Risking the Crown (The Crown 2)

He didn’t stay in the village with the other athletes. Reyna insisted he stay with her in a hotel. He was missing out. This place was fucking insane. The women were unreal.

But what did he know about women anymore? He was married. We didn’t party together. We didn’t trade stories over breakfast. There were no more epic nights that ended up in the headlines. Those days of Miller-Lauer were over.

And they had been the stuff beach volley ballers dreamed of. It wasn’t easy to find a partnership on and off the sand, but Scott and I had—until Reyna.

Now the only time we were together was on the court. Practices. Matches. Press. My best friend was still around, but I barely recognized him anymore. Reyna had changed everything—and because of that I vowed never to let a woman get under my skin the way Scott had. Never.

The girl I had met last night at the village lounge sighed before her eyes fluttered open and she smiled at me.

“I have to get going,” I explained. “I have a match.”

This kind of thing happened all the time in the village. It wasn’t as if she would be looking for something other than what we had last night. It was a pretty sweet gig hooking up with girls here. They had no expectations. Sex was sex. Exactly as it should be. No strings. Nothing but one amazing fuck after another.

What I’d heard about the Olympics was true. It was one big party, starting with the Opening Ceremonies.

I closed the bathroom door behind me, leaving her to sleep for a few more minutes before I kicked her out. I washed my face and brushed my teeth. The mirror was almost too short. With so many athletes here, you’d think the designers would have designed the rooms for guys who were six-five and two-twenty. I stooped to get a full picture of my face.

Yesterday’s practice had been shitty. The wind had carried every ball I had served out of bounds. It didn’t make my confidence rock solid going into today’s first round of the tournament. We didn’t come to Rio de Janeiro for silver or bronze. We were here for gold. Only gold.

I ran my fingers through my hair and met the brunette on the other side of the door. She had wrapped the sheet around her chest, covering up that gorgeous body of hers.

She scooted past me into the bathroom just as Scott pounded on the door.

“Pierce, come on. Open up.”

I whipped the door open to greet my partner.

“Good morning. Ready to do this?” I asked.

He walked inside. “What in the hell happened in here?” His eyes fell to the condom wrappers littering the floor. They made a path around the bed.

“A good time, brother.” I slapped his back and turned to pick up my Team USA bag. It was loaded with all the gear I needed for today.

“Holy shit. Are you going to have any energy to play?”

I laughed. “She left me a little.”

Just then the door cracked open and the girl shuffled into the room, holding the sheet a little tighter.

“And she’s still here? Nice.” Scott rolled his eyes at me.

“Don’t tell me you and Reyna didn’t have a wild night last night.” The sarcasm was heavy on my words. I didn’t know what kind of sex married people had. I never planned on finding out.

“Shut up.” He threw me a nasty glare.

“Just fucking with you.” I pulled the heavy bag to my shoulder.

I turned to my latest conquest. “See you around.” I planted a quick kiss on her full lips. “Just lock up on your way out,” I instructed.

She waved goodbye. I had no idea if she understood or not. It didn’t matter. What we had served its purpose and now it was over. For all I knew she had a game today too. We both had burned off some pre-competition nerves.

I followed Scott down the hall to the elevator.

“You’re just going to leave her in there?” he asked.

“Why not?” I shrugged.

“Let me guess. You didn’t get her number.”