by L. V. Lewis
Going for Gold (An Olympic Medal Romance) © 2016 LV Lewis
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Table of Contents
Copyright Page
Going for Gold (An Olympic Medal Romance)
Readers Note
Chapter One: Gunnar
Chapter Two: Mia
Chapter Three: Gunnar
Chapter Four: Mia
Chapter Five: Gunnar
Chapter Six: Mia
Chapter Seven: Gunnar
Chapter Eight: Mia
Going for Gold (An Olympic Medal Romance)
The Olympics have never been so sexy.
Olympic pole-vaulter Gunnar Kingsley is competing in Rio, where he will finally meet Mia Orlán—his longtime online pen pal. He assumes Mia thinks he’s just an average guy, and hopes that her impoverished upbringing has prevented her from researching him.
In the eight years they’ve been corresponding, Mia has developed feelings for her American friend she fears won’t be returned. If by some miracle they were, she’s even more afraid a physical relationship would leave only heartbreak in its wake.
Meanwhile, Gunnar fears if she knows of his elite ranking, she’ll end up being just another girl who’ll treat him like a shallow jock. He wants more from her. Will Gunnar come clean when the torch is lit in Rio, or will Mia confront him first?
#HotRio2016
Readers Note
Going for Gold is an Olympic-themed standalone novella set in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, the location of this year’s Summer Olympic Games.
Going for Gold and the novellas to follow, Streaking for Silver, and Bidding for Bronze will be released on August 1, August 8, and August 15, respectively.
They will be bundled and released as a box set on August 22, 2016.
Chapter One: Gunnar
“I can’t believe I’m in bed with the Gunnar Kingsley.”
Gunnar opened his eyes to his bedmate staring at him. He forced a smile. “Morning.”
“Good morning, Mr. Olympic Hopeful.”
Damn it. This was bad. Very bad. He must have fallen asleep. That’s what he got for hooking up with a girl at a party. He’d been exhausted from practice, but the girl had been a welcome distraction from the pressure he was under. Sex—the best stress-reducer known to man.
Coach was working him harder than ever since Rio was only weeks away. He had to be at his best. There was only one sure way of relieving the pressure felt by an elite athlete operating at his zenith. Now he was regretting every moment, particularly his penchant for fantasizing about a certain Brazilian beauty during the act, and waking up to someone who literally paled in comparison to her. The girl in bed with him was a tall, pale blonde with pale blue eyes, while his dream girl was petite with warm olive skin, sexy curves and expressive brown eyes.
The girl’s gaze rolled over him as she smiled. The way she eyed him like a prize she’d won creeped him out. It took everything in him to hold back an annoyed groan.
This was why he didn’t date jock magnets. They only saw him as an Olympic potential. No good relationship could come out of dating a fan.
He knew this would happen. It always did, but he couldn’t help himself. Being an adrenaline junkie came with the athlete territory, train hard and play even harder when the day was almost over.
Part of him enjoyed how excited people got when they were around him. He was the town pole-vaulting celebrity ever since coming in first for the championships. Now that he had a shot at being part of the U.S. Olympic Team, everyone wanted a piece of him. It certainly didn’t hinder his woman-catching abilities.
Then he woke up to the same giddy excitement he saw in Barbara’s eyes. Or was it Betty? Hell, he couldn’t remember. That only meant it was time for him to go before she—
“Can I have your autograph?” she asked, easing closer to him.
Shit. He sat up and searched around for his clothes and noticed her bedroom clock displaying the time of a little after six in the morning.
“Sorry,” he said, searching for his jeans. Where the hell had he tossed them? “I have practice early today for trials, so I have to get going.” He found them halfway under the bed and grabbed his t-shirt from the corner of the bedroom.
“It’ll only take a minute,” she said, jumping out of bed. She didn’t seem to mind being naked in front of him as she tumbled through her nightstand drawer and then scurried to the dresser. “It won’t take long. I’m sure I have a picture of you around here somewhere.”
He got his shoes on and made his way towards her door. “This was...great, but I have to go.”
Gunnar closed the door behind him, and he made his way towards the closest exit. He opted for the stairs instead of the elevator to keep from waiting too long. He was thankful she lived in the college dorms, since he could disappear easily.
The University of Michigan was big enough for him to get lost in if he wanted to, but recently more and more people were recognizing him. A flock of admirers was the last thing he needed. No one was stirring around since it was so early, which made it easy to avoid running into anyone else.
There was no time to run back to his dorm, so he went straight to the track. He needed to be the first one there to make sure he had his head on straight.
After a quick shower, he made it to the field just as day was breaking through, which gave him some time to do laps before the other athletes arrived.
