Kim Keeler was thrilled that Payson was going to Kaylie's and then back to the Rock to pick up Becca. It would give her a chance to call Mark again and discuss the situation one more time. It was so difficult to do this over the phone, to present a united front to their children when there was only one voice speaking. These were issues she hadn't expected to come up when raising her kids in Minnesota. She certainly never thought she'd have to worry about her seventeen year old's photograph in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. Even as Payson gained more notoriety as a gymnast, she hadn't even considered the idea of international fame, until it had been forced upon her this morning.
"Mark Keeler," he said, and she felt better almost immediately, just hearing his voice on the other end of the line.
"Hey," she said, stirring the rice, still cooking on the stove.
"Hey there," he responded. "What's up?"
"Payson just got home and I spoke to her," Kim said, hoping for a calmer response from him this time around.
"And what did our eldest have to say for herself?"
Kim sighed, "Mark, I swear to you, she was so reasonable, I could hardly argue with her about it."
She could practically hear Mark's frustration over the phone, "Kim, she's a seventeen year old girl and that picture is…completely…it's completely…"
"Listen to me for a second, Mark. I asked her about it. I asked her what she saw when she looked at the picture and do you know what she said? She said that she saw herself."
"That girl in the picture, Kim, that wasn't my little girl," he protested.
"Exactly," she agreed. "It wasn't our little girl. She's someone else entirely and it happened without us even realizing it. Think about what our daughter has been through. We always said that she was an amazingly mature kid, but really think for a minute. Payson's experienced more in her seventeen years than most people have in their lifetimes. She's had the world at her feet and seen it all come crashing down, only to pick herself back up and do it all over again. She isn't just an unusually mature kid anymore, Mark. She's a grownup with real adult responsibilities and successes."
She heard Mark huff, obviously not pleased with what she was telling him. "It doesn't change the fact that she's a seventeen year old girl, Kim. She's just seventeen and that's the image that's going to be projected of her around the world. Not a strong, world-class athlete, just another girl in a bathing suit."
"I asked her about that too," Kim said, putting the lid on the rice and lowering the burner to keep it warm until the girls got home.
"And?" he asked, impatiently.
"And she said she was proud of how she looks," she said, leaving out the part where Payson said she liked that boys would be attracted to her. There were some things a father just didn't need to hear. "Six months ago I was begging her to embrace her femininity, Mark. Six months ago, she felt like, oh what did she call herself? 'The Incredible Hulk.' Do you see what a turn around this is? She's confident and comfortable with herself and doesn't see anything wrong with it. I don't know what's responsible for that change, but how am I supposed to argue with it? Isn't that the kind of person we wanted to raise?"
"Yes, but," Mark said.
"I know, but she's seventeen, but Mark, I think we've done it. I don't think our job as parents is over, not by any stretch, but I think that goal, to raise an intelligent, well-adjusted young woman, I think we did it. Now all we can do is let her make her own choices, good or bad."
"And this was a bad one," he said, grumbling, but she could hear him coming around.
"Maybe, maybe not, as her parents, we think it wasn't the right choice, but I don't think she sees it that way and I think that's okay. She didn't hurt herself or anyone else. Look at that photograph objectively, Mark. She is absolutely gorgeous in it and she knows it."
"Yeah and soon so will every male on planet Earth," he mumbled.
"Is that's what's bothering you, that you won't be the only man in the world who knows how beautiful she is?" Kim laughed, "You're probably right, in fact I know you're right, but it doesn't mean Payson is going to give them the time of day. She's focused on getting herself to the Olympics. As she pointed out so clearly to me today, she's the best gymnast in the World and that's not hyperbole. I doubt she's going to let some boy get in the way of that." She heard the front door open and the voices of her daughter spill into the house. "Listen, Mark, the girls are home. I'll talk to you tomorrow."
"Okay, but don't think we're done with this conversation," he said. And then softening his tone he added, "Love you."
"I wouldn't dream it of it. Love you too, good night."
"Good night."
"Mom, turn on the TV!" she heard Becca call from the hallway. The girls were rushing to the living room instead of the kitchen. Kim grabbed the remote control and flipped on the television. Becca grabbed it from her and quickly changed it to the channel she wanted. "We just got a call from Cousin Elizabeth in Minnesota. She said they talked about Payson on TMZ tonight and it's on right now."
"TMZ?" Kim asked and looked at Payson whose complexion had taken on a green tinge. "Pay, are you okay?"
