"But you seemed so against any extra work. Why would you even come?"
"Because you need me."
"I'm not doing my routines, so I don't need you for conditioning. I can do it myself. It's not hard."
He tilted his head toward me and his voice softened, playful even. "Yes, you do. You need me. Just admit it."
I wasn't going to be diverted. I was tired of the back and forth of our relationship, and still seething from how the previous night had ended.
"The only time I need you is during practice, you know I'm right. Plus, I'm sure Katja isn't happy about you being here after what I heard last night." I undid my ponytail and shook out my hair, then put it back up.
Kova lowered his head and stroked the dark scruff on his jaw. His eyes searched the floor. "Adrianna, I think we should—"
I put my hand up, bracing myself for what would come. "I know what you're going to say, and I don’t want to talk about it. Let's just forget it ever happened, okay? It is what it is."
The muscles in his face tightened.
"What could you possibly say anyway? Sorry for allowing Katja to suck your…your…dick in front of me? Yeah. No thanks." I let out a harsh laugh and walked away.
"Ria."
"Drop it. You should just go home, Kova. Spend time with Katja. We both know you'll just be wasting your time here when it can be better spent with your girlfriend."
He followed closely behind me. "Not likely. I want to make sure you are working the right muscles accurately. I do not want all the work I put into you to unravel because you had to go and be stubborn."
He knew all the right buttons to push. "I'm not stubborn. I'm driven. Stubborn sounds like you're referring to a child, and I don't like that."
"Then do not act like one and I will not have to," he retorted, then grabbed my elbow and spun me around. "Just like when you bring up Kat. You sound like a jealous obsessed ex. It is not very becoming of you."
My jaw dropped. He did not just say that.
"You know, you're such a dickhead sometimes." I gave him my back.
"Where are you going?" he asked, ignoring my comment. He was probably used to it by now.
"To work."
"You are going in the wrong direction. The balance beam is the other way."
I kept walking and he repeated himself, then added, "Beam is your weakness and where we need to focus first." His voice was firm and full of authority; I couldn't ignore him.
Turning around on my heels, I walked toward him. He held his hand out with a jump rope in front of the balance beams. I looked down in confusion, then back up at him.
"What do you want me to do with that?"
"Get up on the beam and jump rope one hundred times. You wobble once, you start over."
My brows met my hairline. "You're so strange." I grabbed the jump rope and then hopped up on the beam. At four inches wide, I could easily do standing tucks and connect a series of skills both forward and backward. And he wanted me to jump rope? This would be a piece of cake.
I took a deep breath and swung the rope around, jumping lightly the first few times to get a feel for this.
"Lock your knees," he ordered.
I began counting.
"Eyes up. Shoulders back. Keep your posture straight. Do you know why I am having you do this?"
"Nnn—"