Fighting to Win (The Elite Book 1) (8 page)

Julia rubbed her hand up and down Mitch’s back. “He’s right, Mitch. Let them deal with it. It’s over, and I’m pretty sure these are my last Games. I won gold. I don’t want anything to tarnish this moment.”

Mitch turned, his eyes blazing with anger, which quickly cooled when he looked at her. “Are you sure about this?”

“Yes. When it all comes out, Trina will be the one to have to live with the knowledge that she’ll never be able to compete again.”

“Listen to Julia,” Griffin advised. “Enjoy the last few days of the Games.” With that he looked at his associate, who had stood quietly in the corner through the whole discussion. “Congratulations to both of you on your victories. You’ve represented the United States admirably.”

Griffin left her and Mitch alone in the room.

M
itch blew
out a breath as the door closed, sending the remaining anger burning inside of him with it. Even though part of what had happened between him and Julia in the last year had been sorted out, there was still the matter of her and Brett that he needed answers about. Ignoring it wouldn’t make it go away. It wasn’t going to go away until they faced up to it and he knew exactly what had gone on with Julia and Brett.

He gathered the strength needed to ask the question he should’ve asked a long time ago.

“What happened with you and Brett? Were you really seeing him while you were seeing me?”

Julia’s eyes widened before her lashes dropped down. When she opened them again, he could see the glimmer of shame and guilt in their depths. “Nothing. Nothing happened between Brett and I. I used him and that photo deliberately.”

“Used him how?”

“To break up with you.”

“That’s a really shitty thing to do.”

“I know, but you wouldn’t listen to me, Mitch. I had to do something to make you see that being with me while the investigation proceeded wasn’t good for you.”

What in the hell was Julia talking about?.

“Why? Why was having my support so bad that you had to deliberately set out to break up with me?”

“Mitch, you broke three world records. Sponsors were clamoring to get you to endorse products. Being associated with me in any way had the potential to affect those deals. As it was, people started to question your records, whether you had bribed your fellow competitors to let you win. You didn’t need my scandal to deal with as well.”

“I would’ve handled it. I didn’t need you to protect me like that. Do you know how it felt to see that picture in the paper and then hear you tell me you were seeing Brett and didn’t love me anymore? It just about killed me.” His voice broke.

“It wasn’t easy for me either,” she mumbled looking down. “I never wanted to hurt you. And while it may not make sense to you now or then, it made perfect sense to me. If I had to do it all over again, I would do the exact same thing. I wasn’t going to let you lose sponsors or have your career tarnished because of a scandal involving me.” She paused. “You were the king of swimming, had proven yourself over and over. And even though I was world champion, the title was being questioned. I wasn’t in your league. I wasn’t a true champion. How could I be worthy of your unfailing support?”

That cut deep. How could she think she wasn’t worth his love and support? He would do anything for her. He’d never stopped loving her while they’d been apart.

“Did you ever love me like you said you did?” he asked the question burning deep inside of him. The way she’d acted with him these Games couldn’t all be an act, could it? When she turned away, all hope drained out of him. Then she turned back to face him, her eyes glistening with unshed tears in the muted light of room.

“Yes.” The word sighed out of her. “Don’t you see? If I didn’t love you so much, I wouldn’t have cared what the hell happened to you or your career. If I didn’t love you, I would’ve used your name in any way I could to clear my name. If I didn’t love you, I wouldn’t be standing here now, seeking your forgiveness for hurting you so badly.”

Julia walked toward him, her eyes never leaving his. A single tear trailing slowly down her cheek. She stopped in front of him and placed a hand on his chest. His heart kicked up a notch. “Please forgive me, Mitch. I didn’t want to hurt you, but I had to in order to keep you and your career and name safe. I’m sorry.”

Her words seeped into his soul. What would he have done if the roles had been reversed? If it had been him who was accused of bribing the judges or something worse? Would he be man enough to sacrifice his feelings to keep her safe?

Yes.

