Fighting to Win (The Elite Book 1) (3 page)

“
A
re you ready
, Julia?”

She gave herself one last look in the mirror and straightened her blazer. Wearing the official USA team uniform for the Opening Ceremony felt like it was all a dream she was about to wake up from any minute now. But it was no dream. She was standing in the room she shared with Brooke in Rio.

Taking a deep breath, Julia turned and faced her roommate, Brooke. “Yep, let’s go.”

Bubbles of excitement fizzed through her blood. There was nothing like an Opening Ceremony. She’d floated through her first one in London. Nothing could replace the absolute rush of joy that had fizzed through her as the crowd roared when the team walked through the tunnel. All her doubts about enjoying this ceremony, as much as enjoying the one in London, drained out of her with every passing minute.

Julia checked her purse for her camera. It was a given that every athlete took photos of the team on the big screen as they walked into the arena. If she was lucky, she might be able to get a picture of herself on the big screen too. She couldn’t wait to see the show Rio put on. No doubt there would be elaborate and barely there costumes; the women would wear fabulous headpieces full of feathers and large, glittering crystals. Speculation had it that the lighting of the torch was going to be even more spectacular than the arrow in Barcelona in 1992.

Everything an Olympic Opening Ceremony was meant to be.

“Did you hear Mitch is going to carry the flag?” Brooke asked as they headed down to the central meeting point for the athletes.

“I had heard that. I was surprised though; he has to compete tomorrow, and usually athletes competing on the first official day of the Games skipped the Opening Ceremony

“Yeah, but the swimming doesn’t start until the afternoon, so he’ll be able to relax a bit. You know it’s not every day you get to carry the flag.”

Julia would’ve loved to the opportunity Mitch was given, but that honor was usually left to athletes who were at the top of their sport or had been around for a long time. Mitch had both of those things covered. She had been surprised he hadn’t carried the flag at the Closing Ceremony in London, especially after his medal haul.

“True. I’m really happy for him.” She couldn’t keep the longing out of her voice. She could deny it all she wanted but the truth of the matter was, she missed Mitch so much. Missed the way he understood her need to get lost with her thoughts sometimes. The way he would sit next to her, his arm wrapped around her shoulders, not saying a word. Just having him beside her was all she needed some days.

“I know this probably isn’t the right time to ask, but why did you two break up?”

“Didn’t you see the papers?”

“Well, sure, but that picture of you and Brett, to me it didn’t seem like you were fawning all over him like the papers made out it to be. I know you were dealing with your bribery charge as well. But, Jules, I saw you and Mitch together. You guys had the real thing. I can’t believe he wouldn’t want to stand by you during the whole investigation.”

That was the problem and something she couldn’t voice to Brooke. He had wanted to stand by her. No matter how many times she told him to walk away. To protect his career and not get sucked down into her mess. But he wouldn’t listen. He would give her a look and tell her that, no matter what, he was going to be with her through everything.

Julia had already known that she had to do something to get Mitch to distance himself from her when Anabel had approached her..

The incident with Brett had been totally innocent. She’d tripped and he’d been there and the paparazzi had caught it. However, the subsequent buzz had been exactly what she needed to get it through to Mitch that he was better off without her. And Brett, had seemed more than happy to deal with Mitch’s wrath. She hadn’t deserved Brett’s support, but she gratefully accepted it.

But her reminiscing wasn’t answering Brooke’s question. “Well, sometimes things happen and what you thought was strong was, in fact, as fragile as the thread of a spider’s web.”

Thank God they’d arrived at the check-in point and any chance of further conversation was gone as they walked into the noisy room. Julia immediately found Mitch talking with Drake. He appeared relaxed. If she was about to carry the flag, she’d be worried she would trip up and embarrass herself in front of half a billion people watching the ceremony worldwide.

How she wanted to go up and congratulate him on the honor. Whisper how proud she was of him. But she’d lost the right to share this moment with him when she’d made the decision to let him believe she’d cheated on him.

“Hey, Julia, it’s good to see you.”

She swiveled around and found Brett Hunter standing behind her. She immediately wrapped her arm around him in a side hug. It’s great to see you, too. How have you been?” she asked as she pulled away from his embrace.

“I’ve been good. Training hard.”

She grimaced. “Haven’t we all?”

“Yep, it’s what you do when you want to compete on the world stage.”

At that moment, the announcement was given for the athletes to line up.

Julia grabbed both of Brett’s hands and squeezed them. “Good luck. I hope you do well.”

“But not win?”

She lifted a shoulder, releasing his hands.

He would be competing against Mitch.

Brett shook his head and laughed. “It’s okay, I get it. But I hope you win, Julia. You deserve that.”