Running helped to still his mind. He didn’t think about the upcoming trials and what it meant. Instead, he focused on why he did it in the first place.
Track and field had always been a part of him since high school. There was something about running and soaring through the air that made him feel superhuman, like he could do anything as long as he kept moving.
It was a sensation that was hard to explain unless you lived it, and that’s what he wanted to do in the trials. He wanted to live it. Conquering it would be a bonus. If he won, he’d finally get a chance to see her.
Mia Orlán had been his friend all through high school and college. Through all the things that had shifted in his life, she had been the one welcome and constant thing in the craziness.
The two of them had never met in person, since she lived in Rio de Janeiro. If he made it in the top finishers, he could actually see her, and that both thrilled him and scared him at the same time.
“Gunnar!” a voice called out.
Gunnar turned in time to see Nate running to meet him. They’d both been recruited for and competed on the track and field team and had just graduated together that spring. Now, they were going to compete with the best in the United States in a matter of days.
“Hey, man,” Gunnar said without slowing his pace.
Nate ran in step next to him. “I see you still made it out here early.”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“After yo
u went home with that cutie from the party, I figured you’d be dragging yourself into practice this morning.”
“No chance,” Gunnar said. “You’re not getting rid of me that easily.”
Nate and Gunnar had represented the University of Michigan for four years and had trained together under the same coach. They were friends, but they still had a congenial rivalry that kept them competitive.
A few short days later, Gunnar’s entire team converged on the quaint campus of The University of Oregon in Hayward. The Wolverines took to the track and field stadium as if it were an old friend, feeling it out in practice as one might rekindle a friendship. This would not be the first time the coaches had Gunnar and Nate double-down on their focus, each in their own unique way, preparing for the Olympic track and field trials with more intensity than they had for any other competition.
On the final day of trials for his event, it didn’t take long until the other athletes and staff filled the field for warm-ups. A few people had trickled into the stands, and before long the bleachers would be filled with supporters. His parents would be among them.
Gunnar blocked out everyone else but his coach and Nate. If he thought about everyone else, it would throw him off his game. He needed a clear head.
Speed wasn’t a problem for him. The challenge was planting the pole at the right time to have him make the best clearing of the bar. Coach had trained him to work harder on his plant techniques. Today, he would see if it paid off.
Thankfully, he wasn’t the first to go up.
He kept his headphones in his ears to block out the noises from the crowd, but he still watched as each competitor did their jump. Only the best three would go through to Rio. Since he had the highest height at nationals, he got to go last.
Gunnar held his breath as Nate did his run. Nate barely cleared the bar height, and his friend had the highest jump. Now, Gunnar had to beat it. Coming in second or third wouldn’t work. He wanted first place, and he was going to get it.
Adrenaline coursed through his veins and rushed in his ears as he stepped up. Muscles bunching in a manner that was all too familiar, he took the position that had become rote, he’d practiced it so much. The chalk on his hands felt like silk as he welcomed the soft pressure of the sunlight on his skin. He thought he could hear his family screaming his name, but his primary focus was the path in front of him.
Air filled his lungs as he took deep breaths and sprinted forward. The best part was the soaring. That peak was what they all went after, catapulting through the air and falling on the other side.
When he finally hit the mat, he stayed there for a moment, just enough time to enjoy it but not too much that people would think he was injured. He didn’t have to check the scoreboard to know he made it and beat his competition. The cheers told him more than enough.
Everyone went out to celebrate afterward, but Gunnar just wanted to go back to the hotel until it was time to fly back to Michigan. More intense training was in store for him there, but he didn’t care. He’d take that over the superficial celebration with a bunch of strangers. The last thing he needed was to be around more people who only showed up hoping to rub elbows with potential Olympic medal winners.
After greeting his family, he slipped away from the crowd. He already had to duck the local news stations there to interview the winners. He knew coach would be furious. More publicity meant more sponsors, but he was done. There was only one person in the world he wanted to talk to, and she wasn’t there.
Gunnar was obsessing over his replay videos for his last few vaults when he got the email from Mia. She was the first person he wanted to tell, the only one who he really wanted to be excited for him. But he couldn’t bring himself to do it.
She knew he was a pole-vaulting and track athlete, but she didn’t know he was vying for a coveted Olympic spot. People treated him differently when they found out who he was. Learning that he was a top contender for a gold medal made it easy for him to be a target. Everybody wanted something. They always did.
Not Mia. She was the only person in the world who made him feel normal, and all they had to go on was years of emails to each other and a few photos.
He hated keeping the news from her, but he couldn’t lose what they had. Not yet. She was the only one who knew things about him that he couldn’t share with his family or friends. So what did that make her?
