Execution (Off Balance 2)

A slap on my ass made me jump. I dropped my arms and turned around to face Kova.

"What the hell was that for?" I said.

He snapped his fingers repeatedly in front of my face. "I have been calling your name, but you were ignoring me. You were in la-la land and that was the only way to get your attention."

I flattened my lips and tried not to laugh. "La-la land, Kova? You did not just say that."

"Okay, fine. You were daydreaming."

"So you thought the only way to get my attention was to hit me?"

Kova gave me a droll stare. "Do not exaggerate. I did not hit you, I merely tapped you. Your attention was elsewhere when it should be focused on me, what I am telling you to do. Nothing else. Why must I constantly remind you? Am I wasting my time?"

I was certain my face turned ten shades of red by how hot I was. Little did he know he had my full attention, just not in the way he expected.

"My attention was on you, I swear. It won't happen again."

The silence between us thickened while Kova watched me. He was an intuitive man and sometimes that worried me. He saw too much.

"You are a terrible liar."

I moved to stand in front of him again, giving him my back. "I'm not lying, but whatever you say."

"I am sure that muttering of yours came with a classic eye roll."

He replaced his hands on my waist, and I raised my arms again so they were close to my ears. Just before I sprung up, I said, "Kind of like when you speak in Russian. I guess you'll never know what I was thinking, just like I won't ever know what you're saying." The moment the words left my lips, he spun me around so fast and stopped me right in front of him to complete a half-turn. His hand landed on my stomach to balance me. I exhaled a huff of air into Kova's face. My toes curled around the four-inch beam tightly so I wouldn't wobble.

I flattened my lips. The back of his hand tapped my stomach and I flexed. His attention shifted to my arms and he slapped my bicep. I hadn't realized I let go when he spun me. I straightened my loose arm and hardened my stomach. He was in the zone, and I loved when he was like this. He wasn't thinking of illicit thoughts like I was. He was doing his job and doing it well.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

I did many more half-twists before we moved on to full-twists. The first few half-twists surprised me, and my leg flew out to the side a time or two. I was loose. Kova steadied me and a second later we were moving again. We both stayed silent except for Kova's counting. When I jumped, he jerked me both left and right since the requirements for balance beam called for elements turning in both directions. Naturally, I favored one side more than the other, all my tumbling started with my left leg, but with gymnastics, we had to work both sides for it to count. Once he was satisfied, he had me climb back up on the high beam and complete the drill without him. A few times I shook, but I stuck it and thankfully didn't fall. Back flips and front flips were a piece of cake on the balance beam, but any turns, leaps, or jumps, and there wasn't one gymnast who hasn't wobbled. It was always the damn turns that inevitably got us.

"Okay, let us break for some water, use the restroom if you need. Come back here in two minutes."

I nodded and took off for the ladies' room to quickly relieve myself. Then I grabbed a bottle of water from my duffle bag and took a hefty swig and recapped it. Hearing and feeling any liquid move and swish around in my stomach bothered me. I just needed enough to hold me over until I got home.

I made my way back to the balance beam and spotted Kova pacing the floor with his cell phone pressed to his ear. He was speaking in his native tongue. Even though I had not one iota of what he was saying, the rise and fall of his clipped words, the bite in his tone, the hardened look on his face, along with his whitened knuckles told me he was arguing with his girlfriend again. Probably because he was here with me.

Kova's voice rose one last time before he pulled the phone away and hung up on her. I could hear her high-pitched voice until the last second. He took a deep breath and released a ragged sigh when his phone started ringing again. He silenced it, then dropped it to the floor facedown.

I stood next to the balance beam, casually swinging one leg forward and backward as I waited uncomfortably. There was nothing I could say to make his situation better, mainly because I had no idea what the hell they had talked about, but also because it was just an awkward situation all around.

Clearing his throat, he strode up next to me and stared off to the side, lost in thought.

"Trouble in paradise?"

Kova scowled.

"Want to talk about it?"

"No."

"If you need to go home, you can. I don't plan to stay all day anyway."

"It is not up for discussion," he snapped.

I looked at him and felt the tension radiating from his body. "I'm serious, Kova. You should go home to keep the peace. I feel bad."