Page 82 of Ruck Me Harder

“Okay, but you’d leave your siblings?”

“They’re grown adults. And they’d still have each other.” He shrugs. “I don’t care where I go to school. If it’s a city where you have people, that’ll make me feel better. I don’t want to uproot your entire life.”

“Okay. Let’s do it,” I decide. I let out a laugh. I can’t believe we’re doing this. But I can’t imagine doing this with anyone else. I can’t imagine wanting to do this with anyone other than him.

“Really?” Tony squeezes my hand. “You’d give up your life here in Boston for me?”

It’s not my life here. I can visit the city. I can keep in touch with my friends online. Without rugby filling my day, I’ll finally have the space to figure out who I am and what I want. Maybe it’s taking a more aggressive outreach with social media. Maybe it’s advocacy and public speaking. Maybe it’s something private and out of the public eye.

Whatever it is, I know I’ll have the freedom to explore and navigate it for myself. He gives me the space to mull it over without forcing me to make a decision I’m not ready for.

Wherever we are—in Boston, in Colorado, in freaking Minnesota, I know that I can do anything as long as he’s there beside me, cheering me on. Just like I’ll always do the same for him.

“Apply to the vet school in Boulder,” I tell him. “And if you get in, let’s move to Colorado. Together.”

Tony cups my cheek, pulling me close for a kiss. He brushes his nose against mine before his lips finally meet mine.

“Together,” he whispers.

“Forever.”

epilogue

. . .

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.”