She was gorgeous, with dark hair that flowed over bronze-kissed skin. His favorite likeness of her was a picture she’d sent him wearing a simple white shirt. It highlighted her brown eyes—knowing eyes that seemed to peer back at him on a level that was deep and real. Everything about Mia was the opposite of the girls he was used to being with, girls who wanted nothing but the fantasy of sleeping with a jock and riding the attention that came with it.
He read the email, and felt a smile fill his face when he saw that she wanted to meet him at the airport when he arrived in Rio. But the one sentence that stayed with him was her last one.
I can’t wait to finally meet you.
Chapter Two: Mia
Mia Orlán laid her fifth and final dress on her bed. She didn’t have many clothes to wear, so she was already going through much of her closet trying to find something suitable to meet Gunnar in. What if he didn’t like her? What if he thought she looked different from the pictures she’d sent him over the years?
She was thinking too hard. Gunnar wasn’t even really coming to see her. He was there for the Olympics, just like all the other athletes and tourists that had been filling the city over the past week. He hadn’t even told her he’d made the team. She had figured that out by putting his name in the search engine, hoping to get a few more pictures to add to her small collection, and there he was, smiling with two other men who had made the U. S. Olympic Team with him.
She was hurt that he didn’t tell her in his email. He only said he was coming to support his country and teammates. Maybe he didn’t think she wanted to know.
Besides, they were just pen pals. It wasn’t like they were dating. He’d never made her believe he wanted anything else besides friendship, but that hadn’t stopped her from dreaming otherwise.
He didn’t even have any reason to stay in Rio after the games. His life was back in the United States. Mia had to keep telling herself that or she was going to get hurt when he left. It took effort to push that painful thought away, but she did before turning back to the tiny closet.
She decided on jeans and a simple red blouse. Louisa, her best friend, would tell her to wear a sexy dress to show off her legs, but she wanted to be comfortable so Gunnar could find her easily. She had told him she’d meet him at the airport. Now, she wasn’t sure if that was a stupid idea or not. But seeing him as soon as he landed had been too good to pass up.
Mia looked around her door before turning her back to lock it. She only lived in a small apartment in the favelas with her family, but the slums residence was all they could afford. She helped with what she could from her job at the small gift shop in the city.
They had to be careful in the area they lived in. Crime wasn’t unusual in her neighborhood, and it had only gotten worse. Their area had undergone pacification and boasted more police units than some of the other favelas, but they still had to be cautious of their surroundings. That was why she never carried a bag or a purse with her. They only served as bait for the young thieves that roamed the streets and alleyways.
She didn’t even have a cell phone or a personal computer. Whenever she talked to Gunnar, it was through the computer at work or one in the library. It wasn’t safe to keep anything of value in the apartment, but she found that she didn’t need much else. Whenever she had free time, she would read her books or the emails from Gunnar that she printed out.
Her mother and father were at work, and she didn’t have to go into her job until later that afternoon. A few neighbors were out, and she greeted them as she passed. Some were friendly, while others just wanted to be left alone.
When she passed a group of kids, she smiled at them but kept them in her sights in case they tried to play a trick on her. Some of the worst robbers were children. A few of the criminals paid the younger ones to do their dirty work.
Mia thought it was pitiful to use children that way, but there wasn’t much for many of them to look forward to. School only met for half a day when it was in session, but now that school was out, children ran around the city doing whatever they wanted with no one to watch after them. Their parents were poor, which meant higher education wasn’t a reality for the majority of them. They came from poor parents and would probably grow up to be poor adults themselves.
She was grateful for the academic scholarship she’d earned, allowing her to attend a local college, but the jobs for educated women weren’t plentiful in Rio. She was thankful for even finding a job at the gift shop.
A taxi took her to the international airport. Since it wasn’t too far away, she didn’t have to pay much. She’d saved up her money so she could use it to show Gunnar around Rio, but if he was in the games, he wouldn’t have time for her. Disappointment consumed her, but she shook the depressing feeling off. At least she could see him for some of the time he was there. She could be grateful for that.
She kept using her hand to push her hair back, hoping that nothing was out of place.
The airport was predictably packed, and she found herself pushed and shoved a few times by both locals and tourists.
She got there two hours early just because she was too anxious to wait at home any longer.
Mia stared at the flight arrival schedule for the hundredth time. Nothing had changed, but she couldn’t help the nerves that filled her, causing her to look again and again.
She’d made a sign with Gunnar’s name on it, but she was wondering if the colored drawings around his name were too much. She watched as families and lovers met the new arrivals.
A couple next to her kissed so long that she had to look away. She wondered if Gunnar was a good kisser. Flickers of excitement filled her as she thought of kissing him.