had watched Tony’s practice in the warm-up gym. Not only was he planning the Cassina, but he’d upgraded one of the releases in his connected series. Great. More risk and difficulty. Just what he needs.
But Tony was Tony, so doing a less risky routine in event finals wasn’t even on the table, not when the event specialists from every country were upping their firepower. As long as the additional difficulty doesn't bite him in the ass when it comes to execution.
Just stay on the bar, Tony, please. High bar was the biggest crowd-pleaser in men’s gymnastics, primarily because it was so explosive and dynamic and—yes—dangerous. The force generated by the giant swings, the distance to the mat in a missed release, the air time in the dismounts—all of it was flashy. And one hundred percent Tony. It was no wonder that high bar was his favorite event.
“So what did Tony do to make it through the competition?” Sol moved on to his next cuticle.
“Mostly took his seat apart with the strength of his grip. Although I think he blew off a lot of steam fighting with his dad.”
Sol stared at Jason. “His dad was here?”
“Yeah. Didn’t he say? On all-around day. Almost made Tony miss your vault.” Jason screwed up his face. “I think he would have run after the guy and punched him out if that had happened.”
On one hand, Sol was perversely thrilled that Tony had been so invested in watching him compete. On the other… God, his father. I wonder if he’s here tonight? The last thing Tony needed was to have his dad spouting his usual win-or-you’re-nothing garbage. But Tony seemed almost relaxed down on the floor, gulping some Powerade and chatting with Xiao.
The announcer called Tony’s name—he’d drawn the first spot which meant he couldn’t evaluate the other competitors and scale back his difficulty if it wasn’t warranted. Who am I kidding? This is Tony. If he has permission to do the risky routine, he’ll do the risky routine. Sometimes he did the risky routine even without permission.
Tony mounted the podium and chalked his hands before slipping his fingers through his grips and chalking those too. He stood under the bar, calm and apparently relaxed, until the green light flashed. He saluted the judges in acknowledgement, then, just before he jumped up to grasp the bar, he touched the center of his chest with two fingers. “You’re with me. Every day. Everywhere.”
Sol’s breath whooshed out of him as Tony circled the bar in his first giant. I’m not sure I can watch. But if he didn’t watch and something happened, then he’d have to wait for somebody else to tell him about it. No way. I spent too long not knowing. From now on, Sol wanted to know everything—like why Tony hadn’t mentioned his father’s visit—good, bad, and in between.
So Sol made himself watch without cringing as Tony hit every skill with precision and perfect form. Come on, Tony. Gymnastics 101. And sure enough, he stuck that insane triple twisting double layout. When he raised his arms in a triumphant V, he caught Sol’s eye—then touched two fingers to his chest, then his lips, and winked.
Then all they had to do was wait. Danny nailed his routine, taking silver on p-bars. But cheers erupted all over the arena, accompanied by the flutter of rainbow flags, when Tony took high bar gold.
Two days after the gymnastics competition completed, Tony was still floating somewhere above the Tokyo Bay. He’d completely exorcised Rio from his personal cadre of demons, but that wasn’t the real reason. No, that would be because of the man at his side as they strolled through the Village on the way to meet Ori at the broadcast center. Sol wasn’t holding Tony’s hand at the moment—but that was because he was signing an autograph for one of the women from the Japanese table tennis team. When Sol handed the little book back to her, she bobbed her head and giggled, then raced away.
“You’re amassing quite the fan club there,” Tony said as they continued on their way.
Sol shrugged. “Nothing like your one point two million XBL followers—”
“That’s one point seven million, thank you very much.”
“Oh, excuse me.” Sol grinned at him, then laced his fingers with Tony’s, right where they belonged. “Do you have any idea why Ori wants to meet with you today?”
“Not just me. She asked for you too.”
Sol’s brows drew together. “Me? But why?”
“Why do you think, doofus? You won five