Sudden realization froze her face, and she flopped back to the floor and let both arms flail down beside her. “Ahhh,” she groaned.

“What?”

“I’ll be more impressed if you can make something appear.”

My eyebrows inched closer together.

“A condom,” she specified, lifting her head to look at me.

Oh.

I laughed. “I have one in my bag.”

“I want to ask why really badly right now,” she said. “Instead, I’m just gonna be grateful.”

“No illicit reason,” I comforted with a smile and a shake of my head. “Just a routine. A strictly precautionary measure.”

She bit her lip, satisfied with my answer, before jerking her head in the direction of my bag in suggestion.

I moved quickly and grabbed it, a small gasp of air breaking the silence from behind me as I bent over to dig through the contents.

When my fingers met foil, I ripped it immediately from the package and rolled it on.

Her eyes burned with want when I turned back around, and I wasted no time stalking her like prey. Each step felt like a mile, each second an hour. We’d spent so much time dancing around our attraction, and we hadn’t acted any differently in this moment.

My hands went directly to her hips and hooked into the sides of her flesh colored underwear. Simultaneously, she curled her upper body off of the ground with nothing but the power of her abs and pulled her matching sports bra off.

Bared to my sight, her already peaked nipples hardened further, and my cock had no problem reciprocating.

It was the first time I’d seen her in all of her glory, so I took the desired time to appreciate her.

Golden skin blurred by a thin layer of chalk stretched from head to toe, and the pink of her lips, nipples, and sex stood out against it. Her chocolate eyes appeared darker, fading into the pupil with an indistinct delineation, and her soft brown hair fanned out from the band of her ponytail at the top of her head.

I reached over and removed the band, wanting to feel the movement of her loose hair as we came together.

She said nothing as I did it and nothing as I continued my perusal. Instead, she used the time to study me in equal detail.

One strip of perfectly neat, trimmed curls lined the top of her mound, and her clit and folds glistened with undisguised excitement.

I wanted to taste and touch her and eat at each and every one of the exposed inches of skin, but, with one read of my face and a shake of her head, she told me no.

“Inside, Nik,” she instructed. “I’m tired of waiting.”

Knowing she’d be plenty tight on her own without the aid of a special position, I covered her body once more in the basic missionary position.

But as my body molded to hers and my cock sank into the welcome of her outer folds, nothing felt basic about it.

Ready and waiting, she coated me, lubricating me for entry and bowing off of the floor in anticipation as she did.

“Look at me, Cal,” I directed softly, positioning myself and waiting for her eyes to come to me before slowly pushing my way in.

Her tightness fought my intrusion, but as I watched her closely, I could see no signs of pain. Each inch solidified the moment and made my heart beat faster and faster.

I could feel hers beating the same pace, but in an alternating rhythm.

Together our hearts filled every moment of time, never allowing for an instant where one of them wasn’t alive and active.

“Nik?” she called softly, her voice breathy but determined.

“Yeah?” I asked as I seated myself fully within her.

“I won’t ever forget this.”

My eyes closed tight, and my forehead touched hers. I moved my hands up her arms and linked our hands again.

When my eyes opened, I knew they were bright with affection.

“Me either, Cal.”

“Not ever,” she insisted.

I shook my head and started to move my hips as I reiterated, “Not ever.”

I knew it immediately. Her hot head and me, rational. The way she pushed when I pushed instead of shrinking back. The way she made me laugh and laughed for me like she wouldn’t anyone else. I knew the things that made her tick, and she knew how to hook me.

This moment, this feeling, the way we moved in sync like we’d done it forever.

We were better—

Together.

That’s how we always traveled to events in my parents gym, and the Olympic trials were no different. Most of the girls were traveling as spectators, or for a lucky few, as volunteers for the event. They’d act as runners for judges, communicating and shuffling scores, and getting water or other necessities. They’d help with the exchange of mats and equipment that needed to be moved, but mostly, they’d just get to live a childhood experience they’d never forget.

But coaches and gymnasts traveled in the same van, the same plane, the same train—whatever. It was one of the rules of the gym. And it hadn’t changed even now, at twenty-six years old and two Olympics deep.

But this time, it meant something different.

It meant traveling with Nik.

As I stood in line behind him at security in Atlanta International Airport a little less than two weeks after the first time we’d made love, my hands itched to touch him. Just to hold his hand and brush the ridiculous hair out of his face.

The problem with affection had shifted, going from inexperience and insecurity with the newness of it to the inability to stop doing it in just the matter of that time. The scrutiny and limitations traveling with my parents imposed only enhanced that urge.

He’d been wearing his hat all day, but with security regulations he’d begun the routine of stripping down. First went the shoes and belt, followed by the hat and sunglasses he had perched atop his head.

His jeans still looked good, and the laughable plain white t-shirt party had yet to end. I guess it made his outfits easy to coordinate, and the switch from athletic wear to motorcycle garb seamless, but I couldn’t help but laugh about it.

He heard me.

“What?” he asked, as he stepped away from the conveyor belt and into the line for the scanner machine behind several of the younger girls within our party.

They all laughed and giggled in front of him, too young to let the serious scrutiny of the TSA stop their antics for a second. My mom and dad had gone through first, so that they could be on the other end to keep track of everyone as they came though, and Nik and I were bringing up the rear to keep everyone together.

I could tell they were crushing on Nik, checking out his many assets and wondering what it’d be like to be with a guy his age. They weren’t coached by him directly, as I took up all of his time, but it wasn’t out of the ordinary for them to romantically idolize him even if he was.

After all, no one knew how attractive and talented he was better than I did.

Cognizant of his tendency to poke fun at my expense, I nearly bounced on my toes at the prospect of getting back at him.

“Oh nothing,” I said loudly enough that everyone in the nearby area could hear. I waved a hand in front of my nose like a flag and scrunched my face in distaste.

“I was just imagining all the boys in the security office who just got a nice video shot of your fart.”

“What?!”

The girls behind him covered their mouths and giggled, bringing their free hands up to their noses to guard against the imaginary smell. They probably actually smelled it too, such was the power of persuasion.

I continued on with ruse, smirking more with every ounce of annoyance that coated his handsome face. “They’ve got an infrared camera, you know,” I explained with a smile. “It shows the cloud and everything.”