out, done for the day. I passed Lexi and Rosie on my way back inside.

“There you are,” Rosie said, smiling tentatively.

“You good, Watson?” Lexi asked.

I stared past them to where June and Molly stood near the vault talking to Erik. “I’m fine. Just needed to train solo today.”

Lexi nodded. “I was watching you earlier. You looked really good.”

I inhaled her words and finally turned to face them. I could see the hidden worry there; they weren’t sure if I was cracking under the stress or just focused. Hell, I wasn’t sure myself. “Thanks.”

Rosie reached out for my hand. “Will we see you back at the condo soon? We were going to hang out and take it easy before tomorrow.”

“Yeah, definitely.” I forced a fake smile. “Save me some room on the couch.”

She smiled as she released my hand, and a flood of nerves replaced her warmth.

The next day, the top five countries were slotted to compete in team finals. All five teams were good, and unfortunately there hadn’t been a clear winner after qualifications. We’d placed first, but only by the skin of our teeth, which meant the next day, every single event and every single routine would be a battlefield. Out of the five gymnasts on our team, only four were competing in each event. Of those, only three scores counted. I was one of the gymnasts picked to compete in every event, which meant I had the weight of the team on my back. If I bobbled on beam even once, if I took a step on vault, if I stepped out of bounds on floor, it could cost Team USA the gold.

I tried not to think about the possibility for error as I stashed my bag in the same spot where I’d left it earlier that morning. There was no going back. If I even opened the door a crack, it’d be game over. The stress would eat me alive.

I felt Erik’s presence behind me before I glanced up and saw him standing near me. He was checking his phone near the cubbies. He scrolled through something and then locked the screen, turning to me. His head tilted to the side, studying me for a moment. I turned away.