Page 136 of The Forever Vault

“See you tomorrow, Ty.”

I fired off a text to O because I hadn’t heard from him all day, and because I felt like shit for not even thinking of it until now. I didn’t expect a response, and I didn’t get one. Despite flirting with Cam and the obvious nudity present in Ty’s hotel room, I was tired and decided to ignore my dick for once. I turned the TV on, found The Office, and watched a few episodes before falling asleep with it running.

* * *

Cam was in training all morning, so I invited Heather to a late lunch and from there, we headed to the arena together. Cam had been a popular topic, as was my recovery, Austin’s stalker, Erika’s baby, Ty’s wedding, and even Preston’s expulsion from the team. After all, the event finals were here, and some were competing because Preston had been disqualified.

“I’m sure it’s out of everyone’s mind by now. They’ve gotta be focused on other things.”

“Oh, I know that, Luke, but it’s hard to shut my mom-worry off.”

“We’re aware,” I teased.

She shot me some side-eye, then said, “If you’re referencing the time I couldn’t get a hold of either of you and came to the house only to find you-know-what, that was only because I just saw that report about carbon monoxide dangers in old renovated houses on the news the night before!”

I smiled, but kept walking. We were almost to the main entrance where I had suggested we meet up with Ty and Declan.

“Luke!”

I turned to see Cecilia Ellis, O’s mom, hurrying over to me. O’s sister, Nia, was keeping up behind her…with a much larger man.

“Hi, Cecilia. You remember Heather, Cam’s mom?”

“Of course, sweetie.”

“Did you hire security too?”

Cecilia’s exquisitely drawn eyebrows quirked for a second before she realized I was talking about the man with Nia. She laughed for so long that Nia had to step in and save me from the awkwardness. “This is Warren, my boyfriend.”

Warren held out his hand, so I offered mine while Nia introduced me. It was hard to say if he was taller than Zeph, but I felt like a kid next to him.

“Thank you for not crushing my hand,” I said, eliciting a smile from Warren, then introduced Heather, whom he called ma’am while tipping an imaginary hat in her direction.

Cecilia finally recovered enough to say, “Being in the spotlight is a messy business, and if we did need protection, you can bet your ass Warren would’ve handled that bastard! I just hope those boys can finally get some quiet. That piece of garbage should be staying behind bars this time, if I have anything to say about it.”

“And I heard his coach is going to be okay,” Heather said.

“Well, I could’ve told you it’d take more than an asshole to take down Joshua ‘The Cannon’ Gannon. He’s got reflexes like a panther.” Cecilia demonstrated her panther impression.

Once Heather and Cecilia started chatting about the stress of being the mother of an Olympian, that was my cue to shuffle closer to Warren and Nia. Nia was engrossed in her phone, but Warren kept me politely engaged in conversation. I inwardly scolded myself for not knowing Nia even had a boyfriend, but it was natural for people in relationships to spend less time with others. O and I hadn’t been speaking as much as we used to and we lived in different time zones.

Warren seemed a little too interested in my muscles and how much gymnasts could bench, but I reminded myself not everyone’s gay. He was probably just addicted to the gym and wanted to bro out.

“Bro!”

I turned to see Ty, bundled in a hoodie, hand-in-hand with Declan, who was only wearing a t-shirt.

“Aren’t you cold, Dec?” I asked.

“Not when I have this little cutie to warm me up!”

Ty grabbed my shirt and leaned in to whisper, “The closer the wedding gets, the more he’s like this.”

“How tragic.” I pushed him back into Declan’s arms, and introduced them all to each other before we snagged Heather and Cecilia and headed into the arena.

I managed to sneak through the crowd without getting recognized. The dreary weather might’ve been a factor, but Warren and Declan were also rather imposing…or eye-catching, if I was being honest with myself. Even as an underwear model and world-class gymnast, I had to admit some days it would’ve been nice to be over six feet tall.

“That was sweet of you, Luke, to let Noah have one more day at the Olympics with Cam,” Heather said as we weaved through the crowd to find our suite.