Page 9 of Floored By Love

“Barely,” I said.

“Hey, don’t do that to yourself. You worked hard and you deserve to be here.”

“I know. I know.”

He was right. I had poured myself into training when I got back from Brisbane. I needed to be the best. Anything to distract myself from my broken heart. But after winning the title that first year, I started to slip. I knew it was because I was lonely, and it was harder to see Luke each time, especially when he started doing well. And even though I told Noah I didn’t mind Shane being around, I eventually did, and then I felt like an asshole for feeling like that.

I had the support of Colton and Erika, but it wasn’t enough. I got preoccupied with thoughts that maybe I could try with another guy, but I always went back to Luke. When Colton and Zephyrus started texting, it gave me the distraction I needed to get through the past year and honestly, if that hadn’t happened, I might’ve not made it back to the games. And maybe my only chance to get some answers.

3

Lucas

I couldn’t sleep. I kept replaying Cam’s arrival in the locker room in my head and couldn’t remember if he looked at my dick. Not that it was super important, but I was trying to figure out if I still had a chance. And then Colton said ‘Cam Cam’ and I just about tackled him to the ground. I had only ever heard his mom call Cam that.

I hoped they weren’t together, but it certainly confirmed what Ty had said. At the very least, they were best friends. To make matters worse, Colton’s rippling back muscles and completely delicious ass were on full display for several minutes, and I could only imagine what Cam was seeing on the other side. Colton certainly wasn’t shy about nudity, but my mind instead chose to focus on how he had no tan lines. Somehow, living on a ranch in the middle of nowhere Texas, he was frequently naked?

My thoughts, combined with the body in front of me, had done little to help my erection, so I half-turned to wash my arms and repeated the word 'vagina' over and over, hoping it would go away. Thankfully, it did, though I still wrapped a towel around myself. But of course, they were in front of my locker and I had to say, ‘excuse me,’ and it was so awkward.

I hated it. I hated my parents. I hated what they had done to us, to someone I had loved. Still loved. But I had done it to him too, and that’s all I could think about as I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling.

Then I started thinking about seeing Cam in the locker room tomorrow, naked. I got hard immediately, and jerked myself off furiously to the memory of his dick plowing into me, hopeful that it could somehow happen again. And then, finally, I was able to fall asleep.

* * *

The banging on my door woke me up.

She never waited until my alarm went off. It was like she took pleasure in getting me up earlier. I rolled out of bed, naked, and headed to the bathroom to take a piss. After Brisbane, I kept up with Cam’s habit. He wasn’t there with me, but being naked in bed made me feel closer to him somehow. Like going back to clothes meant giving up on us somehow. I knew how weird it sounded.

Back at my dresser, I slipped on a white jockstrap, my workout shorts, a tank top, and covered up with sweatpants and a hoodie. It was comfortable during the day in London in July, but the mornings were often chilly for me.

Despite the rude wake-up routine, Cassandra always had my usual breakfast ready for me, which was nice. I managed to mumble, “Morning,” and ate my scrambled eggs. She kept herself busy doing who knew what, so I took the time to check social media. My presence there had become more conservative lately because of my parents’ interference. It wasn’t like they had control of it, but ever since they invaded my privacy in Brisbane, it forced me to be more mindful of what I did and said.

I was still a spokesmodel for Andrew Christian and I had been in contact with a few other companies recently, but nothing had materialized. It felt silly to be managed by my parents like this, but after I got through the worst of it, it easily became the norm. Apparently, I only noticed how contrived it all was when Cam was around.

With little fanfare or warning, Cassandra walked in and said, “The car is here, Lucas. Let’s go.”

I finished my juice and grabbed some snacks from the kitchen and we headed out, down to the car that would take us to the gym for practice.

We gathered on the side of the floor. It was almost eight o’clock. Noah was already there with Coach, Ty and the other assistants. O and Alex were there as well. Colton and Cam walked in together a few minutes later, which made sense since they were roommates, though I felt the familiar sting of jealousy rise in my throat. Instead of screaming, I focused on the coin in the pocket of my hoodie. The platypus coin from the zoo in Brisbane. I kept it with me ever since Cam won the championship and it had served me well. I was hoping it would do the same here in London.

Coach gathered us together and gave us his usual pep talk, followed by some announcements. Being gay was still apparently enough of a story that they wanted to interview the team that afternoon. There were a record number of out athletes at these games, and they partially credited me with helping it become more accepted. The reporter was especially interested in O and me, being on the same team. I was hoping he wouldn’t use that dreaded pun for the title of his article, but only time would tell.

I was focusing on parallel bars today. The sport had come a long way in four years. It seemed like everyone was making up new combinations and handstands at every meet, and it was tough to keep up. Increasing the difficulty of one’s routine was a quick way to boost the maximum score, even with slightly poor execution. While it sucked to have Cassandra around, she knew gymnastics, and it had helped me on the bars.

“Good work, Lucas. Take a break. We’ll come back to this and see if you can add another half turn in a few minutes.”

“Sure thing,” I nodded, and headed to my bag to grab a snack and some water.

O and Cam had finished working on the floor and were heading towards me. Apparently, I sat right next to Cam’s bag without knowing it. He sat on my left and O sat on my right.

“How’s it going?” I asked both of them, but hoped Cam would answer.

“Pretty good, Luke,” O answered. “Second day of practice and you already have nuts in your mouth, huh?”

I coughed, practically choking on the almonds I was eating, but out of the corner of my eye, I saw Cam smirk.

I took a sip of water, and recovered, “Would you like some nuts in your mouth, O?”