Page 14 of The Forever Vault

I didn’t have to wait long for a response.

Cam: Yeah, Zeph’s here too. Hotel is nice.

Cam: All male, clothing optional. You’re missing out, tiger.

Luke: You’re joking.

Cam: Already got hit on by a porn star.

I couldn’t stop myself from laughing. And here I was, thinking he was going to be depressed.

“What?”

I showed Ezra my phone.

“How are you guys this lucky?”

Luke: So, when’s our threesome?

Cam: Funny. He didn’t ask after I said we were monogamous

Cam: Zeph and Colton were big fans though.

Luke: I bet. Plans post-porn star flirt sesh?

Cam: Not sure. Exploring the Castro?

Luke: Have fun.

Cam: How’s the roomie?

Luke: Hasn’t shut up about you. I should be offended, but I understand his appreciation.

Cam: Apparently, I attract younger men.

Luke: Don’t let it go to your head.

Luke: And don’t you dare type ‘it’s not going there’

Cam: You don’t know me. :-P

An alert came through on my phone. Same for Ezra.

“We should head out soon. Meeting time,” he said.

Luke: First meeting’s coming up. Call you later. Love you.

Cam: Love you more.

“Welcome, everyone. As you can see, we’ve got quite a crowd.”

I looked around the table and he was right. I recognized maybe half the room. Shane was sitting to my left. Ezra had taken the seat to my right. I assumed his coach was next to him. Orion was across the table from me. He was still flying solo, coach-wise, but he was dating Austin and they were both about to get their first taste of Olympic romance.

“Based on limitations on the coaching staff for this Olympics, the people you see around you are the representatives of US Men’s Gymnastics in San Francisco. I’ve already spoken with all of the personal coaches and let them know that they may have to take on other roles as the team needs them, but only time will tell. Our only assistant coach this year is Cassandra Marudas. She’s been with me and Team USA for a few years and was integral in helping Lucas qualify for the London Olympics.”

Cassandra and I had made our peace in London, so I was happy for her when Woodward invited her back as a national team coach after Ty left to stay local. I had seen her at competitions and she checked in via text from time to time, but I usually spent all my time and energy on Cam, Heather, Shane and Noah.

“Luke, his preferred name, is one of our returning Olympic veterans, and this is his coach, Shane Sullivan. This will be Luke’s third Olympics, which is quite an accomplishment.”