I don’t have to look at a replay to know I nailed it. As I resurface, there is no doubt in my mind that I won gold as I hear the crowd chanting USA .
It felt flawless, gliding through the air, and seamlessly entering the water like a needle, barely making a splash.
I kick to the top, reach the side of the pool, and pull myself out. The stands are going crazy, competitors are congratulating me, but I only have one thing on my mind. Find Holly.
Grabbing my shammy, I dry my head off and head toward the coaches’ section where I see Holly sitting in her chair, facing me with the biggest smile on her face, her hands clasped together at her chest. As I approach, I see tears of joy in her eyes, and that’s all I fucking need. When I reach her, I break down. Squatting next to her, I cry into her lap while she hugs me from up above.
“I’m so proud of you, Hollis. You fucking did it.” One hand is hugging me, the other is running through my hair. “You did it.”
I look up at her, my vision blurry, and I say, “This gold is yours, sis.”
She grips my face, her soft palms roughing up my scruffy jawline. “It’s ours, Hollis.”
This moment, this one right here is one I will never forget. I brand it into my memory, not missing one detail: pure joy and pride in Holly’s expression, the crowd chanting for my country, and the sweet smell of victory once again.
Three-time Olympic gold medalist. Fuck that sounds sweet.
I’m put into a whirlwind of interviews, congratulatory hugs, and finally the medal ceremony where I cry like a baby while my country’s flag is raised into the air. I have no shame; it’s an emotional moment, knowing you’re the best in the world at what you’ve trained for endlessly.
As I stand there with my hand over my heart, my medal draped around my neck, and a weird statue thing representing the Rio games, all I can think about is seeing Melony after this. I already have my feelers out—thanks to Reese—to find out where she is.
***
Reese: Outside the aquatics center with Jasper from production. If you hear from Paisley, please let me know.
The poor fuck. Paisley bolted and Reese hasn’t heard from her. Must be something with these women—they love not communicating. Paisley leaving has had a huge effect on Reese though. He’s always struggled with his mental game, and with his girl going radio silent on him, I’m worried how that’s going to affect his ability to swim his best. Given his last swim of his career is coming up, he better find a way to toughen up his mental game, or I might just have to bitch slap him into getting his shit together.
Luckily, I’m still at the venue. I just parted with my family after they hugged me for about an hour. I told them I would meet them for dinner in half an hour, and hopefully Melony will be with me.
Jogging out to the front, I spot Melony right away. She’s decked out in red, white, and blue and looking fine as hell in cut-off shorts and a tank top. Fuck. I love this girl.
Yup, no doubt about that. One hundred percent I’m in love with her.
My melodrama with Melony is very similar to Noah Calhoun and Allie. He’s been pining after her, she’s too scared, too afraid to commit even though we are clearly the obvious choice when it comes to lifelong partners.
Women, they can be so fucking stubborn at times and when they’ve been scarred and burned, they are drastically more stubborn, unwilling to put themselves out there again.
I get it. Men can be dicks. We can easily destroy the mental state of a woman with the wrong words. Hell, women have the same power over men. What really needs to happen is we all need to stop fucking around, be nice to each other, and just enjoy the simple things like making out in the back of a car, holding hands while watching a movie, and watching the smile you put on your partner’s face when you do something funny.
To me, love isn’t complicated unless you make it.
Not wanting to waste any more time, I walk right up to Melony, sling my arm over her shoulder, and interrupt her conversation with Bodi Banks, who is holding on to a woman I’ve never met before.
“Well, if it isn’t my favorite person.” Stunned, Melony looks up at me, clearly not happy with my claim on her. Fuck it, I don’t care. I nod at Bodi to acknowledge him. “Hey, Banks.” Turning to the girl he has in his arms, I say, “I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Hollis Knightly, and you might be?”
“Ruby Hearts.” She smiles brightly past a full set of blonde bangs. She’s cute.
