Teagan
A night of karaoke and carbs might not be on the Olympic rowing team’s training program, but from the effort the guys had been putting into training since then? Maybe it should be.
Locking in wasn’t strapping your feet to the slides. It was about getting to that sweet spot where your body didn’t need to rely on your brain. Where instinct and muscle memory worked in harmony to create a consistent and efficient stroke.
She strapped in for the final run. It was important the guys knew she’d never make them do something she didn’t demand of herself. A great idea until she’d remembered she needed to cheerlead throughout. Her lungs were burning.
“You’ve got this, guys. We are pure synchronicity!
” It was exhilarating. Rowing with them, moving as one.
Backs straight, shoulders solid, legs bending in one fluid move, sliding forward for the catch.
Going long again as they pressed out a drive.
Nine sets of arms and legs hitting the target pace and stroke rate; heart rates high but steady.
They were in the final push now. Crabcatcher, next to her, was beginning to struggle. He had a smile on his face, though. A change from his normal terrified or panicked expression when rowing. That alone felt like a win.
She didn’t want to jinx things, but she’d felt a change in her, too.
Regular hits of the feels. The good kind that meant she’d maybe, hopefully, pretty-please-because-it-had-been-so-hard gotten her life back on track.
Not the track she’d thought she’d be on, true.
Single sculling herself into Stanford. But coxing was teaching her new things about rowing and herself.
Like playing well with others. She smiled at Cam, who just about managed to smile back.
She had no idea what was or wasn’t going on between them, but maybe one day they’d figure it out.
Or not. Nothing happened like she thought it would with these guys.
Like Josh Regis, of all people, saving her life.
The talk they’d had after had helped her understand why he behaved the way he did.
Not that she was team Regis or anything.
Turned out Josh’s dad had fired her mom, for absolutely no reason, right in the middle of that amazing party.
Maybe the family took turns being assholes.
Her mom was doing her best to shake it off, so she needed to as well.
“This weekend’s regatta is a head race,” she said, trying to distract the team from the pain she could see leeching into their concentrated expressions.
“A time trial. That’s why this session is a long one.
Totally different head space to sprints.
It’s gonna be six kilometers of focus and drive.
” The Head of the Laurence, their first regatta of the season where they’d face their longtime rivals, Westvale, had the team pumped.
“How we perform in this competition will set the barometer for the rest of the season. If we do well? The Easton Eagles stand every chance of lifting up the Haverford Cup this spring. So c’mon!
Keep your focus. Burn this rhythm into your muscle memory.
You’re going to need it. Sixty more seconds, guys. Keep it up!”
Coach Hayden came into the training room and took in the scene as the final, most difficult, seconds of the session ticked away. When the clock hit zero, Crabcatcher launched himself at a garbage can and upchucked.
Teagan looked at Coach and shrugged. He’d asked her to put the team through their paces. Hadn’t said how. “No pain, no gain. Right?”
While the guys hit the showers, Teagan and Coach Hayden went over the erg scores she’d put on the leaderboard.
He kept his expression neutral, as usual, finally giving a nod.
A nod from Coach was like someone else jumping up and down screaming Woohoo!
Amazing! Someone like her mom. Which reminded her of the smile Coach had on his face when he’d been with her mom at the party the other day.
It was totally different to the ones the team got.
She was beginning to wonder if there was something going on there.
Coach tapped the board, pulling her attention back to the scores. “You did well today, too. A new PB?”
“Thanks.” She smiled. “Gotta keep up with the boys.”
Hayden appraised her for a moment like he was trying to figure out if there was something she wasn’t saying, then moved over to where she’d taped up the map of the course they’d be rowing against Westvale. There’d be other teams, too, but Westvale was the team the Easton Eagles wanted to beat.
“We might have a fighting chance at the top five if the team keeps this up,” Coach said. “The pressure’s on you, too. This is a coxswains’ race. Lots of twists and turns on the course.”
“That I’ll be navigating backward. I know,” she said. “It’s all good, Coach. I’ve been practicing on Mario Kart.”
He snorted.
“But seriously, don’t worry,” she assured him. “I’ll be ready.”
