Page 53 of Going for Gold (Sweet Cravings 3)

"In that case, I'll totally do it."

"Really?!" Kristen's face lit up. I almost felt bad that I was joking.

"No way."

"Damn it, Alina. You could probably even get Bryce to do it with you. Imagine being up on the stage half naked with Bryce..."

"Tempting, but I'd much rather be fully naked with Bryce and have it be in private rather than on stage."

"At least watch a video of it before you decide."

I was going to tell Kristen that watching girls strip wasn't really my thing, but she somehow managed to bring up a video of it on YouTube before I could get a word out. I watched the video. It wasn't quite as tame as Kristen had made it sound, but it also wasn't just a naked girl pole dancing like I had imagined. Instead, the girl and guy started out fully clothed and danced provocatively, slowly stripping their clothes off until they were both in sparkly underwear.

"See, that's not so bad," said Kristen.

"Yeah, but it would still be embarrassing to do it, especially when I lose to Gabriela."

"Well if you aren't going to do it, then I'll do it for you."

"Are you sure?" I asked. "You'd really do that for me?"

"After what she did to you? Hell yes."

"Wow, you're the best."

Kristen shrugged. "I try. I'll email Coach now. Hopefully she won't be too pissed." She pulled out her phone and started typing. "Before I hit send, I do have one condition."

"Oh yeah?"

"You have to agree to be my understudy in case I get injured and can't perform."

"But..."

"Oh, come on. In all the years we've known each other, how many times have I been injured badly enough to not be able to play?"

I thought about it for a second. "None?"

"Exactly. And what are the odds that the medal counts are actually tied at the end of the games?"

"One percent? Less?"

"Basically zero. The event is never going to happen, but by signing up we send a message to Gabriela that we aren't afraid of her. And we get to hang out and probably learn a dance from a world class choreographer. It'll be fun."

"I don't know..."

"You really want to pass up the opportunity to watch me crush that stupid bitch in a dance-off? Come on, you know I've got the moves to beat her. Who else is going to do it? One of those twelve year olds on the gymnastics team? Or maybe a nice broad-shouldered swimmer? I don't think so."

Kristen was right. She was an incredible dancer. And watching her beat Gabriela would be amazing.

"Okay, I'll be your understudy," I said. I can always back out if she actually does get injured.

"Great!"

Oh God, what did I just agree to? Kristen had taken advantage of my hatred for Gabriela and somehow made me forget all about the fact that I was agreeing to be the understudy to her for a strip dance. A strip dance! "Actually, I think..."

"Nope, too late to change your mind. I already hit send."

"What? How did you even have time to add that to the email? I literally agreed to it 2 seconds ago."

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