Stick the Landing by Kate McMurray

Author:Kate McMurray [McMurray, Kate]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Gay romance
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Published: 2020-06-19T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

AFTER KEEPING Natalie company until she had to go to the booth to record her commentary, Topher fell into conversation with Eileen Schiffler, one of the primetime gymnastics commentators. She was a nice woman in her sixties who had done some work on previous Winter Games as well, so they knew each other a little. Topher decided to play nice even though he knew Natalie hated that these older commentators were still doing the call most Americans heard.

After all that, he managed to make it to the stands when the all-around was already in progress. The all-around was a chance for the best gymnasts in the world to compete directly against each other. No more teams to add or subtract points—just each individual gymnast proving his mettle on each apparatus. The best cumulative score on all six apparatuses won.

He found his spot in the TBC section of the stands, which was basically several long rows of seats peppered with various personnel from the network. Topher sat between two empty seats and got out his phone. Flipping on the video selfie camera, he posed, smiled, and softly, he said, “Hello. It’s time to take in the spectacle of men’s gymnastics, which is fast becoming my favorite event at the Olympics. The women’s team has been getting so much publicity that hardly anyone is paying attention to the men’s team, despite the fact that they won silver at the team competition. Jake Mirakovitch, whom I think we can all agree is absolutely dreamy, could win a gold medal, and I know everyone at home is rooting for him. Right? Now look at this.” Topher rotated the camera so that it captured the vast gymnastics battlefield below, where men flipped, flew, and fell.

While he panned the camera, Topher spotted Jake chalking up near the high bar. “Excellent timing,” Topher told his phone as he zoomed the camera in on Jake. “Let’s watch Jake kill it at high bar. I have it from the horse’s mouth that this is his best event.”

Jake walked below the bar and clapped once, sending a chalk cloud into the air. He hopped up and grabbed the bar and swung back and forth a little before jackknifing his body and swinging all 360 degrees around the bar. Topher still hadn’t learned the names of all the moves, but he watched Jake swing around the bar a couple of times before launching himself into the air, twisting his body around, and then grabbing the bar again. Jake flew a good two feet above the bar as he twisted. Then he launched himself into the air again and caught the bar facing the other way. The move had happened so quickly that Topher hadn’t even seen the twist. Jake swung around a couple of times again before holding a handstand and doing some kind of trickery by bending his body and ducking around the bar. Then he rotated around the bar again, launched himself in the air, and did a somersault before catching the bar again.

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