Page 48 of Going for Gold (Sweet Cravings 3)

"I'd never lie on a poster." He had rolled the poster up and was holding it in his hand. I thought he might give it to me, but the fact that he didn't was even better. It meant he wanted to use it again.

"Congratulations, Alina," he said and leaned in for a hug. I didn't hesitate to hug him back. He smelled like his cologne and sweat. I'm pretty sure the combination was my new favorite smell in the world. I could easily feel the muscles in his back through his shirt. I had the urge to trace every muscle with my fingertips, but kept my hands rooted in place. I reluctantly pulled back when I felt like I had probably been hugging him for too long. But he hadn't stopped hugging me either. Maybe he liked having me in his arms just as much as I liked being in his.

I nervously tugged the bottom of my jersey. "Are you feeling better?"

"What?"

"Last night, Alex said you weren't feeling well..."

"Oh, right." Bryce laughed. I loved the sound of him laughing. "I'm good. My Uber driver just took the bumpiest route possible. That combined with eating way too much Brazilian steak was not a pretty sight."

"I'm sorry about all the texts. I thought you'd been kidnapped." I smiled up at him. He was going to think I was so ridiculous.

"It's okay. It was nice that someone was looking out for me."

The way he said it reminded me of when he was talking about the reason why he was such a good runner. Because he had something to run from. I wanted to ask him about it, but not in front of Kristen and his friends.

He leaned in close to me. "As much as I love my friends, maybe you and I could hang out tonight just us?"

"I'd love that." I coughed awkwardly. "I'd like that I mean." Love? I can't say love this soon. I'm going to freak him out.

Bryce smiled at me. "We'll catch you guys later," he said as he grabbed my hand.

I immediately interlaced my fingers with his. Again, I couldn't help but notice his large, manly hands. My hand felt so small in his.

Kristen looked down at our intertwined hands. "Have fun," she said with a wink.

Chapter 20

Tuesday

Alina

Bryce kept his hand in mine as we sat down side by side on the train. He scooted in close to the armrest, the only thing that was separating us. The train's air conditioning was on full blast, but I could feel Bryce's body heat radiating off of him. His hand was so warm. I felt safe and happy when I was with him. This was how I should be feeling after my game. I wanted to rest my head on his shoulder and close my eyes. But falling asleep wasn't exactly the best use of the only alone time we'd gotten since he'd given me my phone back on that bench.

"You were amazing today." Bryce traced the lines on my palm with his thumb as he spoke.

I wasn't sure if my cheeks blushed because of his compliment or because of the way he was touching me. My whole body felt warm. "Thanks."

"Really. I don't think you lost a single point. I've never seen volleyball like that."

I laughed. "We have a really good team."

"And they're certainly lucky to have you."

Kiss me. But Bryce didn't move any closer to me. Maybe because I was a sweaty mess. He had just come from his practice too. A long shower and some nicer clothes might make our first kiss better anyway. But I wanted to run my hands through his hair and feel the muscles in his back again. I shifted a little closer to the armrest. Maybe he'd get the hint.

"Speaking of people being lucky to have you, I'm guessing Chris came to the game?"

I knew a few ground rules about dating, even though Chris had been my only boyfriend. And one of those rules was that you don't talk about an ex on a date. "Yeah. But it's definitely over. We don't have to talk about that."

Bryce continued to trace my palm with his thumb. It was so soothing. It felt like I could tell him anything. And his silence made it seem like he wanted me to.

"At dinner when Kristen said he hooked up with my arch nemesis, she was talking about the girl that bullied me in school. Gabriela Santos. She plays for Brazil. During our match against Brazil I got this envelope on my seat. I opened it up and it was pictures of Chris with Gabriela. And she was topless. I was so upset, we lost the match. It was all my fault. I just...she just...I couldn't play against her. She did it on purpose to mess with me, I know she did. She has this way of crawling under my skin. And she used my relationship with Chris against me. Chris said he didn't know it was her. And that nothing happened. But then he kept changing his story. Eventually he said she kissed him. But then it was him kissing her back too. And I don't know what else happened, and I don't want to know. I don't want to think about it at all."

I realized I was rambling. But for some reason I couldn't stop. "He said it was my fault. That if I didn't still resent Gabriela I wouldn't be upset about the whole thing. But that's not true. I'd still be upset with him for cheating on me, no matter who it was with. And he said it was my fault for not celebrating the way he wanted to celebrate after he got his gold medal. But I couldn't. My coach has a sex ban, and I couldn't risk being benched. We have to win gold. I need the money." I swallowed hard. I don't know why I didn't stop talking. Now Bryce was going to think all I cared about was money. Which wasn't true.

I looked down at our hands. "I mean, it's not just about the money for me. I know that there's more important things than money. I want to win. I want to beat Gabriela." I put my face in my free hand. "And there's more important things than revenge. This is all coming out wrong."

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