Madeline strode over with her hands out and eyes wide, silently questioning me. There was a slight glimmer there. She pulled me into a hug. "Where did that come from?" she asked, sounding extremely satisfied and astonished. "You exploded off that table like you invented the skill. Well done, girly."
"Thank you," was all I could say through a toothy grin. My score went up and it couldn't have been better. Both coaches yelled their enthusiasm, and a massive smile split my cheeks. It pushed Reagan out of first place and down to second, third place held by another team's gymnast. I wasn't ahead by much, but it was enough to secure first place, for now.
"Not bad, Rossi," Reagan said without looking at me. "But I'd be careful with how you and Kova look at each other the rest of the meet. He has hunger in his eyes."
I deadpanned. "Hunger, Reagan? Who says that? And if I saw correctly, he looked at you just the same. And Holly. Stop trying to read into something that isn't there just because you're pissed that I knocked you out of the standings."
I didn't give her a chance to respond. And I didn't wait for her. I stood and grabbed my bag, placing it over my shoulder and walked to the next rotation.
Up next were the uneven bars. Once I secured my grips, I began pacing up and down the athlete area to keep my body warm and loose. My arms swung from side to side, and I hiked up my knees, jumping around. I didn't watch other competitors, and I didn't look in the stands for familiar faces. I kept my focus on my team and my routines and what my coaches instructed. That's it.
Like vault, I excelled at bars, but the ricketiness of them on podium rocked me a bit. I could see a subtle give and take while Holly connected skills, flowing from one bar to the other, releasing it with force only to grab it again.
It was mind over matter. Always mind over matter when it came to gymnastics. I knew this. But it was never that easy.
Holly's dismount was seconds away, which meant I had a handful of minutes until it was my turn.
"You are your only limit," Kova said quietly behind me. I glanced over my shoulder and turned around.
A small smile tipped my lips and I tightened my ponytail. "Are you going to say inspirational quotes before each event?"
He shrugged. "They are not inspirational when I mean them." He hesitated for a moment, then said, "I like seeing you smile."
I glanced away, trying not to let his words affect me. "You know, Reagan said something to me about how you look at me."
Kova muttered under his breath in Russian. There was a sting to his words, a bite, and after witnessing him and Katja argue a few times, I knew whatever he said wasn't pleasant. Though, he was just as good as I was at concealing his facial expressions. No one would’ve suspected anything.
"What was that?"
"Nothing you need to hear. What did you say to her?"
"That she was acting like a sore loser since I knocked her out of the vault standings." I wasn't going to mention her diet pill issue, even though I'd love nothing more than to rat her out.
He nodded. "Let us go. Your turn is next."
Without hesitation, Kova walked up onto the platform with me like he belonged there. We parted ways. He stood off to the side while I took a stance in front of the low bar. I'd told him earlier I didn't need him to spot, and I didn't, but I knew he was just trying to help calm my nerves since I wasn't used to everything being so unsteady. Which I appreciated.
Saluting the judges, I glided into a kip then cast to a handstand, smoothly swinging under the bar, a free hip circle to another handstand, then released and flowed to the high bar. Once on the high bar in a handstand, I saw Kova move in for my big release. Being there and doing nothing, for whatever reason, seemed to ease a gymnast’s mind. A coach would never allow the gymnast to perform a skill they hadn't mastered a thousand times, but it also didn't mean that they weren't scared as shit at the same time.
It meant they were human.
Inhaling through my nose while in a handstand on the high bar, my chest hollowed out and I swung