Balance (Off Balance 1)

“My way or yours?”

“My way.”

He gave me a pointed look. “I did not see you stretch.”

“Uh, when...when you were in the back,” I stammered. “I warmed up with the girls.”

“Did you run?”

Shit. “No, I didn’t.”

He glowered. “Before you break for lunch, you will run, and you will do three miles.” Fuck my life. I hated cardio. “Have you been using any of the drills I showed you?”

Jesus Christ. This felt an awful lot like an interrogation. Like I was under the spotlight. The urge to lie was stronger than ever, but for some reason, I just couldn’t. Call it intuition, but I had a feeling he’d know I was being dishonest. “No, I haven’t. I mean I have, just not every time.”

“You are not proving anything to me this morning, Ria. When I am not around, you must still use these exercises on your own. You are only hurting yourself in the long run.” He clucked his tongue in disappointment. “Tonight, after practice, we will work together again before you leave.”

Ria? The way he said it gave me butterflies. That was a new one, and I liked it a million times more than Ana.

“All right, let us go.” He clapped his hands enthusiastically and stood near the low bar, watching me closely. That was it. No yelling, scowling, or glaring at me? His cheerful mood caught me off guard, and I wasn’t sure what to think of it.

Swinging into a kip, I cast to a handstand, free hip circle cast to another handstand, then I piked down and used my core and hips to release and fly to the high bar. Coach watched my posture closely, probably analyzing every little thing I did wrong so he could berate me later. All I wanted to do was please him and prove I was trying, but it never came off that way.

Kova was hard and honest to a fault, which is what I’d wanted when I transitioned to World Cup. It was something every coach should be, regardless of our feelings, but some days we needed a break. Some days it was too much. Some days it could break our spirit.

I found myself making more mistakes than normal when his eyes were trained this closely on me, or when his hands touched me when he spotted. He didn’t miss a beat and if I messed up, he caught it and corrected me immediately. He had eagle eyes, and that was both a blessing and a curse for a gymnast.

When my hands gripped the high bar, chalk dust sprinkled in my eyes and I winced. There was a slight burn but I ignored it and continued. I’d use that mind over matter logic and push through the pain.

I could do it. I knew I could.

A simple back tuck for my dismount and I felt more confident with my feet on the soft, blue landing mat. The pain in my hands wasn’t nearly as bad as I anticipated, however, I felt a pull in the back of my calf I wasn’t used to. Bending down, I rubbed the twinge of heat and walked away wiggling my leg with each step.

Chalking up, Kova moved the spring board to the front of the low bar. “We are going to start with your mount,” he said, his eyes raking over my body from head to toe. “We are going to change it up.”

“What? Why?”

He expelled an annoyed sigh. “Adrianna, it is too early for your questions this morning. Just do as I ask and do not question everything I say. It is exhausting. Think you can handle that and just keep quiet?” When I didn’t move, he voiced, “It will help with your score. Now please just do as I say.”

Well excuse the fuck out of me. “Sure.”

“You are going to do a hecht mount. I will adjust the low bar so you can get used to it. We are going to do this until we nail it. The key to this mount is to pop off with your shoulders without bending your elbows. Arch your back just a tad once you release the low bar and keep those legs tight and together.”

Tight lipped, I nodded. I actually knew how to do this, but I wasn’t going to tell him. He told me to keep quiet, after all. I grinned to myself when I turned around and walked to the end of the mat, gearing up.

“The bar is low enough that you should have no issue getting over it. I will spot just in case,” he said, and I nodded.

Call me crazy, but I wanted to fuck with his head. It seemed he had little faith in me as it was, so why not?

Wiping the excess chalk from my hands onto my legs, I shook my hands out. Sprinting toward the apparatus, I jumped off the springboard, pushed off the low bar and reached for the high bar. In doing so, Coach wasn’t prepared for me to actually reach the bar the first time, so when he stepped in to spot and catch me, I plowed right into him. He stumbled, tripping over his feet and fell to the ground, his eyes going wide. I missed the bar and landed partially on his hard body, trying not to laugh. My cheeks burned and I rolled my lips into my mouth when we locked eyes.

Coach moved me off him and stood slowly, towering over me. “I am glad you find humor in this. Why did you not tell me you knew how to do the hecht mount?” he said gravely.

“You told me to just keep quiet.” I stifled a laugh, returning his words once I stood.

Rubbing a hand down his face, his jaw flexed. He looked like he was struggling between the pros and cons of strangling me.

“I have never, in all my years of training, had a smart-mouthed one like you. You think this is all fun and games.” Lowering his voice, he steadily said, “Get back over there and do it again.”