Page 34

Tony

The warm Athens sunlight is no match for the bright lights of the cameras flashing in my face.

“Just smile,” Brody mutters to me, his arm around my shoulders. “This is your moment.”

Hopefully, my smile doesn’t look as forced as it feels as I sling my arm around him and Dylan, another of my teammates on the Olympic roster. After a few weeks of nonstop media attention while at the Games, I’m ready to fade into obscurity again.

My teammates came with me for this semi-final match of Team USA against Australia. Al and my parents are somewhere in the stands, ready to watch Cari and Vivienne kick ass against their bitter rivals. The media isn’t done with us though.

Gold medal. We did it. It was close, down to the very last routine. Tommy’s excellent pommel horse routine was responsible for launching us into first place.

And then in the final rotation, I nailed my fucking vault, and we won the gold medal.

There are still the individual event finals later this week. I’ve qualified for both vault and floor exercise. And as much as I want to do my best, as much as I want another medal, I’ve done what I came here to do.

Last time, the bronze medal felt like a consolation prize rather than a mark of my achievements. Third place in the world felt like a taunt rather than an accomplishment.

Now I’ve done it. I’ve hit the pinnacle of success and stuck the landing. Anything after this is just a bonus.

Viv is down on the pitch, ready to play her heart out. She hasn’t publicly announced any retirement plans, but Alycia is working hard on a post-Olympics press tour and events. When we went down to South Carolina to tell her parents, her mom cried and her dad went into a planning frenzy on what to do after. Viv took it all in stride, letting them know she was handling it. Well, Alycia is. That counts.

It’ll be harder for me to manage, starting vet school three weeks after we get home. I almost deferred the first semester, but it’s only a few weeks of craziness. I’ll do a few talk shows showing off the gold medal, but I won’t go on the full press tour that Viv and Cari will no doubt embark on.

Besides, I’m ready to get started on this next step in my life.

Luckily, we had some help. My mom and Viv’s mom were busy at work setting up our new apartment in Boulder, about twenty miles from downtown Denver, where Chuck and Janine live. We had to fly to Greece ahead of time for pre-Games training, so our families took care of packing our boxes, shipping everything, and even had time to start unpacking before they joined us.

Truth be told, I think my siblings are glad I’m moving out. Although we spend a lot of time at Viv’s apartment, I don’t like to leave Shadow alone too long, so we do spend quite a few nights at the house. And as much as we try to keep things down, Viv isn’t known for being quiet.

Taking my seat in the stands, I tug my hat down over my forehead. The sun on my skin does feel nice. After spending the last month training in the gym all day, every day, it’s almost a relief to get outside again.

“Cari’s looking good out there,” Al comments beside me. “Viv too.”

“I’ll say,” Brody says, and I backhand him across the chest.

“Stop perving on my sister. She’s too young for you.”

My best friend shrugs. “She’s hot.”

He broke up with his girlfriend about six months ago, right around the time Cari decided she was ready to try wading into the dating pool again. The timing is suspiciously convenient. But I believe him when he says he didn’t realize how much he was interested in her until she was suddenly available—and he wasn’t. His ex has moved on, so I guess there aren’t any bad feelings there. Brody still hasn’t actually asked Cari out. I don’t know what he’s waiting for.

All I know is, it’s messy. It’s not my mess, though. I don’t have to worry about it.

Just, like, a little bit of worry. A normal amount. He’s my best friend, but she’s my sister. I’ll always worry about her.

Viv’s family is in the row in front of us. All five of her siblings, plus her parents, are here to cheer her on. I’ve met Mr. and Mrs. Gallagher three times now—they came up to Boston twice, and we went down to South Carolina in March—but I haven’t had the opportunity to be with all the siblings at the same time.

When her parents brought Bradley and Frankie up over spring break, they were more interested in seeing the sights than spending time with us. Perry had a football game in the city in December. Janine was kind enough to take us on a tour of the Boulder area when I was touring campus.

To everyone’s surprise, Chuck and Al get along like a house on fire. I thought for sure they’d be at each other's throats, but they seem to enjoy riling each other up and then laughing about it after.

I think it might be what Chuck was missing in the distance from his twin, and what I could never give Al. I don’t have the same competitive fire in me. As much as I want to win, gymnastics is all about individual achievements rather than a team working together. Even for a team score, it’s about our own efforts.

Being hockey players, Chuck and Al understand each other in a way I never have. I don’t feel left out; I’m actually grateful that they’ve been able to find what they were missing in each other. It’s not fun feeling left out.

I didn’t realize how alone I was until Viv blasted into my life. I was going through the motions. Training, work, volunteering at the shelter… it consumed me. I didn’t hang out with Brody or the guys. I barely saw my siblings…

With the endorsement campaigns Alycia’s found for me, I was able to quit my job at the restaurant. Suddenly having twenty hours a week in my schedule means I actually have time to relax and spend time with Viv and my siblings. Separately and together.

“Alright,” Mr. Gallagher says, turning around in his seat to face me. “What do you have planned for after this?”

My mouth goes dry. “What do you mean?”

Somehow, I don’t think he’s talking about where to go for dinner.

“Do I need to start saving up for a wedding?” His walrus-style mustache twitches. I can’t tell if that’s a good thing.

I think it’s a good thing.

“We’re not there yet,” I tell him honestly. “When she’s ready, I’ll ask, but we have so much going on in the next year. We need some time for us, first. She needs to figure out what she wants to do after all of this.”

“You’re not going to string my baby girl along?”

I shake my head. “If I thought she’d say yes, I’d ask her in a heartbeat. Our relationship is too important to me to rush into the next step. We’re moving in together, and we’re moving halfway across the country to start the next phase of our lives. That’s enough life changes for now, I think. We’re committed and working toward that, but we’re not there yet.”

Mr. Gallagher nods. “That’s a good rationale.”

There’s a ring in my duffel bag. I’d kept it in my sock drawer, but since my mom was packing all of my stuff for the movers, I’d brought it with me. I don’t have any plans to propose—like I told her dad, I genuinely think we should wait.

But if she even hints about wanting to get engaged, I want to have it on hand. Cari helped me pick it out and Kiana helped me get it sized properly. It was truly a team effort.

Neither of us is ready, but when the time comes, I will be.

On the pitch, Viv and Cari are playing their heart out. Australia is a fierce opponent. There’s a reason they’ve won the last three meetings between the countries. I’m on the edge of my seat as Team USA scores, then the Australians answer back. Every time we go up, they respond immediately.

The score is tied at the half. Viv is focused on the pitch in front of her, all of her attention narrowed in on this game.

This is the end for her. Regardless of the outcome of this game, she’s going home a three-time Olympic medalist. The only question is if it’s a silver or that elusive gold medal.

And when play resumes, Viv gets the ball back to her teammate. They manage to eke out a score, and then another, and then another before Australia is able to catch up.

When the final whistle blows, Viv looks to the stands. There are thousands of people here, but I know she can see me because her smile stretches from ear to ear. She folds her fingers into a heart over her chest, and I do the same. Our super secret-sign language.

And as they place the gold medal around her neck, I cry right along with her, and I don’t fucking care who sees it. I’m so proud of her, of everything she’s accomplished. It’s the perfect way to wrap up her third Olympics, the cherry on top of a storybook career.

This is it. This is the end.

But for us, it’s only the beginning.

Thank you for reading Ruck Me Harder. I hope you enjoyed the book as much as I enjoyed writing it!