Balance (Off Balance Book 1) (7 page)

“How young?”

“I have no clue, I didn’t ask, but I would say around twenty-five? Thirty? I have no idea.” I puckered my lips, my forehead bunching together. “That seems kind of young for my dad to be friends with.”

“I didn’t know you had to be a certain age to be friends with someone.”

“You don’t, obviously. I just wasn’t expecting it.”

“Is he hot?”

My cheeks flushed. “Avery! He’s my coach!”

“And?”

“And what?”

“Is he hot?”

Hot was an understatement. His jet black hair complemented his stunning green eyes perfectly. A square jaw with hollow cheeks but profound cheek bones. I loved that he was tall and had broad shoulders. All my other coaches had been short and stumpy.

“Well...I mean, yeah, he’s hot, but I can’t think of him like that. I’m going to be working closely with him for like forty hours a week.”

“Send me a picture.”

I burst out laughing. “Avery! And how the hell am I supposed to do that? I can’t just bring my phone in there and be all ‘Hey, Coach, let me take a picture of you.’”

“Fine. I’ll Google him. He’s an Olympian so there’s bound to be a picture of him out there. Hang tight, what’s his name?”

I paused for a moment, my brows pinching together. “Well, he addressed himself as Konstantin, but search Konstantin Kournakova. I mean, Kournakov. Or Kova. My dad called him Kova. I think he changed his last name, though.”

“Okay. Let’s do one name at a time because you just threw like thirty at me. Core...ne—”

“Konstantin Kournakova,” I said in a terribly fake Russian accent.

“How do you spell that? There are too many vowels and corn in it.”

Rolling my eyes, I laughed under my breath from her exaggeration then spelled it out. Dead silence for a good ten seconds, then...

“Fuuuuccckkk, Adrianna, seriously.”

I chuckled into the phone. “What?” I said blandly. I knew what she was getting at.

“Fish lips and all, he’s smoking hot!”

“Fish lips? You did not just say that. He most definitely does not have fish lips.”

“So you admit to checking him out,” she replied swiftly.

“No!”

“Admit it!”

“So what? I already said he’s hot.”

Avery laughed again. “Okay—I won’t call them fish lips, but they are nice and full. Kissable.” She paused, then shouted, “Oh, my God! Coach Kissable!”

I groaned loudly. The last thing I wanted to think about was my coach’s
full, kissable
lips.

“And it appears he is...actually thirty-two years old.”

“Wow. If you saw him in person, you’d never guess.”

“Seriously, though. He’s fucking gorgeous. Have fun with that. I wouldn’t mind having a cheerleading coach who looked like him. Shit, I wouldn’t mind having a damn co-ed team in general. All those strong guys to lift me and then cradle me to their chests with their huge ass arms? And have you noticed how hot the guys are? What the hell are they eating to bulk up the way they do?”

“You’re crazy, Ave,” I laughed, cutting her off. Avery lusted after every boy who crossed her path. She took boy crazy to a whole new level.

Sighing, I looked around at the boxes that still needed to be unpacked.

“I need to finish getting things unpacked and hit the sack early. I have practice at 6:30 a.m., which means I need to be awake by 5:30 to get ready and be there on time.”

“Oy. Why so early?”

“Practice, lunch, school, practice again. I won’t end until close to six-ish, I think? I’m not really sure.”

“Wow. Well, try and call me tomorrow if you can.”

“Will do.”

“Have fun! And remember—snap a picture for me.”

“I’ll do my best.”

“Later, girl.”

The smile I heard in her voice made me miss my best friend dearly. Moving to Florida’s West Coast was my choice and something I desperately wanted. I’d prepared for it, and was ready the day it finally came, but I hadn’t anticipated missing my friend so much so soon.

I needed to stay focused on my goal, all these sacrifices would be worth it in the end.

T
he sun hadn’t even begun to peek above the horizon as gray clouds drifted across the charcoal sky when we pulled up to World Cup. Thomas, my driver, knew exactly where to go.

My eyes were swollen and puffy from the restless night of sleep I had. I’d been so anxious for the following morning, I tossed and turned all night in bed, thinking about how my first day would go. I was finally going to begin the next phase in my gymnastics career, and it was all I could think about. Just as I was about to fall back asleep, my alarm clock went off, jolting me upright. If I had to guess, I’d say I had about three hours total of sleep.

Stepping outside with my duffle bag, the humidity in the air smacked my face. “Bye, Alfred. I’m not sure how many hours I’ll be here, so I’ll text you when I get out.” Alfred was a personal nickname I used for Thomas. He wasn’t crazy about it, judging by his expression every time it rolled off my tongue. In fact, I think he loathed it, but went along with it to appease me.

“I’ll be on standby, Miss Rossi.”

An exasperated sigh escaped my throat. “Alfred. How many times do I have to tell you to call me Adrianna?” I had been reminding him more lately. I hated the Miss crap.

“How many times have I told you my name is Thomas?” he retorted.

My eyes narrowed, trying to appear mean, but I knew it was a piss poor job.

“Old habits.”

“I’ll try harder,” he said with a wink.

Shutting the door, the sound of fallen leaves fluttering in the wind caught my attention. I glanced over my shoulder, but I couldn’t see anything in the dark and continued on.

Stepping onto the sidewalk, I walked in front of the SUV. Thanks to the headlights shining through the window, I got a glimpse inside World Cup. When we arrived the first day, I hadn’t been able to see through the tinted glass, but the early morning hours along with the bright lights illuminated a large portion of the gym.

