Execution (Off Balance 2)

I didn't give her a chance to respond. And I didn't

wait for her. I stood and grabbed my bag, placing it over my shoulder and walked to the next rotation.

Up next were the uneven bars. Once I secured my grips, I began pacing up and down the athlete area to keep my body warm and loose. My arms swung from side to side, and I hiked up my knees, jumping around. I didn't watch other competitors, and I didn't look in the stands for familiar faces. I kept my focus on my team and my routines and what my coaches instructed. That's it.

Like vault, I excelled at bars, but the ricketiness of them on podium rocked me a bit. I could see a subtle give and take while Holly connected skills, flowing from one bar to the other, releasing it with force only to grab it again.

It was mind over matter. Always mind over matter when it came to gymnastics. I knew this. But it was never that easy.

Holly's dismount was seconds away, which meant I had a handful of minutes until it was my turn.

"You are your only limit," Kova said quietly behind me. I glanced over my shoulder and turned around.

A small smile tipped my lips and I tightened my ponytail. "Are you going to say inspirational quotes before each event?"

He shrugged. "They are not inspirational when I mean them." He hesitated for a moment, then said, "I like seeing you smile."

I glanced away, trying not to let his words affect me. "You know, Reagan said something to me about how you look at me."

Kova muttered under his breath in Russian. There was a sting to his words, a bite, and after witnessing him and Katja argue a few times, I knew whatever he said wasn't pleasant. Though, he was just as good as I was at concealing his facial expressions. No one would’ve suspected anything.

"What was that?"

"Nothing you need to hear. What did you say to her?"

"That she was acting like a sore loser since I knocked her out of the vault standings." I wasn't going to mention her diet pill issue, even though I'd love nothing more than to rat her out.

He nodded. "Let us go. Your turn is next."

Without hesitation, Kova walked up onto the platform with me like he belonged there. We parted ways. He stood off to the side while I took a stance in front of the low bar. I'd told him earlier I didn't need him to spot, and I didn't, but I knew he was just trying to help calm my nerves since I wasn't used to everything being so unsteady. Which I appreciated.

Saluting the judges, I glided into a kip then cast to a handstand, smoothly swinging under the bar, a free hip circle to another handstand, then released and flowed to the high bar. Once on the high bar in a handstand, I saw Kova move in for my big release. Being there and doing nothing, for whatever reason, seemed to ease a gymnast’s mind. A coach would never allow the gymnast to perform a skill they hadn't mastered a thousand times, but it also didn't mean that they weren't scared as shit at the same time.

It meant they were human.

Inhaling through my nose while in a handstand on the high bar, my chest hollowed out and I swung down. From the corner of my eye I saw Kova step in. My toes tapped hard to gain momentum at the bottom of the swing where I pushed my chest and hips forward to create an arch with my body. Right when I was parallel with the bar with an extended body, I let go and flipped through the air over the bar. The bar snapped back to give me a bit more of a thrust and I spotted for it as I came over and down, grasping it. Chalk dusted the air, specks hit my eyes as I breathed it in, and soared back up to a handstand seconds later.

Kova didn’t step away as two more release moves were coming up back-to-back. He knew everyone's routines by heart. Once those were done, he backed off and crouched down, critiquing my form from a different angle. Everything flowed so effortlessly after that.

With two giants left and a dismount, I gave it my all and landed my dismount with a very small, slight hop. I saluted the judges and turned.

"Not bad, but not as great as vault," Kova said simply as I stepped to him, his hand cupping the small of my back. "There will be a few deductions, but not enough to keep you out of the standings."

I removed my grips. "Sometimes I wish you would just lie to me. You know how stressed I've been over this meet."

"We have never lied to each other before, I am not going to make things more complicated by giving you false hope now. Do not mistake me, it was good, maybe even great, just not fantastic."

I sighed. He had a point. I never wanted lies.

"Where did I mess up?"

Sometimes I could tell, sometimes I couldn't.

"We will talk later. I have to go."

I nodded. There really wasn't much time to have a conversation. Kova sped over to Sarah, who was up next and always needed a spot.

My score flashed on the high screen.