Fighting to Win (The Elite Book 1) by Nicole Flockton Read Free Book Online

too.
    The sound of the Australian national anthem filled the center, and the Australians in the crowd sang loudly along with the man standing on the highest podium.
    God, she hoped that in a few days, time she’d be standing on that same podium too. While taking gold would be wonderful, she’d be happy with any medal.
    “I’m going to catch up with Dane.”
    Lost in her thoughts, Julia hadn’t heard the anthem finish. “Sure, Brooke, but I want to hear everything about you and Dane when you get back. Don’t be too late.”
    Brooke laughed as Julia waggled her finger at her. “Right, I promise not to be late, Mom . But what about you? Are you going to try and catch up with Mitch?”
    “Yeah, I’ll try. No doubt the press will want to talk to him, and Anabel will want to ensure he doesn’t have too late a night.”
    Brooke grabbed her hands. “Do it. Now I’ve got a hot Aussie to congratulate.”
    She gathered up her bag and jacket and made her way through the crowd. One more medal ceremony and the night would be over.
    Julia waited outside the arena, breathing in the warm night air. People moved around her, talking about the great swimming they’d seen that evening and commenting on how the first day of the games had been everything and more than what they’d hoped for.
    “Julia, what are you doing here?”
    She whirled around. “Oh, hey, Anabel, I’m uh…” Julia paused. Would Mitch want her to let Anabel know she was waiting for him?
    “If you’re waiting for Mitch,” Anabel said, “you’ll be waiting a while. When he spoke to me he said he had about four press conferences to deal with.”
    Julia glanced at her watch. Those interviews could take as long as half an hour, which means she could be waiting for up to two hours.
    “Well, it’s understandable—he’s one of the few athletes who has won five golds in three Olympics.”
    “It should’ve been six.”
    Surprisingly, there was acid in Anabel’s voice. In all the time she’d known the other woman, bitterness over a loss had never been her way. Disappointment, yes.
    “Well, you’ve got to admit the Australians have a strong swim team. Dane just missed out on gold in the individual medley against Mitch.”
    “Whatever, Mitch is one gold less than what we’d planned.”
    Julia wanted to say that even the best laid plans didn’t always come to fruition, but she had a feeling Anabel didn’t want to listen to anything she had to say.
    “So is the reason you’re standing out here because you’re waiting for Mitch, or were you about to walk back to the athletes’ village?”
    She’d guessed that Anabel was hoping for the latter and not the former. While the prospect of standing outside for two hours held no appeal, Julia had given Mitch her word. After everything she’d done to him, no matter how good the intentions, she wouldn’t go back on her word tonight.
    At that moment, the door to the aquatic center opened and a group of athletes walked out, Mitch among them. He stopped when he came upon Julia and Anabel.
    “Anabel, I didn’t think you’d still be waiting.” Surprise laced Mitch’s words.
    “I wasn’t waiting, per se, I was talking to Julia, and why are you outside? Don’t you have press conferences to deal with?”
    “I answered a couple of questions with the relay team but decided to let the rest of the guys deal with the rest. I wanted to”—he paused and flicked a look a Julia. Please don’t say you came outside because of me. “—uh, I told Julia to meet me, and I wanted to let her know that I was going to be tied up for a little while.”
    “I had just mentioned that to her.”
    Julia felt like she was intruding on a private family conversation. A conversation she shouldn’t be listening to. Retreat was the best course of action.
    “I’ve got an early practice, so I’ll catch up with you soon,” she replied. Then she threw caution to the wind and walked over to Mitch. She leaned up and gave him a kiss