“Nice to meet you.” Noticing Bodi’s claim on her, I say. “I see you’re romantically involved with Bodi Banks here. How’s that been?” Bodi and I have never been the best of friends. He’s more closed off, doesn’t like to joke around that much, unlike me. I don’t think he understands my sense of humor, that or he doesn’t think I’m funny . . . nah, that’s impossible. I’m a funny fuck.
Ruby glances at Bodi and then says, “No complaints.”
“No complaints?” Bodi protests, speaking up.
“What do you want me to say? That you’re a stallion in bed and the reason you keep winning gold is because of the extra fin in your pants?”
A bark of a laugh escapes me. Fuck, looks like Bodi Banks has himself a little spitfire. I like it and from the amused look on his face, he does too. Good for him, he deserves someone in his life. I hate seeing the sorry sap walking around alone all the time.
“Oh fuck, she’s a keeper,” I say while calming down my laughter and grabbing Melony’s hand, who tries to shake it away. Too bad for her and my steal-trap grip, she’s not going anywhere. Turning to her, I smile and say, “Come on, Hot Sex, let’s get some dinner.” Nodding at Bodi, I continue, “Good swim today, dude. Congratulations. Nice meeting you, Ruby.”
With all of my pleasantries accounted for, I guide Melony away from Ruby and Bodi and direct her toward the restaurant I told my family to meet me at.
“What the hell are you doing?” Melony asks, trying to shake away from my grip. Not happening, baby.
“Good to see you, too. Thanks, winning gold today was awesome. Your support hasn’t gone unnoticed.” It’s a dick thing to say, but what the hell are you doing here? wasn’t the greeting I expected. There is only so much I can take.
Stopping in her tracks, her face falls as she looks up at me. “You won gold today?”
Feeling slightly uncomfortable, I grip my hair and nod at her. “Yeah.”
Tears well up in her eyes, and her posture deflates as she shakes her head. “I can’t believe I didn’t know that. What kind of person does that make me?”
It’s like a stab to my heart. I want to be understanding, but I’m also mad. If she wasn’t running so damn much, we could have shared this moment together. She might have bothered to watch my dives. Instead, it looks like we are about to fight about it, which is the last thing I want.
“Doesn’t matter.” It does the fuck matter. I swallow my pride and remind myself who I’m speaking with. Melony needs someone strong right now. “I want to celebrate with you, so come have dinner with me.”
I can feel the no wanting to come from her but instead, she nods. “Okay.” When I try to guide her in the right direction, she stops me, her hand clasping on to mine and pulling me toward her. “You won gold,” she says in awe, her hand gripping my cheek. “I’m so proud of you, Hollis.” Standing on her tippy toes, she presses her delicious lips against mine, right here, in the middle of the Olympic complex. I don’t say a word, don’t point out that she’s providing a huge PDA moment. No, I take what she’s giving me and kiss her back, my tongue barely grazing hers.
Fuck yes, small victory. If I have to play the gold-medal card all night, I fucking will. I wonder how long the card will actually work?
“Melony, I love you. Will you marry me? You’re going to say no? Remember when I won that gold medal . . .”
I’m going to have to really play this out.
When she pulls away, I try to comprehend the myriad of emotions running through her eyes. If only I had a translator for her ey
es, life would be so much easier. What’s going through the pretty mind of hers?
I’m bound and determined to find out.
On the way to the restaurant, I hold her hand, loving the way it fits in my palm. Even though holding her hand makes me the happiest man in the world, I can’t help but notice the way she’s nibbling her lower lip with worry the entire walk.
When we reach the restaurant after a short walk of awkward silence, I decide to break the news to her about my family being in attendance.
“Hey, before we go in there, my family will actually be having dinner with us.”
“What?” She backs up but I stop her. “Hollis, I thought we weren’t telling anyone about us.” I want to point out that she wasn’t worried about that a few minute ago when she was pressing her mouth against mine, but I refrain. I try to dig deep into what’s bothering her.
“Is there even an us?” I ask, desperately trying to read her.
There she goes biting her bottom lip again, avoiding eye contact completely. I don’t fucking like that at all. Pulling her off to the side, out of the public’s eye, I grip her chin and force her to look at me.
