Teagan
They were only going to be there for two nights, but from what little she knew about Britney, she was a girl who didn’t leave anything to chance. Sun, snow, wind, rain? She’d probably packed to cover all bases.
“Great!” Hopefully she’d sounded enthusiastic instead of scared. She waved her off, then headed over to the check-in line where her mom was.
“Everything okay, Teags?”
She nodded at the desk. “All good, Mom. We’re up.”
They stepped up to the clerk. When Ella handed him her credit card, Teagan crossed her fingers, hoping it would work.
The clerk smiled. “Happy anniversary, Mrs. Tao! I see you and your husband are platinum-level guests, which”—he paused for effect—“makes you eligible for a free upgrade!”
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.
She was about to make a break for it, say something about her period—that usually worked—when Britney cupped her hand to her ear. “Don’t you just love a Tibetan sound bath?”
Maybe? If she’d ever heard one before.
“Excuse Bronson’s mess,” Britney said, waving at Baloo’s unisuit and luggage that were sprawled in a corner.
“I’m sure you already know he’s a slob. He’s out doing his private ‘pre-game ritual.’” She directed Teagan toward a pair of sofas flanking a huge coffee table covered in manicure supplies, face masks, and a charcuterie board that would probably get polished off by Baloo when he got back from whatever it was he was doing. “Foot bath?”
“Sure.” She sat down in front of one of the two foot baths bubbling away, sending wafts of lavender into the room. She took off her shoes and slipped her feet in. It felt really good. She and her mom used to get pedicures together back in the day, when they were a perfect family of three.
“Soooo…” Britney said once she was settled on the sofa across from Teagan. “Girl talk. I see that you’ve been cozying up with the team.”
“Umm…”
“Are there any sparks flying?” She held up her hand. “Don’t even try to tell me you spend all that time with eight hotties and haven’t wanted to slip into the shower with one of them.”
Been there, done that. Probably best not to mention it. “We mostly talk about rowing.”
“What do you think about Quaid?”
“Quaid? He’s like a little brother. A big little brother,” she amended.
“Noah?”
“He’s like an older brother.”
Britney made a throat-clearing noise, like she was trying really, really hard not to get irritated. “How about Cam? He’s cute. Don’t tell me you wouldn’t drink that eight-pack?”
“Cam is very… drinkable?”
Britney still didn’t look satisfied. “Have you ever thought about Josh?”
Yeah. She should’ve made a run for it. Another one of her dad’s sayings came to her: Questions aren’t stupid. Not asking them is.
Teagan swallowed the lump in her throat. “Britney, why am I really here?”