He gave her shoulder one of those pats that said he wasn’t worried. Not much anyway. “If you can get these boys to work out to Ariana Grande, I’m going to bet you can lead them to—”
“Victory?” she supplied.
“To a place that isn’t last,” he said. “You’ve got the team acting as a unit.
That alone is a victory, Teagan. The Easton Eagles haven’t brought home a trophy in a long time.
I can tell you right now, they won’t be bringing one home this weekend either.
But you keep this up? Working with the boys’ strengths instead of against them?
We could get back into the top five. Which would be a win,” he said, his eyes cautioning her not to contradict him.
She was smart enough to wait until he’d left the room to say, “Good pep talk, Coach.”
“You talking to yourself now?”
She turned around and grinned at a freshly showered Cam. His dark hair was still glossy wet, a little curlier than when it was dry. Skin a bit glowier. Eyes a bit brighter.
“Yeah,” she said. “Just pumping myself up for the regatta.”
“Ha. Whatever works.”
They stood there looking at each other like neither one of them knew how they’d gotten there. He blinked first. She really needed to stop ogling him like a lovestruck Pixar character. Not that she was lovestruck. Luststruck? Was that a thing?
“Teagan…” Cam shifted his feet, put his hands on his hips, and tilted his head to the side—oh my god. Was he nervous? Was he going to ask her out? “What are you doing the week after the regatta?”
Nothing. As per. Even if she was, she’d wipe her calendar clean if he wanted to hang.
She reminded herself of the epic humiliation she’d felt when she’d tried to ask him out after Josh’s birthday party resulting in a near-death experience.
Probably wise to play this one a bit cool. “Other than practice? Nothing.”
“Coxie!” Josh shouted, crossing the room toward them.
Seriously? What was it with Josh Regis and bad timing? Apart from the whole saving-her-life thing, he was the thorn that refused to leave her side. “Here’s your charger. Thanks for letting me borrow it.”
“No problem.” They high-fived. Cam’s smile had disappeared. And his nerves. Teagan, as ever, was none the wiser. Had he been trying to ask her out or what?
Instead of leaving like a normal person, Josh lingered, trying to suss out what she and Cam had been talking about. “Teags, want me to stay and help clean up?”
Cam tipped his head at the main door. “Pretty sure I saw your girlfriend outside.”
Josh gave his jaw a rub, like Cam had just landed one. Then he took a step back, shifted his gaze to Teagan. “I’ll catch up with you later, yeah?”
“Sure.” She gave him a wave, then turned back to Cam. “So, we were talking about the week after the regatta?”
Cam was staring at the doorway Josh had just left, a crease between his eyebrows. “What’s up with Josh? He’s getting friendly.”
She laughed even though he hadn’t meant it to be funny. “Don’t say friendly like it’s a bad thing,” she chided gently. “He’s being nice.”
Cam made a noise like, Yeah, right.
She got it. Josh and Cam might be teammates, but outside the boat they would probably never see eye to eye. But Cam didn’t know the things Teagan did. That the mighty Josh Regis was every bit as vulnerable as the rest of them. Not that it was her place to share. “He’s really not that bad, Cam.”
Cam’s eyes went wide. “Are we talking about the same guy?”
“You could try giving him a chance,” she shot back.
“Is there something going on with you two?”
What was he even talking about? Is this why Cam had wanted to talk next week?
To try to squeeze some information about Josh from her?
She’d stupidly thought all the team drama was behind them after Josh’s birthday.
“Sounds to me like you’re more interested in Josh than you are in me, so why don’t you find out what he’s doing next week instead? ”
She left before he had a chance to reply. Boys. Couldn’t live with ’em. Couldn’t row without ’em.
“Wow.” Juliet’s eyes glittered with excitement as the rowing team gathered around a huge boiling pot of water. “It’s like encountering an entirely foreign culture.”
Teagan laughed, grateful to have another girl at the boathouse.
After “working” as a server for Teagan’s mom, Juliet started showing up more, gleefully discovering “the proletariat lifestyle,” as she liked to call it.