With a wink he walked into the mass of bodies making up the U.S. Olympic team.

Straightening her shoulders, she made her way toward her fellow diving teammates. No matter what she thought of Trina, she liked the other girls, and together they would present a united front. And if she didn’t win a medal, then she would at least treasure this memory of being in Rio.

T
he pungent smell
of chlorine assailed her senses as she walked into the aquatic center. The stadium was filling up quickly, which wasn’t surprising considering it was the first day of competition. Hopefully, there would be a good contingent of other athletes in the stands so Mitch wouldn’t notice her presence. Although it hadn’t made him nervous in the past—in fact, he’d told her that he liked to see her face in the crowd after his races. Would he feel that way today?

Why was she here? She should watch the heats in her room. Yes, that’s what she would do. She swiveled around and ran smack bang into a wall of muscle.

“Julia! I knew you wouldn’t be able to stay away.”

Crap, no chance of escaping now.

She pasted a smile on her face and took a step back. “I’m here supporting everyone, Drake.”

Drake rolled his eyes. “Uh huh, and how many times have you told yourself that in an effort to convince you and everyone else that what you’re saying is the truth?”

The last thing she wanted to do was get into was a disagreement with Drake. And denying the real reason she was here would be pointless when it came to Mitch’s best friend. “Fine, yes, I’m here to see Mitch. He’s striving for Olympic history. Why wouldn’t I want that for him?”

“Because you’re doing everything to avoid him. Why don’t you just sit down and talk to him?”

They made their way up the steps to where everyone else sat. “Because sometimes, in reality, having an uncomfortable conversation is not so easy for some of us. I won’t do anything to distract him from what he’s trying to achieve here. The last thing he needs is for me to disrupt his focus.”

“And you think this tension between the two of you is doing him any good? I room with the guy. He’s as tight as a piano string. You need to talk to him, Julia.”

Another group of athletes joined them, and she never been so relieved to be interrupted in the middle of a conversation. Although hearing Mitch was tense didn’t make her happy. He was competing in two events tonight, the 400m freestyle and the 400m individual medley. He was in another three events over the course of the next week. He had the chance to win up to five gold medals. She knew he performed better when he was relaxed.

“Is he prepared, Drake?”

After all she’d gone through to break up with him in an effort not to be a burden to his preparation for the Games, she’d hate it if being around him was still enough of a distraction for him not to get through to the finals and achieve his Olympic dreams.

“It’s Mitch. Of course he’s prepared. Why would you think any different?”

“Well, the fact that our interaction at the press event was well documented all over the Internet the last couple of days. He had to have known about it.”

“Sure, but this is the Olympics. Mitch’s focus hasn’t wavered, and I should know.”

This didn’t make sense. He’d just told her Mitch was coiled tighter than a cobra. How could his focus not have wavered? “Do you spend all your time together?”

“Well, no.”

“Then you don’t know what he does when he’s not in the room. You don’t know how his training sessions have gone. And you just told me he was tense. What am I supposed to think?”

“I said he was tense about the situation between the two of you. I’m guessing from what you said earlier, you don’t like confrontations, but you did it once before when you broke up with him. I think there’s still unfinished business that needs to be sorted between you both. Mitch’s focus on his swimming hasn’t wavered. He knows what his end goal is in the pool. Out of it not, so much.”

There was no censure in Drake’s words, but she understood the message.

“Okay, let’s hope you…” Her words trailed off as Mitch walked out from the changing room. He had his headphones on, and she knew he’d have the Black Veil Brides playing. They were his favorite band. She wanted to rush down and give him a good luck kiss. The kind of kiss she used to give him right before he walked into the locker room for his competitions. He’d told her she was his good luck charm. She couldn’t deny that it had thrilled her when he whispered it in her ear, even if he’d won tons of races before they’d hooked up.

“He’s going to be fine. There’s no way he isn’t going to come away from these Games without some gold.”

“I hope you’re right,” she muttered.

Mitch was now swinging his arms around, loosening them up. Brett wasn’t in this heat. No doubt the two of them would meet either in the semis or the finals.

Julia clasped her hands tightly together as Mitch stepped up on the starting block. Her insides twisted in anticipation of what would happen in the next minute. She could only imagine how Anabel was feeling.

Mitch and the other seven competitors assumed the starting position, and Julia reached for Drake’s hand—like she’d always done.

“Like old times, hey, Jules?”

Leaning forward, her eyes fixed on the racers, she didn’t pay much notice to what Drake was saying.

She jumped as the sound of the starting gun bounced around the arena, the noise reverberating through her body. Mitch hit the water with a big splash, and his was the first head that popped up.

