Streaking for Silver (An Olympic Medal Romance Book 2) (4 page)

Hunter had no idea where to look for Solange, but he knew that he had to find her somehow, because their clandestine meetings and the Olympic-friends-with-benefits thing they had going on wasn’t cutting it for him anymore. He could get sex from anywhere, maybe not as good, but he wanted to
romance
Solange Marcus.

From what she’d told him, it was clear she was a trainer for an athletic team from LSU, but which one? Most likely she wasn’t housed in the same place as the athletes on the Olympic teams, so Hunter decided he’d ask around. He began with Marty who knew just about everybody who was anybody at LSU.

“Marty, do you by any chance know where the training staff are housed here at the Village? I’m trying to find the young woman who congratulated me after our meet yesterday.”

“Oh dude, don’t tell me you kissed some chick without knowing who she is? You’ve become some kind of instant celebrity since you won team gold and all that silver,” Marty joked.

“Cut the crap. I know exactly who she is. I just failed to get her building number, and I really need to find her.” Hunter could still feel the kiss Solange had given him in front of the whole audience as if it were just a minute ago. The kiss had been the most memorable kiss in his twenty-four years, yet it had left him feeling high and dry when she disappeared immediately after. He could not understand why she would kiss him like that and then run off without another word.

Now he was desperate to find her so he could spend more time with her in the city between his meets. And he wanted to continue seeing her when they returned to Baton Rouge. His emotions were on a rampage. He had never felt such intense feeling with another woman before, and as each minute passed without knowing where to find her, he was filled with an unfathomable anxiety. He really needed to find her so he could determine if she felt the same. He didn’t think she was married, since he hadn’t noticed any wedding band on her finger.

“Dude, you’re all over the television and internet kissing that hot chick. I don’t think it will be very hard to track her down,” Marty said, slumping into a seat in the lobby of their Olympic Village lodgings. “Where did you meet her anyway, because from the way you’re talking, it’s as if you knew her from somewhere before.”

Hunter explained to Marty how he met Solange on the flight to Rio and how they bonded instantly when he helped her through her anxiety over flying. Then they’d talked as if they’d known one another forever. It was almost as if they were meant to be. Marty listened in consternation because Hunter had been working a serious dry spell since his brother’s death, and he never showed any interest in women in the past two years, and then out of the blue he is kissing the sexiest woman on the planet.

“Man, that is quite an experience you describe, but don’t you think you might want to take things a little slower? You’ve got the rest of your life after Rio to pursue that hottie. Don’t you want to have a little fun with the locals?” Marty asked, looking at him with a blank expression.

“That‘s your goal, not mine. I think I’d like to see where things can go with Solange,” Hunter said as his thoughts drifted back to their lovemaking and the kiss they’d shared for all the world. “I know she’s the one, I can feel it in my soul. I really need to find her, Marty.”

“Well, even though I don’t really agree with your plan, I'll see what I can do. I know a lot of our athletes and I can ask around,” Marty said as some fans approached them for their autographs.

“It is a good thing that we still have another week before the games end and we head back to the states,” Hunter said as they made their way to the dining room for dinner.

“The bad thing is we don’t know if she will be around for that long. I'm very glad you’ve finally woken up and seen that a man can’t live without a woman forever,” Marty said, actually happy for his friend. He’d been one of the people urging Hunter to date around otherwise he’d never get a girlfriend. Now his friend was kissing hot chicks on International television. It made him proud.

They had dinner just the two of them, although the other members of the swimming team from other states were there, and then after dinner they decided to sit on the hotel terrace to enjoy the evening breeze.

“So, you’re the asshole who thinks he can steal my woman away from me,” someone said as both Marty and Hunter turned around to see who was talking.

There stood a man who looked to be in his late thirties with an athletic build, who seemed somewhat familiar, although Hunter could not remember where he had seen him before. He was looking at Hunter with hate-filled eyes as Hunter wondered what was going on.

“Can we help you Sir? Hunter asked.

Marty was even bolder. “Are you talking to us because we have no idea what you’re talking about?”

Before Hunter could utter another word, the man swung a blow at his face, an uppercut connecting with his jaw.

Hunter flew off his chair hitting the table and before he could get up, the man was on top of him. His fighting instincts quickly kicked in, and he was glad that he had done martial arts back in high school and college. He avoided the next blow the man shot at him, instead hitting the man in the groin with his knee.

As the man doubled over, Hunter jumped up and kicked the man across the face, sending him flying into the air. The man got up and lurched himself at Hunter again, but Hunter ducked, grabbing the man from behind and sending him flying into a swimming pool that was just beyond the terrace. By then all the residents and fans that witnessed everything quickly congregated around Hunter ready to help him should the lunatic strike again.

“What the fuck? Who the hell is this guy, coming up here and accusing me, and then trying to fight me?” Hunter asked, bewildered.

Within no time, the place was crawling with paparazzi trying to get a take on what had happened. The bystanders gladly told the story the way that it had happened, while Olympic Village security came to take the man away. Just the sort of publicity Hunter needed right now. His mother would be so disappointed, particular with the way the media had spun his personal story, telling the world about Alex.

