I watched the way Taina’s shoulders fell, how her back went ramrod straight, the way she nodded quickly as she received instruction from her coach. The coach's eyes nearly bulged from her head. Taina's hands were cupped behind her back and she twisted and turned her fingers until the tips were purple.
Kova finished taping my Achilles and watched them for a moment with me.
"I will always have love for my country," he said, "but I do not agree with how Russia handles things. It is cruelty."
"Kova?" I waited until he looked at me before continuing. "I'm going to beat her," I said with resolute determination.
The corner of his mouth tugged to one side and he cupped the side of my face. "You better."
Standing, Kova held his hand out for me. I stood and fixed my leotard so my butt wasn't showing.
"Did you drink enough water today? I can get you some Gatorade if you’d like."
I shook my head. I didn't care for sugary drinks. "I'll be fine. The caffeine withdrawal is real," I joked. "I'm going to get the biggest cup I can find after the meet." All I had was the balance beam and floor left, and then I was free.
Kova studied me. The lights made his eyes sparkle, though I would never tell him that. "Are you feeling okay? Overall?"
"Actually, yes. I'm a little tired but nothing I can't handle. I think when I changed the way I viewed things, it changed a lot for me in general. It just took me a minute to get there."
Holly walked over. "Hey. Do you want to warm up with me?" she asked, then eyed Kova.
"Go," he said, playfully clapping my back. "You ladies have a few minutes until it is time to start."
Kova walked away and we sat down to stretch. After a few minutes, Holly spoke.
"Adrianna?"
"Yeah," I said, reaching for my feet and feeling the burn in my hamstrings. I loved the way my muscles pulled. I stood and turned over into handstand pirouettes.
Holly stood closer to me. Quietly, so only I could hear, she said, "You should really be careful with the way you look at our coach."
I froze. The back of my neck burned with guilt but I quickly recovered and pretended like I didn't know what she was talking about.
"I don't understand." But she knew I did. I could see it in her eyes. My heart was about to pump out of my chest. "There's nothing going on," I stated under my breath.
She gave me a knowing smile and tipped her head to the side. "If that's what you want to go with, I get it. It's one thing at World Cup, but at a meet, let alone an international one, you can't let it happen. Not with so many people and cameras around."
I struggled not to panic. "I didn't let anything happen, though."
"You may not have, but he sure did." Holly paused and chose her next words carefully. "Whatever is going on between you two, he's making it very obvious. It's why I asked you to stretch. I was worried someone would see."
I blinked, then blinked again. I didn't know what to say to that.
"When do you ever see a coach look at a gymnast with the intensity that he looked at you? Never. Usually we're all getting yelled at."
She had a point, and I worked on remaining cool and collected. "Holly, but nothing is happening."
Leaning in, she lowered her voice to a whisper. "I had a coach once… but he wasn't like Kova," she said and shivered like it was a bad memory. "If it wasn't for Kova, I don't know what I'd have done."
I frowned. "What does that mean?"
She licked her lips. "Tonight? We'll talk tonight. Just stop looking at each other like no one else is in the room."
Holly walked away while I stood there silently panicking inside unsure of what to do. I picked at my nails and stared in a daze, trying to think about what could have given us away just now. If she saw something, then someone else probably did too.
Shit.
"Congratulations, Adrianna," my dad said, giving me a big hug. The meet was finally over and I got to see him. It would only be for a couple of hours because of the rules, but I'd take it.