Page 70 of Going for Gold (Sweet Cravings 3)

They started playing the Brazilian national anthem. The medal was heavy around my neck. I felt like I couldn't breathe. I needed to get out of there.

Seeing Gabriela on the gold medal podium just made it worse. She towered above me. She was always towering above me.

As soon as the music stopped, Gabriela jumped down to the silver podium and gave me an apologetic hug. "How does it feel to always come in second place?" she whispered.

I just stood there, frozen, thinking about how badly I wanted to punch Gabriela in the face.

"I'm guessing not good?" she continued. "I wouldn't really know. I'll have to take your word for it. I've never lost something so important before." She let go of me, winked, and turned back to her teammates.

My throat felt dry. I wanted to have some great comeback, but I didn't have anything to say. It was worse than not good. It felt awful. It felt like I was drowning. I needed air. I couldn't breathe. I stumbled off the back of the platform and ran around the crowd toward the exit.

And I ran straight into Bryce.

His arms immediately wrapped around me. I pressed my face against his chest and breathed in his familiar scent. It was better than fresh air.

Bryce didn't say anything. There wasn't anything to say. We both knew there was nothing that could make this better. Instead, he just held me in his arms, his chin resting on top of my head. He held me as I sobbed ugly tears. He held me until I had left a huge wet spot on his shirt from my tears. He held me until I couldn't cry anymore. And then he just kept holding me as the stadium slowly emptied out around us.

Chapter 29

Saturday

Alina

Bryce and I had talked about what we were going to do after the game. It was all I had been able to think about for days. But I didn't want our first time to be like this. We were supposed to be celebrating. I didn't want pity sex. Luckily he wasn't making any moves. He was just sitting on the couch holding me, letting me rest my head on his shoulder. He seemed to understand my dismal state of mind. Probably because he had been trying to cheer me up for a few hours already.

I wanted him to know why I was so upset. I didn't want to hold anything back from him. "It's my fault," I whispered into his shirt. I bit my lip.

"Alina." He shifted so that he could look directly at me. "It wasn't your fault. The refs were clearly..."

"No." I sat up. I tucked my bangs behind my ear. "Gabriela knows how to crawl under my skin."

He stared at me for a second. "Did she do something?"

"When I opened up my locker this morning, these pictures fell out. Of her and Chris... having sex." Oh God. "From the night he swore they only kissed. I knew he was lying. And I know that Gabriela put those pictures in my locker to throw me off my game. I hate that she knows how to manipulate me. She knew how much that would mess with my head."

Bryce lowered his eyebrows.

"Not because I still have feelings for Chris." I grabbed Bryce's hand. "I don't care about that, I just..." my voice trailed off. "She always wins. She always beats me." It felt like I was going to start crying again, but I didn't think I had any more tears in me. "I thought I could win this time. I thought this time would be different."

"It was. They cheated."

I shook my head. "It doesn't matter. I still missed the last shot."

"It kind of looked like the girl in front of you could have easily stepped back and gotten it."

"But she didn't. And I reacted too slowly. And I missed a serve. I played badly the whole time because Gabriela is better than me."

"I don't think she's better than you."

I lifted the silver medal off my neck. I didn't even know why I was still wearing the stupid thing. "This says otherwise."

"An ITA silver medal is a huge accomplishment."

"Ugh." I tossed it on the bed.

Bryce laughed.

"We were supposed to be celebrating tonight. Not...this." I was still in my sweaty jersey. I probably smelled. But Bryce hadn't complained at all. He was the sweetest guy I had ever met. "You have no idea how much I was looking forward to...that. To being with you." I felt my cheeks flushing.

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