11. Nils

11

Nils

I 've never experienced anything like The Parade of Nations. There was so much energy buzzing in the air, so much enthusiasm from the crowd and anticipation from the athletes. It was incredible.

I've never been particularly patriotic—history has shown us enough ways that patriotism and nationalism can be skewed and poisoned—but I'm grateful to live in America. I'm glad that my great-grandparents immigrated. Seeing all the American athletes lined up in their red, white, and blue made me feel a sense of pride that was both new and familiar. It's nice to feel like you're a part of something bigger than yourself. Like you belong somewhere alongside other people.

But what was even more remarkable was the feeling that transcended that one, the pride in being an athlete connected by a common experience with people who, on the surface, might seem completely different but deep down had such similar experiences to get here. To be part of humanity with all its varied complexity. That was what was really incredible.

When we get back to the village after the opening ceremonies, we're all exhausted, but riding too much of an adrenaline high to go to bed. Some of the athletes will compete tomorrow, but we have another day before our games begin. So tonight, I want to do something more than just worry about whether we'll win, and what McQuinn and I will do about his bet with Glenn Plansky if we lose.

"Let's go out." I look at each of my pack mates as we wait for the elevator up to our apartment.

"Where?" McQuinn asks.

"Anywhere."

"I think we should do something quintessentially Parisian," Meggie says, slipping her hand in mine. I give her hand a squeeze, savoring these little touches she gifts me.

"Like the Eiffel Tower?" Ellis suggests.

"No, that's touristy." Meggie wrinkles her nose. "And besides, we saw it from the river during the parade."

"What do you have in mind, then?" Dante absentmindedly rubs his shoulder.

"What's something quintessentially Parisian ?" McQuinn says with a slight sneer.

Meggie's face lights up. "Not having a destination."

There's something contagious about her eagerness to just go off and explore. We all feel it and none of us protest. After buying a bottle of champagne at a little shop near the village, we take the metro downtown, getting off when Meggie hears music and wants to investigate.

It ends up being a man smoking a cigar and playing guitar.

Ellis twirls her around, dancing right there in the subway tunnel, then passes her off to Dante, who's the best dancer out of all of us and does some fancy spin that makes Meggie's mouth drop open. He passes her to Oz, who awkwardly sways until we're laughing so hard our sides hurt.

Harrison, the only one not laughing, is wearing an expression that's near nausea. "Can we please get out of here now?"

He's pinching the bridge of his nose under his glasses as if that might stave off the smells. He put his glasses on after the Parade of Nations, since night is hard on his astigmatism, but he just seems annoyed with them now as he pushes them further up and out of the way.

The long tunnel we're in is ventilated, but the scents are still overpowering. We follow the crowd and the signs toward cultured French civilization. I swear we walk over a mile before we reach the escalators that lead us back up to street level.

We stop at a bench by the river and Meggie digs the champagne we bought out of her bag.

"I always get afraid of opening champagne." She winces, then laughs at herself and offers the bottle up for someone else to open.

"You've seen too many romcoms." Oz chuckles as he takes the bottle from her. "I promise not to shoot you in the eye with the cork." Untwisting the metal cover and sliding it off, he grips the cork in his hand and frees it from the bottle with a loud pop!

The champagne fizzes and bubbles over, but Oz swoops in for the first gulp before passing it to Meggie. "I can do champagne and rose petals for you any time, baby girl."

It's strange to be legally drinking in public, right out on the street, but that just adds to the charm of the evening and gives it an illicit edge that's exhilarating.

"Quit hogging it," McQuinn huffs and reaches for the bottle as Meggie drinks. "And no rose petals." He rolls his eyes before wrapping his lips around the glass bottle and taking a swig.

It makes me think about his lips wrapped around other things, and rose petals don't sound so bad.

" Monsieur ," I try my best fake French accent. My Korean is fluent, but my French is all from half a semester in junior high. " Oui oui, omelette du fromage. Voulez-vous coucher avec moi? "

McQuinn rolls his eyes again but passes me the bottle with a smile. I pull him in for a quick kiss before taking the champagne.

Dante takes Ellis's hand and gives him a spin as he croons, " Baguette. Viva la revolución. Muy guapo. "

"That was Spanish," Harrison chides as he grabs the bottle from me and drinks deep.

"Who cares?" Dante laughs and dips Ellis as if they're ballroom dancing. "We're in Paris!"

We buy cheese at a cheese shop and try to find a bakery that's open, but most have closed up for the night, which seems strange when the sun is only just setting. We eventually settle for bread from a little grocery store we find and grab some fruit and nuts while we're there too, before taking it all down to a spot by the river.

"I don't think you can get more quintessential Parisian than a picnic by the Seine." Meggie sighs contentedly as she slides a piece of overpriced fancy cheese into her mouth while sitting on Ellis's lap.

"I can think of something even more quintessential to the city of love." Ellis drags his hand up Meggie's leg.

"I like where your mind's at." I scoot closer on her other side and kiss her, letting my hand slip under her shirt.

"It may be legal to drink in public, but I'm certain public indecency will still get us arrested," Harrison's curt voice reprimands.

"Take the stick out of your ass, old man." Oz slaps him on the back, surprising him enough to make Harrison stumble.

