Dismount (Off Balance 5)

He was quiet for a moment. Kova didn't raise his head to look at me, he just kept winding fresh white tape around my wrists.

"What did you say?" I asked again, leaning closer to him.

"Nothing."

"Yes, you did. I heard you."

His nostrils flared. "It was nothing."

Now wasn't the time to push, but I had another idea. "What's tomorrow night?" I whispered.

"Tomorrow night," he said, more so under his breath, "is when you and I are going to be alone to finally talk."

Somewhat accepting of that response, I glanced around wondering how he was going to pull that off with my family here.

I shelved that thought for later. I was starting to get a headache from everything I’d been shelving lately.

This was the final rotation, and then we'd know if we got back what we put in. We were holding the silver, and as much as I wanted gold, I was still very pleased with second place.

"I can't believe it's almost over," I said, wonderment in my tone.

Kova's lips twitched. "It goes by fast. All that time and work for one day."

"Yeah."

He wrapped my palms up next. "How are you feeling otherwise?"

"Great," I said, and shrugged. "I'm really great."

I was really great, and happy.

I drew the chalky air into my lungs for it to revive me one last time. Kova finally lifted his eyes to mine. My thoughts were quickly forgotten when I caught view of his smile. His lips were pressed together and there was a flirtatious glow that surrounded him. I found myself giggling just as a photographer took a picture of us. There was news media everywhere we turned, but they weren't allowed to interview us or call our names. All they could do was video record and take photos.

"Why are you laughing at me?" I asked.

Kova shook his head. "The way you said that, I am not sure what I found so funny. Maybe it was the sound of your voice." He paused, then said, "Great. I'm really great," the way it sounded to him, and I erupted with laughter. "You did not respond like I expected."

My smile widened. "Oh, and how's that? Like I'm goin

g to talk about how stressed I am? We both know that. How my nerves are totally shot and I can't stop shaking on the inside. I don't want to be a broken record today."

He studied me, then he stood and held his palm out. I pulled on my cotton wrist wraps and Kova guided the grips to my ring finger and middle finger, slipping them through the little holes.

"Everyone is going to be watching you," he said, engaging in a conversation.

I was the last one to compete on the team, with my routine being the highest in difficulty. Once my score was added into the team’s final score, we'd know what place we'd finish in, but that didn't mean it was the medal we'd receive. If we did.

"I know," I said softly.

"You should be proud of what you accomplished to get here, and that your routine is the hardest one here." He nodded and spoke with his lips hardly moving. "The others who competed before you had either the same starting score as you, or were close to it. From the looks of it, the one who was in the lead, her routine was adjusted at the last minute, or she lost the difficulty points during execution. Which means, you are a full point ahead of her."

My eyes lifted to his.

"I could take the lead in bars."

Kova's hands stilled. We both understood the magnitude of this moment and didn't look away. My chest housed a wild frenzy of heartbeats at this realization. I couldn't contain the smile that started spreading on my face.

I licked my chapped lips. "I can do it. I know I can."