She allowed herself to relax a fraction at his smooth, measured movements as he cleaved through the water like a hot knife cutting through butter. By the time he made his turn after the first lap, he was leading by quarter of a body’s length.

That distance lengthened with each lap of the pool. He slammed his hands on the tiled wall, a full body ahead of his nearest competitor.

Julia jumped, clapping. “Did you see that, Drake? He left them for dead. What a superb race.”

Drake hugged her. “I sure did. And, yeah, it was a good heat. But—”

“Don’t you dare say it, Drake. I know he was the strongest swimmer in the heat. I bet all the other competitors were groaning in frustration when they saw his name on the list.”

“I bet.”

A loud cheer came from the people around her, and Julia turned to see Mitch waving up at everyone, including his cheering teammates. His smile faltered when his gaze landed on hers. For endless seconds their gazes remained locked on each other, only to be broken when someone slapped him on his back.

“Yeah, you two are so not done.”

“Shut up, Drake.”

T
he wait
between the heats and the finals seemed never-ending to Mitch. He hadn’t expected to see Julia in the crowd, sitting next to Drake like she had at his past meets. After their last conversation, he expected her to avoid being near him at all costs. He was getting tired of the mixed messages she was sending him. She was the one who pushed him away when he’d been willing to stand by her. She was the one who said she didn’t love him anymore. She was the one who decided Brett’s arms were better than his.

He grabbed his backpack and wandered around the athletes’ lounge. He smiled at the current Australian 100m butterfly champion. Brett was sitting in the corner, chatting to a couple of guys from Canada. No way was he going to head over there and chat.

The finals of both his races were filled with some of the best athletes—not surprising since they were at the Olympics. It wasn’t going to be as easy to win the gold in each race.

He glanced at his watch; he still had a couple of hours before he needed to be back in time to compete. Maybe a walk would clear his head. He could seek out Anabel and talk to her, but he’d rather not. He had a feeling it would only make him more nervous.

Not too far from the athletes’ lounge was a park. He sat down in the middle of a bench, put on his headphones, and hit random on his music app.

The sun felt good on his skin. He reached into his pack and pulled out a bottle of mosquito repellant, spraying it liberally over his arms and legs; the last thing he wanted to risk was contracting the Zika virus. So many athletes had pulled out because of the threat, but there was no way he was going to miss his final Games.

Something tapped his shoulder. He looked up and found Julia standing by the bench. He took off his headphones and raised his eyebrows in question. The chances of Julia looking for him seemed slim. It was probably more a coincidence that she happened to be taking a walk in the park at the same time he was there.

“Can I join you?”

“If you want.” He slid to the left, his side abutted the wooden armrest. Not exactly comfortable, but the move put distance between him and wherever Julia sat.

The light floral scent she wore wafted gently to him on the light breeze. His thoughts immediately went to another park, except then they were lying on a blanket and they spent most of their time kissing.

That wasn’t going to happen today.

Out of the corner of his eye he could see her drumming her fingers against her knee. Her display of nerves made him sit up straighter. What was she about to say?

“You swam really well this morning.”

Not what he expected, but a neutral subject that suited him fine. “I was lucky with the draw. The semis won’t be so easy.”

“Do you have any idea who will be in your race?”

“Not yet. I’ll know when I get to the pool.”

“Right.”

The sound of birds chirping filled the silence that had descended around them. Before they’d split up, he’d been able to tell what was going on in Julia’s mind. Now he had no idea what was going on behind her eyes hidden by her sunglasses. Her body language was closed off.

The tension he’d lost while walking seeped back into his muscles. This hadn’t been the end goal of his walk. He’d hope to return to the aquatic center with a clear and focused mind.

“Did you come looking for me for a reason, or did you find me by chance?” he eventually asked when it looked like Julia wasn’t going to say anything.

“I watched you leave the athletes’ lounge and I followed you.”

“If I didn’t know you so well, I could say, ‘Stalkerish much?’”

She laughed, and the sound washed over him, taking away some of the tension.

“I wonder if we shouldn’t have a talk.”

Irritation slammed through him. “Right, and talking just before I need to head back to the aquatic center is a good idea?”

“No, but…”

“No buts about it. The timing is lousy. You ignored my calls after the allegations against you became public knowledge. You didn’t want my support. And then you chose someone else to share your woes with. But, now, before I’m about to head into a major event, is the time to talk?”

He didn’t think his reaction was over the top. In all honesty, he knew he’d let their encounter at the press event bother him when he practiced the next day. But tonight there was no way his focus was going to be on Julia and why she’d betrayed him with Brett. After the finals and only after he’d won the gold, then he’d let himself consider thinking about the whole messy situation.

“I can’t argue with you; the timing sucks. You have to know I never wanted to hurt you.”

