Balance (Off Balance 1)

My alarm blared annoyingly at 5:30 am and I felt like I’d just fallen asleep. The last thing I wanted was to leave the warmth of my cozy bed. I’d give anything to skip practice today, but I knew I couldn’t.

With only three hours of sleep, I was tempted to feign a serious illness just to be admitted to the hospital so I could sleep some more.

&n

bsp; Though, I was fairly certain getting a “good fuck” by a Russian dick wasn’t a serious illness.

I was sleep deprived for a reason. Reality set in and my stomach flipped in anticipation, making me feel queasy. Kova had treated me like garbage last night. I knew seeing him would be awkward after the night’s episode, but I was upset over how callous he’d been. I was still new to all of this and wasn’t sure how to process everything. I liked it, I liked the bite of pain, but it hurt at times.

Maybe taunting him hadn’t been such a good idea, and maybe withholding my virginity from him wasn’t the brightest thing to do, because the more I thought about it, the more wrong it felt. Guilt ate at me. Kova felt lied to and that didn’t sit well with me. He was upset because I had kept that little nugget of info to myself, but it really wasn’t any of his business. Yet, in the end, I wouldn’t change a thing.

Yawning, I stretched my arms above my head before rolling over into my pillow and snuggling up to it. My eyes were as dry as the Sahara Desert. The last time I looked at the clock, it was one fifteen. I was beyond exhausted, my body ached all over. I wanted more than anything to go back to sleep, but that wasn’t happening anytime soon.

My stupid alarm went off again, and this time I unenthusiastically got out of bed. Soreness resonated between my thighs and I winced. Fuck, it hurt. I wasn’t expecting a sharp sting, like an enormous paper cut down there, but it’s exactly what it felt like.

A shower was a must. I was too tired to just head to the gym like I normally did. I needed to wake up.

Grabbing a leo, a sports bra, and some sweat pants, I headed into the bathroom and turned on the shower. While I waited for the water to heat, my bladder made itself known like it was about to explode.

Sighing as if it was an inconvenience to pee, I sat down on the cold toilet to relieve myself only to stop and gasp in pain. Jesus Christ! I tried to pee again by only letting a little out, but my whole body tightened in agony from the sting. It hurt too much to go.

Kova must’ve torn me up pretty good last night.

Steam filled my bathroom and there I was, leaning over my legs with my arms wrapped around my stomach, holding my breath to the point where my lungs hurt. I could only take so much, so I only let half out.

I’d try again later. Even wiping hurt, so I only dabbed.

I took a fast shower, washing my hair and shaving my legs in record time, careful not to let soap slip to my sex. I once cut my lip down there while shaving. It was a small slice and when soap touched it, it burned like a bitch.

Turning the shower off, I grabbed a towel and stepped out. I wiped the foggy mirror down and then dried myself off quickly. As I did, my brows angled in confusion at the reflection. Standing up, I pivoted around and looked in the mirror so I could see my entire waist and backside. My jaw dropped at what stared back at me.

Kova’s fingerprints covered my flesh in tiny little black and blue marks. From the tops of my thighs, to my hips, and the back of my legs. They were everywhere. I could connect the dots if I wanted to. It was hard not to notice them. Bringing my foot up and propping it on the ledge of the counter, I bent over and looked down at my pussy.

My skin was a rosy pink and swollen. I grimaced. I looked closely, moving my flesh around, but I couldn’t see anything with the naked eye. Grabbing a small mirror, I placed it between my legs to get a better look. Examining as close as I could get, I noticed a tiny little red mark. I ran my index finger gently over it and I flinched. Kova tore me, which would explain why it hurt to pee. I guess he wasn’t lying when he said he hadn’t given me everything the first time. He sure had this time.

After I finished dressing, I grabbed an extra pair of gym shorts to cover up any marks and stuffed them into my bag. Typically, I didn’t wear shorts unless it was that time of the month for me, though many gymnasts opted to.

I checked the clock and realized I was running behind. Coach was going to kill me. I grabbed a granola bar, approved by my lovely mother of course, and my schoolbooks before dashing out of my condo. It was Monday, which meant I had tutoring, lunch, and then more training later. Plus, therapy on my calf.

Luckily, World Cup was only about ten minutes away. I walked into the gym at five thirty, and all three coaches were already yelling.

It was going to be a long day.

Nearly four hours later, and practice hadn’t been easy. Straight up—my vagina hurt. Any kind of split jump on the beam felt like I was ripping in two, and it wasn’t like I could choose not to do them, I had to. Not to mention, I was mentally and physically exhausted—it was all the effort I could muster to keep my eyes open, let alone also have to do my routines.

Today, I realized just how many skills I had with my legs spread wide open.

Then came the Tsavdaridou, a round-off back handspring with a full twist to swing down. Those hadn’t been pleasant either. As a matter of fact, nothing had been pleasant this morning. The skills terrified me today, and they never had before, but knowing I was going to come down with my legs opened and land with the beam braced between them, I hated it.

For once in my life, I wanted to perfect my turns so I wouldn’t aggravate my Achilles.

I’d been extra careful to make sure I didn’t straddle the beam as much as I could. I fell a few times, but I was able to catch myself. Dear God, I don’t know if I could’ve handled that splitting pain too. Luckily, beam had passed quickly and now I was on vault.

The urge to pee hit like a ton of bricks. I hadn’t gone since this morning because of the stinging pain and feared it would happen again, but now I couldn’t hold it any longer. I had to go. If I did one more turn on vault, I was going to burst. And peeing on the vault was not a good look.

I wondered if I could slap some Vaseline on the tears. I figured it would help with peeing and my jumps, but then I also wondered what if I got Vaseline inside. I shuddered at the thought. Never mind. I couldn’t take the chance. I’d just have to deal.

To top off my lovely morning, Kova hadn’t looked my way once. Madeline had worked with me the entire time and it seemed like no matter where I was in the gym, he was on the opposite side of me. Almost as if he was intentionally keeping us as far apart as possible. Maybe he’d gone through and implemented Madeline as my coach now and not him. I prayed he didn’t.