Total pages in book: 44
Estimated words: 40297 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 201(@200wpm)___ 161(@250wpm)___ 134(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 40297 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 201(@200wpm)___ 161(@250wpm)___ 134(@300wpm)
I answered with shaking hands. “Coach?”
“Cecily,” she greeted warmly. “You’re in. You’ve been officially invited to be a part of the National Team Training Group and Residency Program.”
I froze, water still dripping from my hair onto the concrete.
She kept talking. “From everything I’ve seen in the past couple of years, you really took my advice to heart.”
“I did,” I whispered.
“And between you and me, you’re already high on the list for the Olympic team. Train like you always have, keep competing with everything you’ve got and racking up the wins, and you’ll make the cut this time. We all believe it.”
Tears stung my eyes at her confidence in me. My voice cracked as I murmured, “Thank you so much.”
I hung up and stood there in a daze, my heart soaring so high I felt dizzy. This was everything I’d fought for. What my parents had sacrificed for.
But the joy only lasted a few heartbeats before reality crashed back in.
Ares had promised we’d figure it out when the call came, but I didn’t see how it was possible. His entire life was here—the club, Redline Holdings, and the empire he helped run. I couldn’t ask him to leave all of that.
And I knew I’d be training six days a week all the way up to the Olympics, not to mention traveling to competitions all over the world. I’d barely have time to breathe, let alone be a good girlfriend. Especially from so far away.
Even if we didn’t cut things off now, they’d eventually come to an end because we’d lose touch with each other as each day passed.
Ares had club business today and hadn’t dropped me off at the training facility. Which gave me time to spiral over the discussion we needed to have.
I drove to the house that felt more like my home every day with the radio off, my fingers gripping the wheel so tight they ached, already rehearsing the words I never wanted to say.
A couple of hours later, I was pacing the living room when I heard the rumble of Ares’s bike pull into the driveway. I’d rehearsed this conversation a hundred times, but the second I saw him walk through the door, every practiced word evaporated.
He took one look at me and froze.
“Cecily.” His blue eyes scanned my face, quickly reading me. “What’s wrong?”
I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. He crossed the room in three strides, cupped my face with both hands, and kissed me. The press of his lips was soft at first, then deeper, like he was trying to pull whatever was hurting me right out of my chest.
When he pulled back, his forehead rested against mine. “Talk to me, baby. Whatever it is, you can tell me.”
The gentleness in his voice broke me, and I blurted it all out in a messy rush.
“I got the call today. I’m officially invited back onto the National Team in California. She said I’m already high on the list to make the cut. If I go and train the way I used to, and keep winning at competitions, I’ll make it this time.” My voice cracked. “I don’t have much more time with you because the next training block starts in six weeks.”
Tears spilled over before I could stop them. I kept going, the words tumbling faster and faster.
“I know you said we’d figure it out, but I don’t see how. The club is here, and I can’t ask you to leave them.” I wiped the wetness from my cheeks with a sniffle. “I’ll be training six days a week and competing. I’ll barely sleep, let alone be able to text or call like a normal girlfriend. I’ll be terrible at a long-distance relationship. You deserve better than that. You should have someone in your life who can actually be there for you.”
I was full-on crying now, ugly sobs shaking my shoulders.
“So maybe we should just end it now before I have to leave and break both our hearts worse than I already will.”
I braced myself for him to agree. Instead, Ares stayed completely still for one terrifying second. Then he sat down on the couch and pulled me onto his lap, his arms wrapping around me like steel bands.
I buried my face in his neck and cried harder, waiting for the end I was sure was coming. But he didn’t let me spiral any further.
His big hands framed my face, his thumbs brushing away my tears even as more fell.
“You’re right. I won’t do long distance with you.”
My heart shattered, and I started crying harder. I’d known this was coming, but it was still devastating.
“But I told you I wasn’t letting you go, baby.”
I blinked through the tears, utterly confused now.
There was a determined gleam in Ares’s eyes. “Where you go, I go.”
I stared at him, my breath catching. “What?”