Tate opens his mouth, but no explanation comes out. His gaze darts toward the door. Not toward the pool, not toward Jude, not toward the evidence bag on Marsh’s desk. Toward the hallway where Reece had been ten minutes ago.
I step closer to the desk, slow enough that security doesn’t mistake me for movement they need to stop. “Did you do this shit on your own or were you working with someone? Tate, you could have seriously harmed Jude if he didn’t have his blocker. It might have been a joke or what you think is a mistake or anything else but last year Jude wasattacked. You could go to jail for attempted assault.” I don’t know if that’s true but it sounds scary.
Tate flinches. The athletic director says my name in warning, but Marsh lifts a hand without looking away from Tate. “Answer him.”
Tate’s breathing gets louder. “I didn’t think it would actually hurt him.”
The words land badly in the room. Marsh closes his eyes for one second, and when he opens them again, the coach is gone from his face. There is only the man who understands exactlywhat that sentence means. “What did you think it would do?” Marsh asks.
Tate drags a hand through his damp hair. “Reece said it was just enough to throw him off. He said Jude was already unstable about blockers, so if something happened, no one would know if it was real or him panicking. He said it would prove what everyone already knew.”
My hands curl at my sides. I keep them there because Jude needs proof more than he needs my anger making this about me.
Marsh’s jaw tightens. “What did everyone already know?”
Tate looks sick. “That Jude couldn’t handle pressure.”
The athletic director writes something down as I swallow my anger. Jude’s been able to handle everything ever thrown at him, the taunts, the jabs, the mean looks. Hell, he’s been working inches from the water he used to call home. He’s the strongest person I know.
“Last year,” I say. “What happened last year.”
Tate looks at me fast. “I didn’t switch anything last year.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
“I didn’t.” His voice rises, thin with panic. “I swear I didn’t touch his bag last year. I knew Reece hated him, okay? Everyone knew. Jude was faster than him, and Reece couldn’t stand that people noticed. But last year I only knew after. Reece had a tube later. I saw it in his bag.”
Marsh leans forward. “What tube?”
Tate swallows hard. “One of Jude’s. I didn’t know what it meant. Reece said Jude forgot his backup and freaked out because he knew everyone would find out he hadn’t applied enough. He said Omegas always make their biology everyone else’s problem, and I thought he was being an asshole, but I didn’t think…”
He stops because there is no clean ending to that sentence.
Marsh’s voice goes rough. “You didn’t thinkwhat, Tate?”
Tate’s eyes fill, and for a moment he looks younger than he is. It makes me so fucking angry that he had enough fear in him to know this was wrong and enough cowardice to do it anyway.
“I didn’t think everyone would believe it,” he says. “Not like that.”
The room holds the admission in a silence that feels too large for Marsh’s office.
“You added something to Jude’s blocker today to weaken it,” Marsh says, each word careful enough to count. “What did you add?”
Tate swallows nervously. “Just some lotion.” He digs into his pocket and pulls something out before placing it on Marsh’s desk. “It wasn’t going to do anything, just…”
I glare at the tube, my eyes widening as I recognize the brand. “You little fucking… Tate, that’s a scentenhancer.It would blast his fucking scent everywhere. What the actual fuck?” I start toward him, Coach’s growl keeping me from doing anything stupid.
Coach takes a moment and then faces Tate again. “Seeing by the surprise on your face, you were stupid enough not to check what you were doing. Which also tells me this wasn’t all your idea.”
Tate nods once, then puts both hands over his face. “Yes, it… Reece said it would be harmless. I just… Jude wasn’t supposed to be this good the second time around and we… he….” He trails off but I’ve stopped listening.
The athletic director asks the required questions after that. Tate answers badly, then better, then in full sentences once he realizes denying anything will only make the footage play again. He says Reece caught him outside the showers before practice. He says Reece told him Tate owed him for keeping his name out of last year’s mess. He says Reece wanted Jude rattled because Jude had his chance to shine and he ruined it.
Marsh asks if Reece said what happened last year. Tate shakes his head, but his eyes don’t lift from the floor. “He said Jude got what he earned,” Tate says. “He said if Jude hadn’t tried to act like he belonged in the lanes with real swimmers, none of it would’ve happened.”
I hold back a snort as the security guard moves to grab Tate’s shoulder and guide him out of the room. He stops just before the door, the athletic director a few inches from him. “I understand competitiveness. I understand the need not to lose to an Omega as an Alpha. But I don’t understand your need to destroy a teammate, let alone put him in harm’s way. Today could have gone horribly but last year? He could have been ripped to shreds or drowned. You weaponized his own biology against him, Tate. This isn’t just grounds for removal from the team. It’s expulsion and very possibly criminal charges you’ll be facing.”
Tate lets out a small sob as he twists around. “Can I at least tell Jude I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…”
