Page 49 of Crew Girl

Teagan’s stomach lurched as she shot her mom a horrified look. “Mom. I’m so sorry. I totally forgot it was today.”

“It’s fine. I did, too.” Questionable. Her mom turned to the clerk, flustered. “Thank you for the offer—”

Teagan sensed a polite refusal on the horizon and cut in, “Sounds great. Thanks. What a treat!”

Her mom shot her a look. “What are you—”

“A fancy room is the least of what Dad owes us,” Teagan said in a low voice. “Hey, Mom. Fun idea. I’m hanging out with Britney tonight, but why don’t we get room service tomorrow? It won’t be an anniversary dinner, but it could be a super-chill you-and-me hang night.”

Her mom gave her a wary look. The kind that said, I’m not up for a pity party.

“It’d be fun. We could order whatever we wanted.”

“Well.” Her mom was clearly warming to the idea. “If we do that, I could order steak.”

“And I’ll order cake!”

Her mom pulled her close with a one-armed hug and gave her head a kiss. “Steak and cake it is.”

When her mom started humming as they set off for the elevators, Teagan breathed a sigh of relief. Every hurdle they’d overcome since Dad left was a step in the right direction. That’s what he’d left them to do. Put one foot in front of the other, getting further away from the life they’d once shared together.

After the team dinner, which ended with a stern lecture from Coach to get a good night’s sleep and save any shenanigans for later, her mom said she was going to go for a walk in preparation for all of the cake they’d be eating tomorrow. Teagan dropped her things off in the room and went into the bathroom to make sure she was vaguely acceptable-looking before she went up to Britney’s suite. She stared at herself for a while wondering if it would help her figure out where she stood with Cam, who had been weird with her ever since she’d thought he was going to ask her out but didn’t. Then she tried out a technique her dad had suggested, positive affirmations, but just felt like an idiot. It was time to put on her big-girl boots and head to Britney’s suite. She scribbled a nice note to her mom just in case she came back in a body bag.

The elevator wasn’t anywhere near her room and Britney was only one floor away, so she took the stairs.

“Hey!”

She looked up. Josh. In running clothes. “Hey, why are you jogging in the stairwell?”

“Getting some extra conditioning in. Every minute counts if I want to get back to stroke. Where are you headed?”

“I,” she said with a jaunty smile, “have a date!”

“Oh.” He stopped jogging in place. “Hunh.”

He looked annoyed. What was his problem? He had a girlfriend. Was there some law she didn’t know about forbidding the team’s cox to date? She debated spinning this out, decided against it. Everyone’s nerves were on edge because of the race tomorrow. The sooner she got to Britney’s the sooner she could get back to her room and snuggle up in the mountain of pillows on their mahoooosive bed. “I’ve got a date with your girlfriend.”

Josh did a double take. “Really? That’s… ummm… weird.”

“Is it weird?” It felt weird.

“Well.” Josh drew the word out. “It’s not like you two like each other. And aren’t things a little different with…” He pointed at her, then at himself.

Wait a minute. Had she missed something? Was this what Cam had seen? That things between her and Josh weren’t just friendly, they were friendly.

He had a girlfriend. And also? No.

She shrugged like she didn’t get it. “Is something different?”

He stared at her, then shook his head. “Of course not. Have a good time.”

He set off down the stairs without looking back.

Okay. Whatever.

She’d just about convinced herself she’d gotten the whole thing wrong, again—because boys—right up until Britney opened the door with a beatific smile and ushered her into the suite. It didn’t feel right. Could she hear ominous minor chords sounding her imminent doom?

Maybe there was something different. And Britney had been the first to notice.