Page 24 of Going for Gold (Sweet Cravings 3)

"We'll continue to monitor this story," said Owen Harris, "but as of now, we have no idea why a Canadian would want to sabotage the Chinese gymnastics team. The Canadians didn't even send a men's gymnastics team to these games, so it doesn't appear that the sabotage was intended to gain a competitive advantage. Moving on, let's take a look at how the US won two golds in wrestling..."

Yuck. Who wants to watch big sweaty dudes wearing onesies and molesting each other? Not me.

I closed out the broadcast and typed out a text to Bryce: "I wonder if they'll ever find the mustachioed Canadian responsible for that heinous crime."

My phone buzzed with a text a second later: "I don't know, but he sure seems like a real bad ass. Where do you want to go for dinner?"

Did he just ask me out? Or demand that we go out? I smiled to myself.

"What's he saying?" asked Kristen.

"I think he just asked me out on a date."

"Oh my God, really?"

"Yeah. But I don't think I should go. This week is supposed to be about volleyball, not boys. That's why I'm taking a break with Chris." Saying his name made me feel nauseous. I still hadn't told Kristen the whole story about my conversation with him. I kept saying taking a break, but that wasn't really what it was. I had told him we were done. And he hadn't contacted me since.

"No, it isn't. You're taking a break with Chris because he's an asshole and cheated on you. As much as I want us to win gold, I also don't want you to miss out on getting to know Bryce. Here, let me see what he said. He probably didn't even mean it as a date. It was probably just as friends."

I handed her my phone. She immediately started typing a response to him.

"Hey!" I yelled. I grabbed for my phone, but Kristen turned away from me so that I'd have to reach around her to get it. Her arms were so much longer than mine that I didn't stand a chance. I gave up and sat down to try to lull Kristen into a false sense of security before my next attempt to get my phone back, but it didn't work. Instead, it just gave her time to finish the message and hit send.

"What'd you say to him?" I asked.

"Told him he could choose the place and asked where we should meet him."

"We?"

"Yes, we. That way you can hang out with him without feeling like it's a date. No harm in that, right?"

"Are you sure you're not just hoping Ocelot will be there too?" I asked. I was totally on to her.

"Ew, no. Why do you think I like him? I'm doing this for you."

"Sure..."

Chapter 10

Monday

Bryce

"Alright, I have a challenge for you," I said.

"Please tell me you finally want to see who can fuck more girls by the end of the week," said Alex, aka Red Wolf.

"No. I was going to challenge you to find me a girl here at the games who's hotter than Alina. I think it's impossible."

"Oh God damn it," said Alex. "Will you please just fuck her and quit talking about it?"

"I think it's romantic how he's so smitten," said Tim, aka Pink Ocelot.

"It's not getting on your nerves at all?"

"Well, maybe a little," admitted Tim.

"Alright. How about you go for a run, and when you come back, we'll pretend like Alina doesn't exist?"

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