Unequivocally, yes.

He would do whatever it took to protect Julia. He loved her enough to set her free. Like she had set him free. Only they would never be free of each other. This past week and half proved that; the invisible thread of love pulled them toward each other.

Seeing her standing in front of him, begging for his forgiveness, proved she still loved him.

He knew what he needed to say.

“There’s nothing to forgive in my eyes, but I know you need it. So, yes, Julia, my love, I forgive you. And I understand why you did it.”

Tears seeped down her cheeks. With a groan he gathered her close, kissing them away.

“I love you, Jules. I never stopped.”

Breathing became difficult as her arms tightened around him. “Oh Mitch, I love you too.”

He lowered his face to hers and captured her lips with his, the kiss a soft exploration of the woman he loved and cherished more than the medals and records he held. While he wouldn’t trade them for all the tea in China, having Julia back in his arms, telling him she still loved him, was a prize he never wanted to let go.

He pulled away. “Marry me, Jules. When we get back to the States. I want to live the rest of my days with you. Nothing is more important to me than starting a life with you. Say yes.”

“Yes. Without a doubt, yes, Mitch. I don’t care where we do it or whether we have big wedding or a small wedding. I want you forever. Being apart from you for the last few months has taught me that.”

He pulled her close and whispered against her lips, “Good, because forever won’t be long enough.”

• @NicoleFlockton
  
• NicoleFlockton
  

D
rake Roberts bounced
down into a squat, grimacing at the sharp needle of pain in his knee. He grit his teeth and rose up again, hoping against hope his coach hadn't seen his face. He'd told Len his knee was fine. That he was fit to compete in the Olympics.

Now he was here at Rio.

These games were going to be his last. He hoped to win a medal. He didn’t care what color. Anyone would do. If he won, his dad would stop lamenting how he'd missed out on Olympic glory and his son had achieved what he hadn’t been able to do.

Some would say Drake was living his father’s dream. He couldn’t deny it, he was. When he’d won silver at the world championships for the 1,500m race, he thought that might be enough for his dad, after missing out on a medal in the 2012 Olympics. Unfortunately, his win had only fueled his father to push him to work toward trying for another Olympics. After all, his father said, he got silver and if he worked harder he could get gold.

So now here he was, in the training room at Rio, nursing an injury he’d hidden from his father. He’d told his coach it was okay but he’d aggravated it when he’d taken a run around the Olympic track the day after he’d arrived. He should’ve given his knee a chance to recover from being cooped up in a plane for over eight hours.

While the buzz of being at the Olympics was something you couldn’t adequately describe to anyone unless they lived it themselves, he wanted it all over. Once it was all over he could announce his retirement from competitive running and his life wouldn’t compose of getting up at the crack ass of dawn to practice and travelling all over the States from meet to meet. He might be able to have a normal life. Although what was normal? If he didn’t win gold his father would no doubt push him to try again for the 2020 olympics. He would be thirty then. He really didn’t want to do another four years of training.

Drake closed his eyes as he squatted down again. This time the pain was sharper. He blew a breath out as he rose up again. How many more squats was he going to have to do?

“You’re knee bothering you, Drake?”

He swiveled around at the sound of the voice over his left shoulder, the movement doing nothing to help his knee.

Behind stood Tamara York, the team’s assistant physical trainer, easy on the eye with her honey blond hair caught in a high pony-tail and crystal blue eyes, curves in all the right places. Not so easy on the rehab exercises she had him doing when he first injured his knee. She was also the last person he wanted to know how sore his knee actually was. He knew the other guys on the track squad talked about seeing if she’d go on a date with one of them, none had tried though, they’d all been warned by TJ the head physical trainer that she was off limits. And seeing as most of the guys on the squad like their balls, they obeyed TJ.

Like Joey with is sure fire,
How you doing
line to get the girls, Drake flashed Tamara his signature melt-your-panties smile and winked. “Nope all good here. But if you feel the need to give me a rub down, I won’t say no.”