We all laugh at Harrison's expense, but I feel a little bad for the guy. I'm normally pretty astute when it comes to knowing what's going on with my pack mates, but Harrison's resistance towards Meggie has me confused. It's clear he likes her. He's attracted to her and wants to keep her in the pack after the Olympics. So what's his hold up?

"Harrison is right," McQuinn says with a scowl in my direction. "We aren't the only ones out here."

That one, I understand. McQuinn might not talk about his feelings much, but he's not great at hiding them.

He's also right. We aren't alone out in the French moonlight. Couples and solo people are meandering around enjoying the night just as we are. A guy with a dark ball cap is strolling not too far away, and I catch his eyes as I judge the distance between us. Definitely too close for public foreplay.

I give Meggie's thigh one playful squeeze, eliciting a little squeak from her, while I meet McQuinn's eyes with a challenging smile. I've had about enough of his attitude. He looks at Meggie with just as much longing as the rest of us, and I know he'll fall hard if he just gives her a chance. But he's so caught up in his jealousy and fear that he might ruin what we have if he can't deal with his insecurities.

I stand up and offer McQuinn my hand. "Let's see what else we can discover."

He takes my offer, and I pull him up and into me, kissing him hard and fast and whispering against his lips, "Harrison isn't the only one with a stick up his ass."

He swallows, gaze flicking momentarily to Meggie before settling on me. I pull him towards the river while the rest of the group gathers up what's left of the food. "It doesn't have to be a competition."

"Everything's a competition," McQuinn grunts.

I turn him to look at me and take his face in my hands. "You're not going to lose me."

"You can't promise me that."

"I can." We stare at each other and I almost offer the one thing I know will convince him of how I feel. A bond. But it's too soon. We only just confessed our feelings for each other a week ago. Even if we've been together sexually a lot longer than that, it's still too early. He'd laugh in my face if I asked him to bond with me.

"You might lose me," he mutters, "if Glenn catches up to us and we don't have his money."

That kills the moment.

"If we medal, then we won't have to worry about him. We'll be filthy rich." I chuckle, but McQuinn's expression doesn't lighten.

"Hey!"

Meggie's shriek jerks my focus back to her.

The guy with the dark ball cap is hauling ass away from us, with Meggie's bag gripped in his fist. Shit!

I react first, bolting after the purse snatcher, and Harrison takes off right behind me.

"Stop!" I holler. The scent of Meggie's fear stings my nostrils.

I'm fast, but Harrison is quicker with longer strides.

"Shithead!" The insult is the only warning the robber gets before Harrison tackles the punk to the ground, sending his glasses, the guy's hat, and the contents of Meggie's bag flying.

I'm there in a heartbeat, and Oz a second later. After what happened on Daniel's lawn, I'm amazed when Harrison only grabs Meggie's purse back from the asshole and doesn't beat him to a bloody pulp.

The guy scrambles back and runs away. Harrison lets him go.

All of Meggie's things are littered across the cobblestone, and I heard at least one splash in the river.

"Fuck, were your pills in there?" McQuinn steps towards Meggie and wraps an arm around her shoulder. I wonder if he even realizes he's doing it.

Meggie pulls away and runs towards Harrison, with a hug that might fracture one of his ribs.

"Pills, woman!" McQuinn yells after her.

"Don't call me that. And no, just my passport!" She snaps back before nuzzling into Harrison.

Like a yeti staring down at a newborn kitten, Harrison just stands there with his arms at his sides, looking awkward as fuck. Ellis rolls his eyes before grabbing the purse from Harrison and maneuvering Harrison's arms like a mannequin to hug Meggie back.

"Got it." I pick the little blue book up off the ground next to a hair tie. Ellis holds open her bag and I dump them inside, searching the ground for what else fell out.

"Thank you." Meggie's words are muffled by Harrison's chest before she pulls back.

"Fuckin' Taurus," McQuinn sighs, staying by my side. "She has to be a Gemini moon or something. That girl is drama."

"We should tie her down to keep her safe." I shoot him a glance to see if he likes the visual of Meggie restrained, but McQuinn only huffs before walking away to check the ground for more of Meggie's things.

"What mugger tries to rob a woman surrounded by six men?" Dante swoops down to pick up Meggie's hand sanitizer and passes it to Ellis.

"Obviously not a successful one," Ellis chuckles as he tucks the little bottle into Meggie's bag.

"The fanny packs they gave me and Em make sense now," Meggie mumbles to herself as she moves to take her bag back from Ellis. Before she can, he reaches his hand in and pulls out her wallet and passport. Lifting his shirt, he tucks them into his pants.

"They'll be safe there." He grins and passes the bag back to Meggie, but Oz intercepts it.

Taking out her chapstick and hand sanitizer, Oz tucks them into his underwear. "You keep the valuables safe. I've seen how often she glosses those lips. Help yourself, baby girl." He gestures to his crotch that now nestles her chapstick.

"Is dick gloss quintessentially Parisian?" I ask.

"It's fucking dark, so can someone help me find my glasses?" Harrison huffs as he tries to study the ground.

"I can put those in my pants too, for safekeeping." Oz smirks.

"Don't think we wouldn't go in there to get them back." Ellis shoots a flirty glance at Oz's crotch. It's too dark to tell, but Oz might be blushing as he removes the chapstick from his pants.