“Melony, what the hell is going on? I left LA thinking I was sitting pretty with my girl by my side but slowly as time slipped by, you grew more and more distant. I don’t fucking understand. Is it something I did?”
“No.” She shakes her head and then takes a deep breath. “It’s just been a long trip.”
“It’s not the trip,” I point out. “You were acting like this while you were still in LA, waiting to fly here. So tell me, what the hell happened?”
Somberly, she looks up at me and says, “I don’t want to fight right now. Can we just celebrate your accomplishment?”
“It’s going to be pretty fucking hard for me to celebrate knowing there is a wall erecting up between us.”
“Please,” she begs.
Fucking frustrating woman. I grip my hair, irritated as shit and then throw my hands in the air. “Sure, let’s go fucking celebrate.” I blow up, right there, my level of anger tipping past what I can handle. “Let’s go have a jolly fucking time.” Hey, even Noah Calhoun had his moments.
“Hollis,” Melony pleads, gripping my arm.
“No, Mel, you want to celebrate? Fine let’s fucking celebrate.” Without another word, I take her hand in mine and walk through the restaurant to the back where my family is waiting for me. This was the last way I wanted Melony to meet my family, but fuck if I can give two fucks at this moment.
“Back here, son.” My dad stands and waves his hand, garnering our attention.
“Hollis,” Melony says again, “don’t be mad at me.”
“Too fucking late,” I respond right before we get to my family.
Putting on a happy face, I let my dad pull me into a hug by the back of my neck. “Come here, boy. Gosh, I’m so darn proud of you.” He kisses my cheek and hugs me again. He has no shame in showing affection, and it’s one of the many reasons why I love him so much.
“Thanks, Dad.”
Looking to my side, he eyes Melony and asks, “Who is this pretty lady with you?”
Who is she? Good fucking question. Last time I checked she was my girlfriend, but who fucking knows what I am to her? She’s putting on a fake smile. I know it’s fake by the way it doesn’t make her eyes crinkle.
Not wanting to give her any out, I say, “This is my girlfriend, Melony.”
“Girlfriend?” My dad gives me a surprised look. “Well, it’s so wonderful to meet you, Melony. I’m Al and this beautiful woman next to me is my wife, Marion.”
“Hello, Melony. It’s so lovely to meet you.” My mom then turns to me, reaches up and presses her palm to my cheek in a loving motherly way, as if she’s so impressed with what she was able to create. “Hollis, I’m so proud of you. Give me a hug.”
I pull her into my chest and kiss the top of her head just as I feel Holly’s wheelchair hit me in the back of the calf.
“Aren’t you going to introduce me?”
Smiling down at Holly, who’s wearing OUR gold medal around her neck, I say, “Melony, this is my sister, Holly.”
“You choose to hang out with Hollis?” Holly teases.
“I guess I do,” Melony teases back while looking up at me.
I wrap my arm around her shoulder and kiss the top of her head. “She loves the joking abuse I give her on a daily basis. Craves it actually. I’m thinking about taking her to go see someone. If I don’t joke around about putting her boob in my mouth at least once a day she goes into a fit of panic.”
“Oh my God,” Melony whispers in shock.
But she doesn’t need to worry because my family bursts out in laughter as we all take a seat, my dad asking me to sit next to him, so I do.
Gripping my shoulder with a shake, he says, “This boy right here, he’s amazing, Melony. Marion and I take pride in how we raised our children, and we couldn’t have asked for more amazing adults than Holly and Hollis. Working together to bring our country a gold back home, it brings tears to my eyes.”
“All right, Dad.” I laugh. “I thought we got all the sappy stuff done and over with.”
“I can’t help it,” he says, looking me in the eye. “I’m so proud of you two.”
It never gets old, hearing your dad say he’s proud of you, impressing your parents, knowing you did them right. It’s a goal I will always strive for. I’m a product of them, I want to respect the legacy they built with their love and carry it on for future generations.
“You got yourself a good one, Melony,” my dad says, winking at her.
