Josh
Everyone was crowded around trying to see the laptop screen, eager to see what the security cameras would show them. Perry pressed play. Teagan appeared on the screen.
“Coxie doing her morning checks,” narrated Ryder.
They fast-forwarded a couple of minutes. There he was.
She shrugged, like it was nothing. “He was grabbing gear.”
Everyone looked at him to check if it was true. “I needed tape and wrap.” A lie that would fly. He always needed tape and wrap before a race.
Perry fast-forwarded for what felt like ages. Twenty minutes later? Teagan left the boathouse. Two minutes later, Josh.
“That’s a long time to be getting gear,” Noah said.
Teagan, standing behind the rest of the guys like he was, shot him a guilty look. Yeah, this sucked. They were both hiding something—just not what everyone thought.
“Well,” Baloo said after a bit more scrolling with nothing to see. “I guess we’ve seen enough.”
“No.” Perry, the only one who’d seen all of the footage, stopped him. “There’s more.”
He stopped it on a frame where you could see Baloo standing outside the boat sheds.
Baloo sank back down into his chair.
A few minutes later, a guy wearing a dark jacket and carrying a Westvale gym bag appeared. The two of them disappeared into the shed together.
Josh was relieved he was off the hook, but this?
“Baloo?” Teagan was the only one brave enough to ask the question everyone was thinking out loud. “What are you doing with a Westvale rower?”
Baloo looked at them, his kind, gentle features tight with fear. He looked like he was going to cry.
“And what are you doing with him in the boat storage?” Crabby asked.
“What do you think I was doing?” Baloo asked in a way that made it clear he hadn’t been the one who’d cut Josh’s oar.
Ryder got there first. “That guy you were texting? The one you sent the thirst trap selfies to? He’s from Westvale? You’re dating the enemy?”
Perry pulled their attention back to the video. About fifteen minutes later, Baloo walked out of the sheds by himself.
Three minutes after that? Westvale guy.
“He brought his bag,” Cam said. “He could’ve brought a saw in, cut the oar, then left.”
“I can’t believe he did this.” Baloo looked devastated. Everyone was shocked, but it was pretty clear Baloo hadn’t had anything to do with it, apart from falling for a guy on a team they all hated.
Everyone felt for him. They knew how much he’d liked that guy.
How much courage it had taken to send a selfie let alone meet him in real life.
As far as worst-case scenarios went? This was up there.
Using Baloo, their gentle giant, to sabotage the rival team?
What an asshole. The only good thing about this was the energy shift.
They all felt it. They were a team again.
Behind Baloo. Behind each other. They’d get to the bottom of this and if—when—they went to the Haverford Cup?
The rulebook Westvale thought they didn’t need to follow was going to come crashing down on them. Hard.
Coach was informed. Teagan blocked the guy on Baloo’s phone. And a couple of guys went on a run to the school kitchen. Baloo had sat on the sofa throughout, still in shock.
“Hey, man.” Josh handed him the results of the kitchen raid. “The team wanted to give you this.” He held out a muffin. “Emotional support carbs.” Baloo didn’t take it. “It’s banana chocolate chunk. Your fave.”
“Leave me alone, Josh.”
He got it. Might not have a couple of months ago, but now? He genuinely understood what it felt like to want something so bad you put everything on the line to get it, only for it to blow up in your face. “I know I’m not your favorite person right now, but I need to tell you something.”
Baloo turned his head, curious.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what? Britney?”
Yeah. And… other stuff. “I didn’t realize you were so mad.
You have every right to be. You’ve always been a loyal friend to me, and, well, I’m really sorry this happened.
You didn’t deserve it.” He wanted to go on.
Tell him that he knew all about keeping secrets.
Secrets that, if they came out, would change everything.
But he couldn’t. There was too much at stake.
And anyway, this was about Baloo, not him.
“I know I can’t make any of this better. But I really wish I could.”
Baloo nodded, took a minute to absorb what Josh had said. “I still think you’re a piece of shit for dumping my sister.”
Josh set the muffin on the table in front of Baloo. Yeah. He knew.
“See?” he said, heading out to give Baloo some space. “We do agree on something.”