The Thomas Flair - E.J. Russell Page 0,39

other hand, maybe Andrei was just going to have Tony work on his dismount, which he had yet to stick. Sol pretended to look for something in his gym bag, watching out of the corner of his eye. Nope. Full routine. Damn it.

Sol shouldered his bag and stalked over to join Xiao. Granted, Sol wasn’t a coach, but Andrei’s methods seemed so contrary to Tony’s brand of gymnastics. Tony had always been what their first coach at Central had called a “product” guy—he liked the thrill of competing, especially of landing a flashy element before anybody else in the gym. The Thomas flair.

Sol, on the other hand, was a “process” guy—he preferred the methodical training that would result in the perfect, the clean, the—well, not the flashy, because Sol wasn’t a flashy kind of person. While Tony reveled in high difficulty, Sol was more focused on the execution component. The way gymnastics scoring was evolving, hitting a perfect ten in execution was as far away as the moon. Nowadays, guys aimed for an 8.5 and were thrilled. Not Sol. He still wanted that ten. Since his difficulty wasn’t as high on some events as other gymnasts at the elite international level, he needed high execution to keep him competitive.

Tony liked to stack his routines with high value moves. Sol tried to minimize deductions. But if the team were to medal in Tokyo, maybe they both had to adjust their approach. And Tony needs to stop letting Andrei beat up his body with all these repetitions. “Doing the numbers,” it was called. Sol called it insanity.

He dropped his bag next to the spring floor. “Xiao. I want to upgrade my floor and pommel horse routines.”

Xiao raised his eyebrows. “This is not like you.”

“We’ve been working on higher-valued skills all season. Do you think I can’t do it?”

“No. I think you’re capable. But you are not… an adventurous gymnast.”

Sol smiled crookedly. “You mean I’m boring?”

“No. Consistency and pristine execution have always been your watchwords. However”—Xiao smiled faintly—“consistency and pristine execution are not always rewarded as they should be, particularly by the audience who values excitement and drama.”

“Then what do you say we give them a little excitement and drama?” Sol held up his hands. “Not that I want to risk consistency and execution, but I’m ready to venture a little farther onto the Dark Side.”

Xiao glanced over Sol’s shoulder, toward the still rings. Andrei yelled, “Again,” and Xiao’s lips flattened. “We will only go so far as is safe. The audience’s voracity for danger is not sufficient reason for me to court injury for you or any of my gymnasts.” He glanced toward the rings again. “Others would do well to remember this.”

Sol blinked at his coach. Wow. Xiao never criticized other coaches. He must really be feeling it today. Not that Sol blamed him. Wonder what it would take to get Andrei booted out of the gym? He shook his head. More clout than I’ve got, that’s for sure. But Andrei was technically Tony’s employee, even though he was affiliated with the USOPTC. Temporarily. Because of Tony. If Tony were to fire him… If I were to ask Tony to fire him…

But Sol abandoned that notion at once. He and Tony had only just repaired their relationship, had only just moved it to the next level. That didn’t mean Tony would take Sol’s advice if it conflicted with his own goals and ambitions.

And unfortunately, Andrei still seemed crucial to his goals and ambitions.

Maybe someday Sol would have the same kind of influence with Tony. Assuming I’m part of those goals and ambitions. They hadn’t really talked about a future after the Games. Both of them had assumed they’d be able to go public with their relationship, but where would that be? What would their lives look like? Would Tony go back to his XBL stunts? Could Sol handle it if he did?

Resolutely, Sol pushed the thoughts aside. They had no place in the gym, when he was trying to upgrade routines that were as comfortable as old shoes to him. Comfortable. Maybe that’s my problem. I need to step outside that comfort zone if I expect to be somebody who can fit into Tony’s world.

But so much of Sol’s life was dedicated to maintaining that level of comfort and safety—it had to be, not just because he was involved in a dangerous sport, but because of his diabetes. Regulating his exertion, adherence to his nutrition plan. Monitoring and control were the