Page 141 of Dickathlon

“The landing!” I half-screamed.

“Another error?” I could practically feel the nervous energy coming from Alex.

“Nice work, kiddo. Let’s get these added to the protest. Your eyes are better than mine. You should do it.”

I focused all my attention on my penmanship, giving the form to Coach to look over once I was finished.

“Should be at least nine-tenths of a point more if they see eye to eye with us. The fee is five hundred, I believe, but take a thousand, just in case,” Coach said, handing me the cash from the zipper bag.

I heard Alex ask, “You’re spending five hundred dollars on this?” before I sprinted down the side of the podium towards the judges.

The arena was quiet in anticipation of our protest. It was the event finals, so nothing else was happening; the rings were on pause until this was resolved. Coach and I paced in front of Alex, who was sitting and chewing his nails. I tried to reassure him, as did Coach. We both did what we could. If nothing changed, it was still the best routine I had ever seen him do.

It didn’t matter what we said, though. I could tell he was nervous, hopeful, and half-in-shock that this was happening. I’m sure it was his first protest.

It was for me. They weren't common.

And five hundred dollars was a lot of money to me and Alex, but it wasn’t coming out of Coach’s pocket. It was from USA Gymnastics at Coach’s discretion. Even if we failed, they’d back him up. It was completely worth it to try.

I glanced up. The arena had gone silent because the judges were finally done conferring. It was a good sign they hadn’t sent someone over to us. I stared at the scoreboard, willing the numbers to appear.

16.033

A full point! I couldn’t believe it. Coach and I swarmed Alex with hugs. He was all smiles.

His smile was a whole lot bigger after the last rings routine. He was still in first place and it was highly unlikely to change. When the score came in, Alex was speechless.

“Bro, you’ve just won a gold medal!” I pretty much screamed into his ear.

“Congratulations, Alex.” Coach came over with another hug.

“Thank you! Thank you both so much!” Alex found some words. “Without the protest, I wouldn’t have won. I couldn’t have done this without you both.”

“You’re a stand-up dude, Alex. You deserve this.”

“Thanks, Coach.”

It wasn’t the first time I had been called that, but it really hit me. I helped this happen. I helped someone achieve a dream.

And it felt pretty fucking good.

My high from Alex’s win just kept growing. Watching his little brother run up to him and jump into his arms may have helped that feeling. His parents tried to convince him to celebrate with lunch, but Alex wouldn’t leave the arena until after the vault.

The balance beam final was already done by the time we made it to the stands. It was now only a matter of minutes before we watched Cam try for what could be his first Olympic gold medal.

Unless Luke had something to say about that.

It was pretty much random he made it into the event final. It’s not that he was a terrible vaulter. He was an all-around threat, for sure, but vault wasn’t his strongest event. He just had a really good day during qualifications.

I texted Declan to see how his day was going. I was curious what he was up to now that he was tapering.

“How’s the boyfriend?” Colton asked, nudging my knee with his.

“I’m not sure you should be asking me that.”

“Why not? Because of the other morning? Felt like our locker room.”

I did my best to not sound possessive. “You could’ve just backed out when you realized.”