Friendship with Finley needs to be enough.
10
Finley
My hands push offthe vault, using the foam-covered steel to propel my body into a double twisting Yurchenko. I land in the soft pit of foam on my back after nailing the form.
Veronica peers over the edge above me. She’s the reason I’m still not landing this skill on the mat. “Much better,” she says with more enthusiasm than I’ve heard all day.
Every preceding vault resulted in critique, from a weak block to crossed legs to an off-center landing. Veronica knows her shit, and I want to trust her to improve my gymnastics, but a skill I’ve done thousands of times doesn’t get my blood pumping.
“Does that mean I can graduate to the mat?”
“Tomorrow.”
Finally!
She offers a hand to help me out of the pit. Veronica wipes the chalk I transferred to her hands onto her sweatpants. “Will your boy be joining you tomorrow?”
I glare at her. “He’s not my boy.”
She flicks her wrist at me. “Boy, guy, man, whatever.”
“Aren’t you supposed to warn me off guys in case they mess with my training?”
She knows I’m joking because she’d never try to tell me how to run my life. Veronica’s coaching style matches my needs exactly. She pushes me hard in the gym, challenging me for perfection and sparking my competitive streak without stressing me. She competed in college, so she understands how to build a training program that won’t overwork me but will prepare me for collegiate competition.
She also doesn’t want me to focus only on gymnastics. I need balance.
“He brightens up the gym,” Veronica says with a grin. She knocks my shoulder as we walk to the floor for end-of-session stretches. “Especially when he’s watching you.”
“Stop it.” I slide into a split, right leg in front, arms reaching toward my foot. I moan softly at the glorious stretch in my quad and calves.
“I promised I’d never lie to you, Fi.”
I know the look she means because I’ve noticed it from Zach before. When I took off my dress and jumped into the pool the night we met. When I stripped down to my leotard in this gym. He finds me attractive; that’s all it is.
“Is that right?” I shift to face the opposite leg. “Then can you explain why you’re making me vault into a pit for days when you know I’ve landed that vault hundreds of times?”
Veronica places her hands on her hips. “I need to make sure you’re ready.”
The words grate. I’m tired of every single person in my life coddling me.
Veronica’s tone softens. “I told you we might move slower than you’re used to, but I want you to be one hundred percent prepared for any element you do. I don’t want you to get hurt and lose your chance to make UPC’s team.”
“I won’t have a shot if I’m still doing moves I mastered years ago,” I grumble.
Veronica’s eyes narrow. “You don’t want to go back to where you were years ago. I need you to trust me.”
“I do,” I say. “I’m just nervous. I want to make the UPC team so badly.”
“I know, Finley. We’ve got this. It will work out.” She walks off the floor toward the staircase and office upstairs. “And bring Briggsy next time. You’re more fun when he’s around.”
The smoke alarm is blaring when I arrive home. Gemma would never burn anything, and Matt doesn’t get back from his road trip until tomorrow, which means the man Veronica claims I’m more fun around is responsible for the chaos.
Zach stands in the center of the kitchen, flapping a towel beneath the alarm. Something that must’ve been food sits atop the stove, burnt to a pile of crisps.
“Oh shit, you’re home!” His arm moves faster.