Payson nodded and sighed as the station switched from commercial back to the programming. She hadn't realized just how much she didn't want a photo of Austin Tucker giving her a noogie to be out there for National consumption until this very moment. "Yeah, I just want to get this over with," she said.
There was Harvey Levin with his stupid water bottle and one of his cronies was talking about Austin Tucker and how he was God's gift to women. Payson cringed, knowing what was coming next.
"Well apparently, he's not God's gift to women, he's God's gift to a particular World Champion gymnast, who was in town to shoot her first ever Sports Illustrated Swimsuit photo."
Levin raised his eyebrows, "Payson Keeler? The girl who broke her back right?"
"Yep," the crony agreed, "and I'd say she's definitely full recovered. I mean she and Austin were practically frolicking together at the beach. She looked smokin' hot and he just seemed to be thrilled to have his hands on her."
Suddenly, Payson felt the bile start to rise in her throat. They weren't talking about that stupid noogie. They were talking about her photo shoot.
"Well let's see it." Then they rolled their footage and it was the beach she'd been on earlier that day. She was standing there, walking towards the tents, when Austin came flying into the picture, lifting her up onto his shoulder easily and carrying her to the water and throwing her in. She came up laughing hysterically and took him by surprise by immediately tackling him, sending him flying backwards underwater. The footage stopped suddenly at a moment when he was about to dunk her in retaliation, but because they stopped the video, it looked as if he were embracing her intimately.
"Looks like they're getting pretty cozy in that water, probably a lot going on under there we can't see," one of the male cronies suggested.
One of the female cronies snorted, "I think it's sweet, I mean they're perfect for each other. The two best gymnasts in the world. Their names even fit into a great celeb pairing name, Paystin!"
Becca wrinkled her nose, "Sasha is going to kill you when he finds out you're breaking the no dating rule."
"We were not breaking any rule. We were swimming." Payson groaned and threw herself onto the coach face down. "This is not happening." She looked up to see her mother glaring at her.
"So when you got back this afternoon, when you said that Austin tagged along, what you really meant was that you spent the morning having him grope you in the Pacific Ocean?"Kim asked, obviously utterly convinced her daughter had lied to her.
Payson sat up and sigh, "I swear, Mom, it was not like that. We were – we were playing around. He dunked me. I dunked him. We'd been working for three days straight, it was absolute torture and we just let off some steam. I was being honest when I said that I think of him as a brother." Kim's expression hadn't wavered. "Oh this is ridiculous, you're going to believe whatever you want to believe anyway, just like the rest of the world. I'm going to bed. I have to be at the Rock tomorrow by five to train."
She retreated into her room quickly, sending off a quick text to Kaylie: "Not what it looks like. Explain tmrw, promise." Then one to Austin, "Going to kill you, slow painful death." Then finally one to Sasha, who probably hadn't seen the footage, "So glad to be home. C U tmrw 5." And she left it at that, shutting her phone off and going straight to sleep.
Sasha woke up at 4:30a.m., his internal alarm clock as consistent as ever. He went immediately for his Shredded Wheat and set himself up outside the trailer for breakfast before Payson arrived. He grabbed his cellphone from the charger on the way out and as soon as he turned it on, the messages starting appearing every half second or so. Ten text messages over night, that could only mean one thing, something had happened with one of his gymnasts. He saw Payson's name on the screen, but that message was generic enough. The rest were a lot more specific, friends asking if he'd lost control of his gymnasts, if Payson was serious about training for 2012, a panicked message from Austin Tucker insisting that it wasn't what it looked like. What the bloody hell happened? He was all set to head to the gym office and use his computer to find out, when Payson's Audi pulled into the parking lot. She got out of her car and marched purposefully to him. She looked around quickly. Seeing that they were completely alone at the ungodly hour of 4:45, she grabbed his hand and dragged him forcibly back into his trailer.
"Payson, what is going on?" he asked, once they were inside.
She looked up at him, looking more vulnerable than he'd seen her in a while. Yesterday, she'd been the exact opposite, the confidence practically pouring off of her. "I'll tell you everything, but first, I have to…" she trailed off, stepping closer and pressing her lips to his. He caught on quickly and wound his arms around her waist, pulling her against him and lifting her off the trailer floor, compensating for the vast difference in height. There was a desperation in her kiss that he didn't quite understand, but if she needed him, he was there for her, putting as much into it as she was, letting her know he wanted her, very much.
She pulled away and sighed, looking like she'd gained confidence simply by kissing him. "Payson, not that I'm complaining, but," he waved his hand around vaguely and she understood.
