Risking the Crown (The Crown 2)

“Thanks for the help with the knee.” He still hadn’t moved.

“I hope the swelling goes down for you.” It sounded lame and even that innocent statement could be misinterpreted to mean I was somehow pulling for him on the court. Nothing I said was right.

“See you tomorrow, Sierra.”

“See you.”

I closed the door behind him, wishing I’d never opened it in the first place.

7

Pierce

I held the ice pack and a bandage in my hand. I threw it in the nearest trash can I passed on the way to my building. I was staying two down from Sierra. I didn’t bother to shield my face from the rain as I emerged into the storm.

As I walked from one tower to another I heard the athletes talking about all the events canceled today. There was no rowing, canoeing, or soccer. The lightning took the weather to a whole other level of safety issues for the Olympics.

It seemed as if I wasn’t the only one trying to kill time today. I could head to some of the other Team USA events and cheer on my fellow athletes. Swimming was always popular, and I knew the men gymnastics needed support. But after what happened in Sierra’s room, I didn’t think I was in the mood to cheer on anyone.

I was still in a state of shock. Had a woman ever told me to leave? Had a woman who was clearly that attracted to me ever turned me down?

I took to the sidewalk cautiously, careful not to put much pressure on my knee as I stepped up. A cute ginger held the door for me and giggled. I hardly noticed her as I brushed past. My head was still in Sierra’s room. On any other day I would have stopped to talk to her, but I couldn’t stop thinking about what the trainer had said about Eric.

If he had something to do with her being on Team Italy, I wanted to know what it was. I took the elevator to his floor, skipping over the level where my room was.

I pounded on the door. “Eric, you in there?”

“Hey, how’s the knee?” He opened the door and smiled.

I walked past him into the room that looked almost identical to Sierra’s.

“What did Larry say about it? I haven’t had a chance to check in with him yet. We still don’t have a time for the match tomorrow. Scheduling is a nightmare. So far all the matches today have to be postponed.” He sat in front of his computer. There were several different boxes pulled up on the screen with dates and times in bright colors.

“I haven’t seen Larry, yet.”

He whipped around. “Why not? We need you to be healthy.”

“I want to know about you and the Italian trainer. What’s the deal between you two?”

“Why? What did she say?”

I was getting pissed. No one was talking. There was obviously something they were both keeping from me.

“She didn’t. That’s why I’m here.”

Eric’s shoulders relaxed. “Good.”

“Good? What in the hell is going on? Why is an American with her talent working for the Italians?”

He chuckled, leaning back in the seat. “You noticed her skill level?”

“She knew what was wrong with my knee in less than five minutes. We need her on our team. Larry naps in between sets.”

Eric shook his head in disapproval. “Give me a fucking break, Pierce. You don’t give a shit about her resume. You took one look at her and wanted to add her to your list.”

Sometimes Eric and I didn’t agree. He wanted Scott and I to work on plays we knew wouldn’t work. He wanted to back off when we wanted to be aggressive. He wanted us to train when we knew we were too exhausted for another round of reps. But I’d never felt the need to fight him so adamantly as I did right now.

“Bull shit.”