Page 35 of Let the Games Begin
But she didn’t have to test the limits of her self-control because the lift was moving again; Giannis had reached the building and reset the system. The lift was finally at the ground floor, the doors opening. Olivia was so relieved to breathe fresh air again that she immediately stood up and began to walk out.
“Forgetting something?” Zeke asked as he pointed at the painting of Arlo. She’d almost left it in her rush to escape the complicated feelings she could sense herself beginning to form toward Zeke. Who was she kidding? The complicated feelings she’d been forming ever since they’d fallen onto the ground together that first day.
It was the blue hour when Olivia and Zeke stepped out of the building. The sky was a haze, and the bright yellow streetlightsthat were beginning to turn on made it feel like they were floating in an otherworldly window between day and night. The air was thick with a heady sense of possibility. They could so easily get swept away.
“That’s my turning,” she said, breaking the silence as they reached the bend in the path that would take her to the shuttle bus.
“Okay, will you be all right getting back? There’s just one shuttle an hour, right?” he asked. Both of them were looking everywhere but at each other.
“Yeah, the next one is in fifteen minutes,” she said, checking her phone.
“Text me when you get home?” he said with a gentleness that startled her.
“I don’t have…” She trailed off. He put his hand out and she gave him her phone, then he gave her his. They saved numbers and swapped their phones back, fingers gently grazing as they made their returns.
But as soon as she took her first step toward the other path, he reached for her hand. His touch was gentle but firm. Her heartbeat began to quicken. His hand was a question, and whatever she did next would be the answer.
If Olivia had taken the stairs instead of the lift, she would have gone straight home in time to catch Aditi watching a rerun of that afternoon’s Olympic beach volleyball game. If Zeke had taken the stairs instead of the lift, he probably would have put his trainers on and gone straight out for a run.
If the lift hadn’t got stuck somewhere between the seventh floor and the ground floor, they would have just exchanged a fewwords and then walked back out into the Village, too busy with their own lives and worries to spend time thinking about the person they kept bumping into. But that’s not how it had played out.
The thing with magnets was that as much as they tried to resist each other, hold back their power, face in opposite directions and try to stay apart, the force of attraction would always win. They could both feel the gravitational pull.
Olivia turned around and looked at Zeke. Zeke pulled her closer to him. Their lips felt hot against each other like they were two forces colliding in the most magnetic, passionate chemical reaction. As if their lips were specifically designed to meld together. But this kiss was different. He kissed her softly, like she was something precious. Gently stroking her hair and holding her close as if what stood between them was too delicate to rush. She kissed him slowly, savoring each moment. Lightly running her hands up and down his back, pulling him closer, and placing delicate kisses on his lips with a tender intimacy that surprised her. She was as comfortable with him as if she’d known him all her life, but with each touch, kiss, and sigh her body felt completely electrified.
The energy between them inside the elevator had been so intense that she’d almost been able to convince herself it was just a physical thing, a natural human response to being stuck in an enclosed space with someone she was attracted to. After all, Zeke was ridiculously hot, an insanely good kisser, and she was an adult woman with wants and desires. But as they kissed under a lamppost, she realized that it wasn’t just lust. Lust was easy, lust had a clear solution. No, as she gently kissed the soft area around his mouth, she knew her feelings for Zeke were much more complicated than that. OlivialikedZeke Moyo. And thatrealization kind of terrified her. As he planted tender kisses on her cheek, held her close, and looked down at her with a kind of startled adoration, she realized that he might feel the same way too. Which terrified her even more. So, she gently disentangled herself from him and let go. She looked at Zeke and the lipstick stain she’d left on his lips. The creases on his shirt and the buttons at the top she was pretty sure she’d unbuttoned. They stood in silence for a moment. And then she reached down, put her bag on her shoulder, and placed the canvas back in her hands.
“The shuttle,” she said. Her heart threatened to run out of her chest.
“Only once an hour,” he said.
She turned around and walked down the path toward the shuttle bus, fighting the urge to turn back and look at him one more time.
Olivia could still taste him on her lips.
30Zeke
DAY FIVE OF THE 2024 OLYMPICS
Zeke was supposed to be focusing on training, but his mind kept replaying the night before. That earth-shattering, head-dizzying kiss. Remembering the way he’d wrapped his arms around Olivia and how fiercely she’d pushed herself up against his body, her thin shirt and maddeningly soft shorts brushing against him. They’d kissed with such an urgency that it had taken everything in him to let go. It wasn’t the kind of kiss that he could walk away from and remain the same. Olivia wasn’t the kind of girl he could meet and then just go back to his normal life. And he could feel it in his performance that morning. It was the day of the quarterfinals, but he kept on making silly mistakes.
“Too late off the finish line, Moyo,” said Coach Adam, shaking his head after yet another substandard run.
“Sorry, Coach, just feeling a little distracted,” said Zeke.
“Well undistract yourself.”
Zeke walked back to the other side of the track to try again. But when he got into his starting position, he remembered theway Olivia had gasped when he’d lifted her off the floor and the way she’d whispered his name as he’d planted hot, impatient kisses against the side of her neck.
“Zeke!” shouted Coach Adam. Zeke looked around and realized that Coach had blown the whistle to signal the start of his practice sprint, but he was still stationary. He’d never missed the start of a run before. Coach Adam looked at him with a mixture of worry and disbelief. Zeke couldn’t believe himself either.
“I don’t know where your head is at, kid,” said Coach Adam, with a look of pure incredulity, “but you need to get it together.”
“Yes, Coach,” said Zeke, nodding.
By the time he walked into the stadium for the quarterfinals, Zeke had shut off almost all of his distractions. He’d listened to music that helped him focus, watched videos of his old races to study his technique, and spent the hour leading up to the race alone so that he couldn’t get distracted by other people’s conversations.
Zeke had been watching his Team GB teammates’ competitions all week. He’d cheered wildly as he’d watched the rowers win their semifinal. Nearly bitten his fingers off as he’d watched the intense boxing quarterfinal. And he’d stared up at the screen in the Team GB common room in awe as he and his teammates watched the synchronized swimmers do their first routine. Camille had sprained her wrist during practice, so the team physio had prescribed her two days of rest before she trained again. Frankie had made it to the semifinals of the 5000m run, but Anwar missed out on qualifying for the next round of the javelin throw by just a couple of centimeters. There were mixed emotions in GB House as some athletes celebrated their first medals while others hid awayin their rooms, packing their suitcases to go home early. Each time Zeke saw one of his teammates reach their goal or miss out at the last hurdle, the pressure and the stakes went up.