“Don’t think that this is over, I'm going to kill you, you bastard,” the man shouted as he was cuffed and escorted to a waiting patrol car.

“I would like to take a statement from you, Mr. Fitzpatrick, but before that, if you could please sign an autograph for my son, I would really appreciate it,” a policeman said, walking up to them as press cameras clicked away.

“Are you okay, handsome? did that lunatic hurt you?” a female officer said, walking up to them as Hunter gladly signed an autograph for the other policeman.

“I'm fine, thank you, officer, although he caught me completely off guard and nearly punched my jaw off,” Hunter said, heading to the patrol car to give his statement along with some of the other residents.

They later headed up to their rooms.

“What if that man was talking about Solange? What if she’s married?” Marty asked as Hunter thought things over.

“She didn’t give me the impression she was from the way that she talked when we were on the plane, nor did she say she was, and besides she didn’t have a wedding ring on,” Hunter said thoughtfully.

“Well, you know how women are sometimes about celebrities, as soon as they’re out of sight from their significant others, they pretend to be unattached,” Marty reflected the exact thing that Hunter was thinking.

Hunter felt as if his world had just crashed to the ground and shattered into a million pieces. It seemed like the only woman that he’d shown a modicum of interest in since Alex’s death was actually forbidden to him. He could not describe the pain that he felt in his heart, and he felt as if there was something stuck in his throat.

“Don’t you worry, bro, there are many single women out there, and I'm pretty sure you’re going to find the right one for yourself very soon, even if I have to help you do it,” Marty said.

Regardless, Hunter felt sick to his stomach at the prospect that Solange could be attached despite how she reacted to him. Not wanting anyone to see him in that state, he quickly went to his room so he could be alone. He was not going to see her again because he felt betrayed by Solange. Why had she come to watch him swim, cheered him on to sensational wins, then congratulated him with a kiss, if she were involved with another man?

That was the worst sort of betrayal that a woman could do to a man. Hunter decided that he would not leave his dorm room until the day they were leaving for home, and even on the plane, he would keep a good distance away from Solange. Maybe he was the sort of guy whose fate was to remain single for the rest of his life. Love was not in his immediate future and he should probably forget about the delectable Ms. Marcus.

“Solange, wake up. You are not going to believe this,” Ashley banged on Solange's room door as Solange groggily woke from her sleep. “Girl, wake up, this is urgent.”

From the urgency in Ashley's voice, Solange guessed that it was something that was very serious and she got out of bed yawning. She checked her cell phone and realized that she had overslept, since it was almost ten in the morning. That was only natural because she had spent the whole night thinking of Hunter.

She could still feel his lips against hers as they kissed, their tongues dancing erotically over each other and making her want to surrender to him right there in front of the whole audience. No man had ever made her feel that way, and even just thinking of Hunter brought a warm feeling in between her thighs.

She walked drowsily to the door and unlocked it, pulling it open, and Ashley dashed into the room, almost knocking her over. “What has gotten into you, Ash?”

“You have got to see this for yourself,” Ashley said, flicking on the television.

Solange followed her. “Oh my god!”

Those were the only words that she managed to say when she saw repeated images of her and Hunter kissing. This was now totally screwed because she had acted totally out of instinct instead of thinking first of the repercussions. Her name was plastered all over the television, and according to the media, she and Hunter were in a relationship.

“And in other news that also happened yesterday, American athlete runner’s manager, Jerome Walters was yesterday evening arrested for assaulting the swimming hotrod, Hunter Fitzpatrick. It is said that Jerome was blaming Hunter for sleeping around with his ‘woman’, but as things turned out, Hunter Fitzpatrick knew how to take care of himself, tackling the American manager and even sending him flying into the swimming pool with his clothes on. He is now being held in police custody for further questioning. As we all know, the woman in the center of the love triangle is none other than American athletics team trainer, Solange Marcus,” the presenter said as images of Jerome being escorted into a police car showed on the screen.

Hunter was also there, and his jaw seemed a little bruised, and Solange found herself consumed by panic. She was the reason for all of this, and now it was her duty to explain to Hunter what happened between her and Jerome, and why he had become his target. That is, if he still wanted to see her.

“This is so totally fucked up, look at the heading, ‘Love Triangle or Not’,” she said, feeling her strength draining out of her body as she sat down on the edge of the bed. “What am I going to do, Ash, look at the way my foolishness has messed up everyone’s life?”

“None of this is your fault, and maybe the right thing to do would be to go to Hunter and explain everything to him, girlfriend, I'm pretty sure he’s confused right now and will understand when you explain it to him,” Ashley said.

Guilt over the mess she’d caused raged through her.

“I don’t think that he will even want to set his eyes on me ever again,” she said, as tears began to fall, unbidden from her eyes.

“Listen, sitting here moping is not going to help. Get off your ass, abandon this pity party and go over to where he is staying so you can explain to him exactly what’s going on. Sitting here all day is not going to help. We’ll have to take a circuitous route to his dormitory, but you know the paparazzi are crawling all over the place, and they will not give you a moment of peace,” Ashley said. “Come on, freshen up and change, we need to get the hell out of here until we can get some sort of protection from the media hawks for you.”

