Page 35 of Going for Gold (Sweet Cravings 3)

I laughed and grabbed one of the glasses out of his hand so that one of his would be free. "I'm never going to live that down, am I?"

Bryce smiled. He placed his free hand on the small of my back, just like I hoped he would. This time I didn't try to justify the shivers that went down my spine. It wasn't just the sex ban. I liked Bryce. I really liked him.

"What's actually going on between Alina and her kind of boyfriend?" Alex asked as we sat down.

Apparently they had continued playing the game while we were away. Which didn't really make any sense, since I wasn't there to answer the questions for Kristen.

Kristen shrugged. "He cheated on her with her arch nemesis. And they're taking a break. Hopefully a permanent one."

I could feel Bryce's eyes on me. When I told him about Chris, I had left off the part about who he had cheated on me with. I didn't want him to pity me. But he wasn't looking at me like that. I couldn't really place the expression on his face. It almost looked protective.

I cut into my steak and took a big bite. Despite the teasing, I really did like meat in my mouth.

"On a scale of one to ten, how interested is Kristen in that devil's threesome?" Tim asked.

"At least an eight," I said when I finished chewing.

Kristen laughed.

"Whoa. No. I'm not your third," Alex said.

"Why not?"

"Because I'm not gay."

Bryce and I both laughed.

"I'm not gay either," Tim said. "I fully appreciate the female body in all its grace and beauty." He was staring intently at Kristen.

She blushed.

How was Kristen attracted to this guy? Despite what he had just said, he was clearly gay. I took another bite of my steak. For the first time since seeing those photos of Chris and Gabriela, I felt completely relaxed. I hadn't laughed like this in such a long time. Maybe things had been going south between me and Chris for longer than I had realized. Or maybe I had been too focused on volleyball. But how could I not be? This was the biggest competition of my life. Chris wasn't allowed to make me feel guilty for caring so much. He had put me second while he trained too. Stop thinking about him.

When I was upset, I tended to eat way more than usual. I was the first one done my steak.

"You weren't kidding about liking meat in your mouth," Alex said.

I shrugged and looked at Bryce out of the corner of my eye. "I never joke about meat in my mouth."

He choked on the sip of water he had just taken and everyone at the table laughed.

"Do you think they have anything good for dessert?" Kristen asked.

"I'm completely stuffed," Tim said as he pulled his napkin off his lap with a flourish and placed it on the table.

"Me too. But Alina never goes anywhere without getting dessert and she always lets me steal one bite."

"How do you keep such a slim figure?" Tim asked me.

"I'm an athlete? Maybe they have some Brazilian delicacy I haven't tried."

"Have you tried a brigadeiro yet?" Bryce asked.

I turned toward him. "No. What is that?"

"They're these little chocolate balls that Bryce can't stop eating," Alex said with a laugh.

Bryce ignored him. "They're these sweet, gooey, absolutely delicious chocolate things with chocolate sprinkles. Or you can get coconut instead of sprinkles. You have to try them."

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