Page 101 of Crew Girl

And then, a falter.

Ryder’s grin as he finished the last few meters was pure triumph. Like he’d pulled a five of a kind out of his hat—the only hand that could beat Cam’s royal flush.

This race was meant to be played with a straight deck, not wild cards. There were judges and officials everywhere. The results had to stand up to the highest levels of scrutiny. No funny business. No preferential treatment. No cards slipped up sleeves.

Cam slid to a standstill, glanced up at the leaderboard, and dropped his head, as if seeing it had drained away any remaining energy. Teagan looked up at the board again, willing it to change. But no. Cam’s final time was slower than Ryder’s. Both of their times were slower than the personal bests Cam had been hitting for weeks.

He sat there, motionless, while the rest of the rowers finished their races.

What just happened, Cam?

He could’ve won this. Be talking to the scout who was leading Ryder away for a chat. She’d seen Ryder pull ahead with her very own eyes, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.

Madison and Coach looked as confused as she felt. Coach was happy for Ryder, as an Eagle, but she could see he was disappointed for Cam. Had wanted it to go another way.

Cam finally looked up, stared at Ryder and the scout for a minute, then unstrapped his feet and headed for the locker room.

She didn’t care if they weren’t really talking. She was going to squeeze the truth out of him.

CAM

He’d heard Teagan calling his name from the locker room door, hadn’t answered. Knew she’d come in anyway. It was one of the things he liked about her. Seeing a barrier, deciding it wasn’t. It was also one of the things he didn’t like about her. Today anyway.

“Hey, Cam.”

Her voice was gentle. Kind. Not disappointed like it should’ve been. Would be if she knew the truth.

“What happened out there?”

He’d lost. Not just to Ryder. He’d lost his moral compass. His dignity. His pride that he did things the way his dad did: honestly.

She was waiting for an answer. He couldn’t give her one. Not the one she wanted anyway.

He shrugged. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Cam.” She wasn’t buying it. No surprise there. “You’ve been hitting under 6:20 for months. It was yours. And then you just…”

Handed it to Ryder?

“Quit,” she said.

He pulled his sweatshirt over his head. Didn’t look at her when his head poked through. “Guess I choked.”

“No, sorry,” she said. “You didn’t choke. Not when an invitation to the National tryouts was on the line. That’s Olympic track.”

Both of them knew how badly he wanted that. More than just about anything. Just about being the important part of that sentence.

“Did you throw the race?”

“Mind your own business,” he snapped, shocking both of them. Him for admitting it, her for getting it right. He pulled a bunch of stuff out of his bag and shoved it back in again. It was stupid, but it gave him a reason not to look into her eyes and see what he already knew.

“Cam! ” Teagan persisted. “A bad score will follow you for the rest of your career. Ryder’s out there talking to the scout when the person they should be talking to is you. You get that, right?”

“Of course I do!” It was all he could do to keep himself together. Teagan rattling off things he already knew wasn’t going to change anything.

“Then why?” She sounded so sad. Sadness ranking around the same level as disappointment in terms of things he hated making people feel. “Please, tell me why you did this.”

He didn’t have to tell, didn’t want to. It wasn’t like he could feel worse than he already did. “I did it because there are some things that are more important than this race.”