Life without servants, basically. Her face had been pure astonishment when she’d seen the balls of dough Teagan’s mom had rolled flat into cookies.
“This is how it works?” she’d marveled. “Who knew?”
Baloo and Quaid began distributing dry pasta to everyone on the team.
“Here,” said Baloo, handing some to Noah, who was reading despite the fact there was music blaring and people partying around him.
When Teagan and Juliet were handed theirs, Juliet held it away from her, like it might suddenly turn into a handful of snakes. “Why am I being assaulted with linguine?”
“Spaghetti. It’s crew tradition. A group carb-loading party before the regatta,” replied Teagan.
It was new to her, too, all of it. Well, most of it.
She’d obviously been to regattas before, but she’d carb-loaded with her dad, who would spend the entire meal talking tactics and technique.
That was her job now. Which was kind of freaky.
“Easton Eagles!” Baloo called out. “Spaghetti at the ready!”
Everyone held up their spaghetti, one hand at either end.
“Three,” Baloo bellowed, the rest of the team joining him. “Two! One!”
“FREE SPEED!” everyone shouted, then broke their spaghetti in half, lining up to drop it into the boiling pot, apart from Juliet, who was still staring at it like it was an alien life-form.
“Free speed is rowing speak for an extra boost of energy,” Teagan translated.
Juliet gave her the side-eye, then grinned. “Why not do a sacrifice instead? Perry’s outfit would be perfect.”
Teagan laughed. Juliet and Perry seemed to like playfully insulting each other as much as she and Josh did.
Juliet thrust her spaghetti at Crabcatcher before he could get to the pot.
“Seriously? Thanks. I need all the extra speed I can get!”
“Hey,” Teagan assured him. “You’ve got this.”
He shook his head. “I barfed at practice.”
“Only once.”
They threw their pasta into the pot.
“I keep having this nightmare,” Crabcatcher said in a low voice. “One where my arms give out during the race.” The panicked look Teagan was familiar with took over his face. “Maybe you could just steer the boat into a bridge.”
“Why would I do that?”
“So I won’t be the reason we lose.”
“Hey.” Teagan gave his shoulder a squeeze.
“You are not going to fail. You’ve been working so hard.
Throwing up after an intense workout is normal.
It’s proof you literally gave it your all.
” An idea struck. “I was going to jog part of the course before the race. Want to come? Seeing it in real life rather than on a map really helps. Plus,” she added with an encouraging smile, “it’s extra cardio! ”
He gave her a shy grin. “Yeah. Sounds good.”
“Who said extra cardio?” Baloo asked in a booming voice. “No need for these babies.” He flexed his arms, giving his biceps a kiss each.
“Of course not,” Noah said, having finally put his book down to join them. “Extra cardio is for the rest of us mortals.”
“Yeah,” Perry quipped, playing along. “You just show up, row, and go home. Don’t even have to think about it.”
“I got the brawn, Britney got the brains,” Baloo shot back.
Teagan’s heart squeezed tight. Poor Baloo.
He had played the part—the strong man—but she’d seen his smile falter when Perry had made his barb.
Baloo might look like an impenetrable fortress of strength, but he was all gooey on the inside.
Before she could have a quiet, supportive word with him, Ryder jumped up onto a chair.
“Listen up, Eagles! Your stroke is talking.”
Josh, behind him, tensed his jaw.
Ryder unfurled a Westvale T-shirt that would’ve drawn boos from the crowd if he hadn’t used tape to change it to West-fail.
“This is the year we knock West-fail off the podium!” He crowed like a general rallying his troops.
Or, judging by Josh’s pained expression, a Regis who had been given a promotion in the family business.
Ryder’s girlfriend, Amber, was there, alongside Britney. The pair of them joined in as Ryder started singing the team song, encouraging everyone to sing along.
“Easton, Easton… our home on high.
Lifting, soaring to the sky!
Spread our wings with talons bright,
Enemies running from the sight.
O! Mighty Eagle, King of Birds…
Watch your butt cos you’ve been served!”
Juliet sidled up to Teagan. “With poetry like that…”
“I know,” she sighed. “We’re still a work in progress.”