“Maybe you’re right, Ash,” Solange said, gathering up her spirit and getting up. “It is only fair for me to go and try and explain the truth to Hunter even if he hates me for it.”

She went into the bathroom and freshened up, before making her way out of the lobby of their dorm accompanied by Ashley. Outside the front of their building journalists and news crews were milling about and Solange guessed that they were all there for her.

“Would you like me to take you out of here privately?” the kind concierge said to her when he saw her predicament.

“Yes, is there a way that you can get us past the press?” Ashley asked quickly as the concierge motioned for them to follow him.

“Don’t you worry, we are used to this sort of thing for big name athletes all the time,” he said, leading them down a hallway and into an elevator.

He led them down to the basement of the building, where a door opened into the neighboring building. It looked like some sort of storage room as they walked through it, finally coming to another elevator, which took them up to a warehouse. He had already asked a chauffeur from to meet them there, and there was a Rolls Royce waiting for them just outside the warehouse.

“Stanley should be able to get you in and out of the athletic dormitory without anyone noticing you at all,” the concierge said politely as the chauffeur bowed before them, opening the back door for Solange and Ashley.

“I really don’t know how I am going to thank you,” Solange said to the chauffeur as they slipped into the car.

“It’s my pleasure, you take care of yourselves,” he said. He drove the car away from the warehouse branching into a street that looked like it was somewhere on the perimeter of the Olympic Village accommodations.

Ashley instructed the chauffeur to take them to the dorm where the swimming teams were staying if he could also get them in there incognito.

“You don’t have to worry about that, ma’am, I know how to get around Rio without anyone ever noticing that we were there,” he said, driving around the back streets and avoiding any of the main streets, before they finally got onto a main street without any journalists.

Solange had never felt so nervous before. Her life had suddenly turned into a public profile and it was up to her to fix it before the media tore it to shreds. She loathed Jerome even more, asking herself how in the world she could ever have gotten involved with such a lunatic. Now she was about to lose the only man who had made her realize something inside her that she had never felt before—something that could quite possibly become true love. This had now turned into a quest to get back the promise Hunter presented to her when they first met. As she sat in the car, deep in thought, she made up her mind that she was going to fight for what she wanted. Hunter was hers and she was going to fight for him, and then from there she would tell him exactly what she felt for him. It would be a bit awkward, because she’d never told a guy she had feelings for him after a week before, but she was going to do it anyway. At twenty-three years of age, she wasn’t getting any younger and maybe this was the golden chance that she had been waiting for all her life to be happy.

“You are rather quiet. Are you okay?” Ashley asked, squeezing Solange's hand.

“I'm not going to lose him, Ash, even if I die trying to make him mine, I'm going to do it,” Solange said with determination.

Ashley looked at her friend. She had a feeling that there was a special bond between her and the swimmer and that it was the right thing for her to hold on to whatever it was they had. Ashley had not liked it from the beginning when Jerome had tried to take advantage of Solange's softness to lure her with good words to make her his. He was much older than what Solange deserved at thirty-seven. Ashley had tried to discourage her right from the beginning, and now even though there was a crisis, Ashley was glad with the way that everything had happened. It was in the media mainstream, and everyone would finally find out the sort of person that Jerome actually was.

“Don’t you worry, honey, I'm going to help you get him back,” she said, putting her hand around her friend’s shoulder comfortingly.

The chauffeur parked in a garage that was adjacent to the building and once again, they began the process of making their way to get into Hunter’s building. When they got to the lobby, the receptionist’s eyes widened as she noticed Solange.

“I'll be waiting for you where I parked the car,” the chauffeur said, walking away.

“Thank you, Stanley,” Ashley said as they stood by the receptionist’s desk.

“Hi, how can I help you?” the receptionist said to them, looking at Solange. “Aren’t you the young lady all over the news?”

“Something like that. Is Hunter Fitzpatrick in his room, we would like to see him,” Solange said, ignoring the way that the receptionist was staring at her.

“I'll just check if there is anyone in his room—”

“Solange, Solange Marcus,” Solange told her name as she nodded and punched some keys into the phone.

“Mr. Fitzpatrick, there is a certain Solange Marcus here to see you, should I let her up to your room?” the receptionist said quietly into the phone, her face frowning after a moment. “Alright Sir, have a good day.”

Solange knew the answer the moment that the receptionist turned to look at her, shaking her head.

“I'm really sorry, Ms. Marcus, but Mr. Fitzpatrick does not want any guests at this time,” she said apologetically. “And so I am going to have to ask you to leave since you are not residents here.”

“Listen, I really need to see him so that we can sort out the drama that went down here last evening,” Ashley said, glad that she had marked the number of the room as the receptionist had punched the numbers into the phone.

“I'm really sorry but there is nothing that I can do to help you out here, this is totally beyond my power,” the receptionist said apologetically. Solange knew there was nothing that they could do to convince her to let them see Hunter.

“Alright then, thank you for your help anyway,” Ashley said, pulling Solange away in the direction that they had come.