Page 31 of Floored By Love

I was happy to hear his laughter. It was clear he was enjoying the movie. After it ended, we stayed up and kept chatting about random stuff, but eventually the words stopped and my hand just absent-mindedly rubbed his chest. We were in the same position as when we started the movie.

After a few minutes of silence, I realized Colton was asleep. I tried to wake him, but he was out. I extricated my limbs from under him, went over to his bed to flip his comforter back and only because I was an Olympic gymnast was I able to carry his tall frame to the bed. He mumbled something about a ‘hero’ and flipped over onto his stomach. I made sure each of our phones were plugged in and my alarm was set, then I whispered, ‘Good night,’ got into my bed, and shut the light off.

* * *

The next morning, Colton and I headed to the dining hall for breakfast. We had the day off since the opening ceremony was tonight and qualifications were tomorrow. We ended up in the last division, so before we even performed we were going to know the scores we needed to get in order to qualify. The exact opposite of last time where we went first. We still had to do our best, but it put a little more pressure on us to know the exact numbers. I’d have to remind Noah not to tell me about the scores.

“So, what time’s your mom flying in?”

I answered, “A little after noon, I think.” She was staying in a hotel close to the village. I tried to convince her to invite her friend Isabel or one of Dad’s siblings, but she said she wanted all of her focus to be on me.

“Nice,” was all Colton said in reply. The spark he had yesterday before his family arrived had disappeared. I didn’t need to ask if it was because of what happened at dinner last night. He seemed to sense the awkward silence. “Thanks for last night.”

“What? My anti-barn mule does it for you?”

“Wasn’t the first time I’ve seen it. And no, dicks-on-the-brain - I’ll come back to that - I meant thanks for stickin’ up for me.” He scratched his neck. “For us. At supper.” He looked into the distance before meeting my gaze. “It means a lot.”

I shrugged. “I would’ve said it to anyone.”

“But it wasn’t just anyone, it was to Daddy and Beau. You might not know it, but you got their wheels turnin’ and I reckon when I come out to them, this’ll have made it easier. I just know it.”

I was happy that he felt that way. Honestly, I was thrilled if it ended up making things better for him, but I didn’t speak up because of that. I said something because I can’t stand assholes saying shit like that about people they don’t even know. Orion was a great guy and neither he nor Luke deserved to be talked about that way.

“Well, I’m happy if you think it helped.”

He nodded and finished his cereal. “You got plans today? Other than your mom coming, I mean.”

“Not really. You got an idea?”

Colton did, and it was a good one.

We were standing in line, about to buy two-week passes for Big Bus Tours. It was one of those red double-decker buses that screamed Great Britain. It also seemed convenient. We could hop on and off if we wanted to see something. That was the whole point - to see all of London’s sights without worrying about taxis, Tube stops or Ubers. They even had an app where you could look at the routes, track the buses’ locations, and see more information about each point of interest.

But we only had the rest of the morning before my mom flew in, so we just sat in the open-air second story of the bus and took in the scenery and the people as the bus drove through the city. It was very relaxing.

We drove past Trafalgar Square and this enormous obelisk surrounded by four huge lion statues. They were crawling with people getting photos. Colton knew we were just riding for the morning, so he noted it out loud for us to remember the lions. He wanted to come back later to get a photo of us on the back of one.

Big Ben. Tower of London. The Eye. St. Paul’s Cathedral. We saw it all from the bus in just over two hours. I took out my phone and posted.

#BigBen #selfie #gymnastsontheloose #bestbuddies #TeamUSA

Mom: Customs was a breeze. I’m on my way to the train. See you soon, sweetie!

Cam: Colton and I will be waiting for you at Victoria Station.

We stepped off the bus at Buckingham Palace since that was close to where I planned to meet my mom. She was flying into Gatwick and they had a non-stop train service to Victoria.

The palace was gorgeous. The public, of course, couldn’t just walk right up to it. There was a tall metal fence surrounding the whole thing and we could see the guards through it. I didn’t see any of them smile, though Colton tried despite my attempts to smother his taunts. The grounds around the palace were filled with red geraniums, which made for beautiful photos. We started walking to the station with time to spare. I didn’t want her to wait long without us.

All the transport we had seen had been top-notch so far, and Victoria Station was no exception. They had a huge Gatwick Express sign, so we didn’t have to look long for where to expect her. They also had electronic boards showing every upcoming arrival and departure with times and platform numbers. It was really only a matter of finding her in the crowd.

“Cam Cam!”

She found us first. Colton and I jogged over to her. She wrapped me in a big hug and squeezed, kissing my cheek, and then gave Colton a hug, too. He grabbed her suitcase, and I took her shoulder bag.

“How was the flight?”

“Oh, it was so nice! I had a tasty breakfast and a glass of wine for lunch.”