Page 24 of The Forever Vault

“Just looking out for you, Luke.”

We headed for some empty space along the edge of the podium. I could feel the need to roll out some of my muscles, and a few stretches wouldn’t hurt either. We had been focusing on the parallel bars for the last thirty minutes or so. I’d ask about an ice bath later. Admittedly, I wasn’t as young as I used to be, and I wasn’t ashamed to admit I was starting to feel it.

“Not that we said anything just now that reminded me of Cam, but how’s he doing?”

I grabbed the roller he held out to me and started working my muscles, taking a few seconds to formulate an answer. “Alright, I guess? I think it was hard for him at first. We, uh…tried to distract ourselves. But he seemed okay last night, and we have plans to have dinner with the team tonight.”

Shane nodded, arms crossed.

“Speaking of, I didn’t see Preston in the locker room yesterday. Does he have his own now or something?”

“Yeah, Woodward and Cassandra sat down with Dmitry and made things pretty clear. He and Preston are to keep to themselves while the team is training, and Coach got him access to a separate locker room. Perks of being the host country, I guess.”

“How’s it going, gentlemen?”

I smiled at Cassandra as she approached us. “Going well.”

“Just letting this guy work out some kinks,” Shane said.

“I thought Luke’s kinks were a private matter?”

“Ha ha.”

Apparently, Shane thought that was hysterical. I hadn’t heard him laugh like that in a while.

“So I get two coaches this time around, huh?”

“Oh, come on, Luke. You know you missed having me around!”

“From what O told me, no. I didn’t. You’re just as much a hardass as you were before.”

“Well, now I have feelings and compassion. Did O not mention that?”

Cassandra’s joke made me smile. Our relationship had come a long way from what it was in London. So much so that she stayed with us for a few weeks and helped with the cottage. She even roped her brother into coming down to help us get our pool functional again, which would’ve been a nightmare to figure out on our own. Living in Florida had its perks. Apparently, degunking an abandoned pool was better than freezing cold weather and snowstorms.

“Keep working on those muscles, Luke. We’ll run through some ring sequences after lunch, okay?”

I nodded.

“I know your body’s not as supple as it used to be.”

I flipped him the finger and rolled my eyes. “Really? Supple?”

Shane shrugged. “I’m just teasing. You’ve still got it.”

I ignored the backhanded compliment and continued rolling.

* * *

“How’s your new roommate, O?”

“Oh…” O glanced sideways at Miles and smiled. “He’s alright. I would say I was disappointed, but the bedrooms are separate this time. Austin and I don’t seem to be bothering him too much. I don’t think so, anyway.”

Ezra and I looked across the table at Miles, expectantly, and were met with a blush and a diverted gaze.

“Who’s Austin’s roommate?” I asked, pivoting the attention back to O.

“Uh, another wrestler, big black guy. Not in the same weight class as Austin.”