My eyes zoomed in on a gymnast throwing a tumbling pass. She must’ve been warming up since all she did was a round-off, back handspring, one and a half twist, and then walked off like it was nothing. It really wasn’t much on our level, but she made it look effortless. Like a ribbon floating in the wind. Beautiful, really. I could only pray I had that kind of grace. Coach Kova clapped his hands, his lips moving and head nodding in approval. I took in his attire and noticed he wasn’t wearing dress pants.

I shuffled my duffle bag around and opened the door. As I did, another hand reached above me and pushed back the metal frame. I looked over my shoulder and came face to face with muscular arms. Stepping inside, I locked eyes with the cutest boy next door smile I’d ever seen. He hardly had any clothes on: shorts, flip flops, and a loose tank top with huge arm holes. Typical South Florida beach attire.

“I got it.”

I gripped my strap tighter. “Thank you.”

“I’m Hayden,” he said, walking in closely behind.

“Adrianna.”

He smiled, and a dimple appeared in the center of his chin. “I know, we met the other day. I’m Holly’s twin.”

“Huh.” I stared at him. “I wouldn’t have guessed.”

His smile grew larger. “That’s good to know. The last thing I want is to hear I look like a chick.”

Chuckling at his comment, I followed him down the hall into a small room that had two walls of lockers, one each for the boys’ and girls’ teams. He stuffed his bag into a metal cage. His movements were comfortable and natural as if he’d been doing this for ages, and maybe he had.

Hayden looked over his shoulder. “Are you nervous about today?”

I bit my lip and shuffled my feet. “Yeah, is it obvious?”

“Not really—but I just remember my first day being able to train at a new level. It’s exciting but more nerve-racking than anything.”

Hayden reached behind his head and pulled off his shirt. He rolled it into a ball and chucked it in with the rest of his stuff. It took everything in me to keep my jaw from dropping to the floor, but that didn’t mean I didn’t give him a good once over, openly gawking at his body.

“I’ll be honest...I’m petrified.”

“That’s totally normal. You’ll get past it in a couple of weeks once you’re comfortable.” He slapped his door shut. “Want a tip?”

“Of course.”

“Don’t talk back. Do what your coaches tell you. Don’t show them you’re scared. Don’t hesitate. They don’t want to hear excuses. Show them you’re confident and want to be here, that you can handle what they give you and have what it takes. Basically, just agree and nod and that will take you far. They know what they’re talking about. I’ve been through a handful of coaches at this gym, and these are by far the best.” He paused, then said something I needed to remember. “And most importantly, there will be days when you’ll want to quit because you can’t take any more. Those days will come and they’ll come often. Just don’t give up, because the reward will be worth it in the end.”

I took in Hayden’s words with a serious nod. He cupped my shoulder with compassion and said, “Good luck,” then pulled the door to the gym open and stepped inside.

Looking through the window, there was only one girl out there, and I thought it was Reagan, but I wasn’t sure since I met her for only a split second the other day. I watched as she landed a front handspring double twisting front layout into a punch front tuck, her arms out in a T landing to balance herself, but she pulled to the right and took a large step.

“What are you waiting for?”

A deep, baritone voice startled me from behind. I jumped, looking over my shoulder as my heart raced. My hand flew to my neck. Where had he come from?

“What?” I stammered.

Konstantin tilted his head to the side, his face expressionless. “I thought you were a gymnast, not a spectator. My time is valuable. Get in the gym now or leave.”

I pulled back, my mind reeling from his unexpected nasty tone. My jaw hung open, silently moving up and down. I struggled with words, trying to find the right response. The way his eyes bore into mine made him unapproachable...And intimidating.

“Where...Where do I put my things?”

He gave me a look that said I should know where my stuff went. He hadn’t assigned me a locker, but I had a feeling mentioning that wouldn’t be good, so I didn’t bring it up.

“Okay,” I responded quietly. “Where to after that?”

“This is just like any other gym, Adrianna,” he said with a bite, rolling the R in my name. “Let this be a lesson learned after today. After you come in, you place your things in a locker, and you get your ass into the gym quickly. I do not care where you start, as long as your feet are on the blue floor every morning by six thirty and you are coming to me. Yeah?”

With wide eyes and parted lips, I nodded at his dick attitude. Coach marched off and I quickly did as he said as my knees shook. Jesus. He acted as if I was late, which I wasn’t, he just hadn’t explained what to do once I arrived.

I stripped out of my hot pink, Juicy Couture two-piece zip-up and pants set and rolled it up, shoving it into a metal locker. I’d stick it in my bag later, the last thing I wanted to do was make him wait any longer. I threw my long burgundy hair into a messy ponytail and made my way toward the gym.

Swallowing back the lump in my throat, I pushed my shoulders back, stepped into the gym and walked over to where the women’s team was. Coach stared me down, tracking my every footstep. His gaze made me feel two inches tall and insecure.

I chewed the inside of my lip as our eyes locked. His black short-sleeved shirt hugged his muscular biceps. His arms were firmly crossed in front of his chest, muscles perfectly rounded, and his stance spoke of authority. He tracked me all the way across the gym. Heads turned my way in the middle of their stretching, so I quickly tiptoed to the floor. I’d have to let Alfred know we needed to get here a little earlier tomorrow to avoid these uncomfortable stares, just in case. No one liked being the center of attention, so I needed to make sure I’d slip in quieter and unseen.