"TMZ, ever heard of it?" she asked and he shook his head. "It's a television show, dedicated to celebrity gossip." Sasha did not like where this was going. Easy there, Beloff. Let her talk. "Yesterday, at the photo shoot, after they'd wrapped, Austin decided it would be a good idea to throw me into the ocean. I was done, they were just choosing which photo to use, so we swam around for a while killing time, we dunked each other a couple of times, just playing around. Except someone had a video camera and they leaked the footage to TMZ. It aired last night. I swear to you, Sasha, nothing happened and nothing would ever happen. He's like, I don't know, a horribly annoying brother, nothing else." She finished and closed her eyes, waiting for his reaction.
"Did they give you a name?" he asked, his mouth set in a hard line. "Like they did with Kaylie and Nicky?" Control yourself, Beloff. She's upset and rightfully so. You believe her, don't you?
She groaned, "Paystin," she said, opening her eyes and catching his gaze immediately. "I'm sorry, I just I don't even know what to say."
He shrugged, "There's nothing to say," he sighed heavily. "I'm still your coach and I'm annoyed as hell that this happened, but beyond that, Payson, I don't know." He rubbed at his temples. "This is why the gym has a no dating rule, to completely eradicate the possibility of something like this happening and now here we are." He leaned against the small table in the trailer's tiny kitchen.
She took a step back from him, leaning against the counter top, "I know. This is getting out of control, but there isn't any way to go back, is there? We're here now and we have to deal with it." He looked up at her, stunned. She was exactly right. This game they'd been playing, trying to fight their attraction, pretending it didn't exist or that they would be able to stay away from each other for two years had been just that, a game. A delusion they had convinced themselves was possible, but it wasn't. Sasha was done pretending and he was done playing.
He pushed off the table and took a step closer to her, "You're right. We're here now and there is no turning back. You say nothing happened and I believe you, but it doesn't change the fact that every cell in my body is fighting the urge to punch his bloody lights out the moment I see him," he said, his words flowing freely now. He closed the remaining distance between them and whispered, "I'm not going to lie to you; the thought of another man's hands on you makes me physically ill."
She leaned forward only a fraction of an inch, loving the fire she saw in his eyes and that she was the cause of it. She was aching for him, her entire body practically tingling in anticipation of his touch, "Then make me forget," she whispered back.
Her words snapped him into action. Their lips met in a bruising kiss, more a battle of wills than a lover's caress. He immediately buried a hand in her hair, weaving his fingers through the thick blonde strands giving it a not so gentle tug. His other hand slid down towards her waist, but quickly abandoned it, searching lower, squeezing her ass then grasping at her thigh, lifting it to hook over his hip. He spun them around, releasing her hair to swipe an arm at junk piled on the kitchen table, sending some books, a few utensils and a small pile of laundry crashing to the floor. He lifted her up onto the table, not breaking their kiss and quickly moved atop her. Her legs wrapped around his waist bringing their lower bodies into sharp contact.
"Oh, God," she murmured, as his lips trailed a burning path from their kiss, down to her neck, biting down at her pulse point gently and then soothing it with a small kiss. His lips traveled lower, towards uncharted territory. He nuzzled gently at the soft curve of her breast and brought a hand up to cup her gently. Her body responded instantly, pushing up into his hand, as she threw her head back. She surged forward, putting a hand around the back of his neck, forcing his lips back to hers. Her hands traveled south, bunching his shirt into her fists and then began pulling it up. He was about to raise his arms over his head and let her undress him when someone started pounding on the door of his trailer. They stared at each other in shock for a moment, not really sure if the sound had been real.
"Sasha? It's Austin, look I'm not letting Payson take the fall for this. Let me in so we can explain together," the Olympic Gold medalist called from just outside the door.
They both sighed and looked around. Other then the mess on the floor, there was nothing to indicate anything untoward had been going on. Sasha shrugged at her and moved to the door, "Yeah, Austin," he said, as Payson frantically tried to smooth her hair down and hope Austin didn't notice that she looked like she'd just been thoroughly ravished. Sasha looked at her and she shot him a helpless look. He nodded and opened the door just a bit and stepped outside. "Hey," she heard him say. "Payson just explained to me what happened, she was pretty upset. Let's head into the Rock and give her a minute, alright?" he said.
She sighed in relief and set about making herself look presentable again, fixing the tangled mass that was her hair and regaining enough of her equilibrium to stand without shaking, after he'd turned her into a quaking mass of lust and desire. She wasn't sure what happened, all she knew is that he'd believed her and that the fragile state of their relationship had become more solid and tangible. They were in this now for real and they were in it together.