I turn to look at my girl, and I’m instantly concerned when I see her looking down at her hands on her lap. She’s not the same bubbly girl I left back in LA. Something is going on.
With fake cheer, she replies, “He’s a wonderful man and an amazing diver.”
“He is, but I was better,” Holly cuts in with a wink.
“She was better,” my mom adds. “The Knightly women are always better than the men at everything. Aren’t I right, Al?”
“You’re always right, sugar plum.” My dad kisses my mom on the lips and then turns to Melony. “See what I did there? If Hollis is the smart man I know I raised, he will treat you just the same.”
I’ve been trying to, Dad. I’ve been busting my fucking ass trying to win this girl over. I see sparks of hope for our future every once in a while. It’s there, I know it’s there. I just have to keep pushing through the godforsaken moat she keeps encircling herself in.
“He’s a very good man, you should be proud.” Melony squeezes my leg under the table. The little move gives me hope. She then turns to Holly and says, “You were a fantastic diver, Holly. I remember watching you when I was younger. You were always so flawless.”
“Thank you.” Holly blushes and my stomach starts to churn. Please don’t bring up what happened. Please don’t bring up what happened. “I’m just glad Hollis can finally let go of all his guilt from the car accident.”
“Car accident?” Melony asks on question.
Fuck, fuck, fuck. This was not how I wanted Melony to find out. I turn to Holly who doesn’t look happy. Yup, she thought I already told her.
When the accident happened, we kept everything quiet, for the most part, as best as we could, not wanting to draw media attention for obvious reasons. So I can understand Melony’s confusion.
My worst nightmare comes true when Holly continues. “I was paralyzed from the waist down in a head-on collision with a tree. Damn thing totally branched us,” Holly jokes, getting a smile from Melony. I, on the other hand, hold my breath, hating every second of this. “Hollis over here has been harboring guilt over the entire thing because he was the one driving.”
My mom gasps and I see her hand fly to her mouth.
Shit. Fuck. Hell. Fuck. All of the above times one thousand. What the hell, Holls?
“Son, you never told us this,” my dad says.
“We don’
t have to talk about this right now,” I suggest, feeling incredibly uncomfortable.
“No, we are a family, and we discuss these things,” my mom adds. “Everyone makes mistakes, honey. Some more costly than others, but Holly would never hold animosity toward you over what happened.”
“I haven’t,” Holly adds. “Just don’t ever look at your phone when driving, ever again.” I know she’s teasing but it still stings.
“You were texting and driving?” Melony asks, her voice uncertain.
My dad kisses the top of my head and leans over me to speak to Melony. “We all do stupid things, Melony, but it’s how we rise from them that defines us.” Turning to me, he speaks sincerely. “You’ve punished yourself enough. Holly is an incredible diving coach, and is changing the world with the motivation she’s able to instill in others. It’s a blessing in disguise. She’s helping others, a trait she was born to do. Isn’t that right, baby?”
“It is. I am more fulfilled now than ever. In a funny way, I kind of have to thank you.”
Melony is silent while my family shines praises me, telling me how I’m a good person, how I am an amazing brother for sharing my goals with Holly. How I am a good example of rising from the ashes and moving forward. There is so much praise, hugs, and kisses coming my way that I’m overwhelmed, so fucking overwhelmed that I don’t notice Melony slowly sinking further and further inside herself.
Fuck me.
Chapter Twenty-Six
MELONY
“It was a pleasure meeting you, Melony. When we are all back in the States, you must come over for dinner. Marion makes a wonderful teriyaki chicken with pineapple that will blow your mind,” Al, the jolly man, says.
“Sounds wonderful.”
I smile at Hollis’s family, say my goodbyes, and wave one last time as they depart from our little circle.
Without skipping a second, Hollis forces me to look up at him and asks, “Are you okay?”
“Fine.”
As a woman, you can never say fine and believe a man who cares is actually going to let you get away with that little one-worded answer. Never works, no matter how many times we try it. And shocker, it doesn’t work now.