Page 93 of Floored By Love

I could feel the cough forming the entire routine.

I had felt great until we entered the arena. It was still too dry. And there was nothing I could do. I had already taken cough syrup. It was too much of a risk to suck on a cough drop during the routine, but if this kept up, I hoped I wouldn’t regret it.

There wouldn’t be any more deep breaths in between passes. After my first tumble, I took one, and that’s what led me to this. Holding off a cough while trying to finish the hardest floor routine of my life. I was teetering on the edge of letting the mucus win, but I remembered what Luke told me before we said goodbye an hour before.

“I’m tempted to forget the rest of the week, and go somewhere we can be alone. You’re worth more to me than any medal.”

I knew it wouldn’t change our relationship, but I still wanted to make him proud, so I summoned what spit I had and swallowed, hoping it would moisten my throat enough to allow me to finish.

Without hacking up a lung.

As soon as I saluted the judges, I ran to Noah. He had my water bottle and a towel ready. I took a swig of water, dumped a little into the towel, and shoved it in front of my mouth.

“That was great, Camden.” Woodward came over to pat my back. “How ya feeling?”

I gave him the so-so motion with my hand as I still had the towel pressed against my mouth.

“Noah, let’s have the team doctor take another look at him. Just to be sure.”

I wanted to fight it. There was a part of me that wanted to ignore what I’d been through, but the smarter part of me knew it was safer to double check. I just wanted everything to be okay. Woodward sat next to Orion on the bench, where he looked terrified.

My score came in. 15.533.

That put me in second place. It looked like another round of hoping I didn’t get pushed out of a medal. It was my default Olympic experience at this point. I shrugged it off and turned my attention to Orion. The veteran in me took over as I ignored the tingle in my throat.

“You’re going to do great, Orion. Try to relax.”

“Easy for you to say. You probably just won a silver medal.”

“Hey, you’ve got a chance. More than a chance.” I knelt down in front of him to get his attention. “I’ve seen you do better than I just did. Hell, you were first in the qualifications a few days ago. You’ve got this. Now, go crush it.”

A look of determination crossed his face. “Thanks, Cam.”

“What he said, Orion,” Coach said. “We believe in you. You gotta believe in yourself.”

Orion nodded and headed to the podium. He was next.

It was amazing until the last pass. I wondered what changed in that moment for him. I could see it. His expression changed, and then he missed a sequence and went out of bounds. After his salute, I could see the emotion flood his face. Poor kid.

“Fuck!”

“Easy, killer,” Coach warned. “Cameras, Orion.”

“Sorry, Coach,” he said, slamming himself into a seat.

Noah was still hovering, worried about my health, but I pushed him away. Coach was smart enough to leave Orion alone, but I knew he might need support, so I sat next to him.

“What happened?”

“I just didn’t have it.”

“Don’t lie. Right before your double back handspring, your face changed.” I lowered my voice. “It’s okay. You can tell me. I can’t help you if I don’t know.”

He sighed, and I waited. I assumed he was considering his options. He could lie to me again, or…

“I got distracted. I...I saw Austin in the stands and got nervous.”

“Austin?”