The crossing of her arms over her chest and raised eyebrow told him if he’d been standing in a bar, he’d be wearing her cocktail or whatever she was drinking all over his face.

While he knew it was a sleazy line action, and he could have TJ’s wrath come down on him for flirting, he didn’t care. He didn’t want Tamara anywhere near his injury. He didn’t want her telling him his Olympic run was over before it even started.

“Does that really work for you, Roberts? Or am just the lucky one you want to practice your cheesy lines on?”

“It can be whatever you want it to be.” Yep, he was certifiable to keep on being super sleazy with Tamara. He hoped she would walk away and be non the wiser to what his body was going through.

“Right, well I’ve been watching you and I’ve seen you cringe through every one of those squats. If you want to compete in these games, I suggest you come see me in the treatment room after you’ve finished your practice.” She walked away, back straight, her pony-tail swishing from side to side, giving him no chance to object to her edict about their meeting in the training room.

Great, how could his coach and TJ miss the pain he was in but Tamara hadn’t? Unless she was watching him because she was interested in him.

Drake chuckled to himself and pushed the thought away. There was no way Tamara was even remotely interested in him. He was just the unlucky one she’d decided to observe that day.

Forcing his attention back to warming up his body, he slightly modified his actions when completing the rest of the exercises in the hope no one else noticed his discomfort.

S
weating like a proverbial pig
, Drake headed for the showers. It was warm out on the track but the more he ran the more he got used to the climate of Rio which would help him come his heats and, if luck was on his side, the finals of his race.

“You looked good out there, Drake. How’s the knee holding up?” his coach Len asked as he walked into the locker room.

He’d left the track while Len was busy talking to another team member. He and Len had been together for a while and had a good relationship. Drake was at the stage where he didn’t need to get constant pep talks, unlike the newer guys. If Len had any issues Drake, knew he would connect with him after he’d spoken to the younger guys.

"Knee's holding up fine." He wasn't completely lying and he wasn't completely telling the truth either. A couple of times he'd overstretched his stride and his knee had told him all about it. If he could just hang on for another couple of weeks, get through the games and then he could rest it.

"I saw a couple of missteps out on the track. I think I should speak to TJ to get him to have a look at it."

Shit.

Seems he'd only been fooling himself in believing no one had noticed his discomfort. While he'd been out on the track the thought of avoiding the treatment room had crossed his mind. Now there was no way he could avoid it.

"I don't need to see TJ, I'll see Tamara instead."

Len's eyebrow rose in speculation. "Is that right?"

"Geez, Len, you know she helped me when I first hurt my knee it makes sense I see her instead of TJ."

"It doesn't matter to me, I just want to make sure you're okay. I know this is going to be your last games. I want to make sure it's a memorable one."

Len was the only person who knew how much Drake's father pressured his son to be the best. To be better than Simon Roberts had ever been. To be the one who brought home the gold.

The weight of his father's expectation landed on Drake like a ton of bricks all over again. He'd managed to push the expectation away, or so he thought he had, but with the opening ceremony only a day away and with Len's comment he knew he'd only temporarily forgotten about it.

"I'll be fine. And while winning would be great, I'm realistic enough to believe that, unlike others on the team, my chances are slim."

"The games are a fickle bitch, anything can happen," commented Len. "Someone can eat something that doesn't agree with them. Or they trip. Or they pull a muscle. You have to be present and ready for anything and, the most important thing, take advantage of anything that happens. Own the race. Make it yours."

Drake nodded, and for the first time since he arrived in Rio, a little bit of confidence began to grow. Len was right, anything could happen at an Olympic Games. He remembered the guy from Australia winning a medal in a speed skating event at a winter games because he kept his footing while everyone fell around him. Did the guy deserve the medal? Probably not but he'd crossed that line first and that medal was his. He owned it.

Maybe he should use his dad's expectations in a positive way instead of letting it negatively rule his thoughts. Now if only his knee would co-operate.