“It doesn’t matter. The fact is, you did hurt me, and I still don’t understand why.”

“I had my reasons. Breaking up was the best thing for the both of us.”

“Well, you made it abundantly clear it was the best thing for you.”

Mitch got up, agitation firing through his muscles. He had to keep them loose. All the frustration and annoyance he’d felt during their breakup threatened to bombard him. He had been prepared to support her through her journey to prove her innocence, even if it got ugly. He knew Anabel hadn’t liked him being with Julia. Oh, she didn’t hate Julia. Anabel just had the same thought in wanting to keep him far away from the scandal so he didn’t get dragged down into it. He had argued numerous times with his coach that he would be fine.

“Mitch, you had to know the more you came out and defended me, the more jittery your sponsors got.”

“Who told you that?” Sure, one of his sponsors had emailed Anabel about possibly pulling their support, and they’d had their worst argument about the whole situation. He’d walked out and gone to see Julia, only to find she hadn’t been home, again. He hadn’t given too much thought to the other times he’d gone to her place and she hadn’t been there. Even when he asked her about it, she’d fobbed him off, saying she’d been busy working on her case.. When the picture of her and Brett had appeared in the papers, he had his answer for those absences. Her telling him she didn’t love him anymore had crushed him. After that, threats from his sponsors weren’t in the forefront of his mind. Healing his bruised and battered heart had been all he concentrated on. He also hadn’t wanted to see or hear Anabel’s
I told you so
. They hadn’t spoken about the fight. Instead, they worked on keeping his fitness level up and getting to the Olympic trials.

Now he had to wonder if Anabel had said anything to Julia about breaking it off with him.

“No one said anything to me. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that sponsors pull out at any hint of a scandal. I lost nearly all of mine after the bribing headlines hit the Internet.”

He couldn’t tell from her cadence if she was lying or not. It didn’t matter if Anabel said something or not. The onus of the relationship falling apart was on the both of them. The past was the past— the big question now was, could he forgive Julia for what she’d done with Brett?

Did they have a hope of trying to be friends? He couldn’t deny he was still attracted to her. He hadn’t looked at another woman since their breakup. Julia flamed his senses to life like no one ever could.

Mitch sat back down next to her and took one of her hands. He’d always loved holding Julia. Always needed to have that connection with her, even it if was just their knees brushing together.

“I know you would never bribe judges. It’s not in your nature. You didn’t have to go through it all alone. I loved you, Jules.”

She lifted her sunglasses. Her blue eyes were shining with unshed tears. Her hand cupped his jaw. “I know,” she whispered. “But I had to. I had to protect you, Mitch.”

He couldn’t stop himself from leaning forward and slipping a hand around Julia’s neck, bringing her closer to him. “I didn’t need protecting then, and I don’t need it now.”

Mitch closed the distance between them and laid his lips over hers, giving in to the temptation that he’d been denying himself since the moment he saw her standing at the airport. He needed her kiss as much as he needed his next breath.

Julia sighed against his mouth, and he took advantage to slip his tongue in. Her hand moved from his face to his neck, bringing her body closer to his. Her body melted into his like it hadn’t been almost a year since they’d been apart. Since the last time they’d touched.

God, he missed this. Missed being able to touch and kiss Julia whenever he wanted. He hadn’t even looked at another girl since they broke up. He wanted nothing more than to scoop her onto his lap so that she rested against his aching erection. But he was also aware they sat in the middle of a park where anyone could walk past them.

Reluctantly, he pulled away and rested his forehead against hers.

“Meet me after the medal ceremony, Jules. We still have unfinished business between us, and we’re not going to get through it all now. I need to go get ready.”

Julia pulled out of his embrace. He wanted to pull her back. He could almost feel the brick wall she was about to put up. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Don’t shut me out again, Jules. If you aren’t waiting after the medal ceremony, I’ll come looking for you. I know which room you’re in.”

“How do you know that? Now who looks stalkerish?”

“Brooke told me you were sharing, and she happened to mention which building you were in and room number,
in case I wanted to visit
, were her words.”

With her sunglasses still sitting atop her head he was, once again, able to tell what was going through her mind. There, she blinked her eyes too fast. He’d caught her by surprise, and, yes, that was definitely irritation flitting by. Now her mouth relaxed, so she was coming around to the idea of a surprise visit. Even though they’d been apart since the beginning of December, he could still understand every emotion she felt.

“Fine, I’ll meet you. I was going to watch you anyway,” she finished grudgingly.

Happiness flowed through him. “Then I will make sure I win.”

“Win for yourself. No one else.” Her hand cupped his face again, and he turned his head and kissed the inside of her palm.

“Always.”