Page 20 of Crew Girl

Liam was screaming a nonstop stream of commands to his team.

“Okay, guys,” she said when, as predicted, Liam’s boat began to lose power. “Now! Let’s take it to them.” To her delight, the guys ramped up the force, pushing the boat forward so that they were neck and neck. But neck and neck wasn’t good enough.

“Ryder!” she shouted. “Are you really going to let him win?”

He flicked a glance over at his cousin’s boat, then started to pull hard. Just like she knew he could.

“That’s right, Ryder! You’ve got this! Everyone! Push! Push!”

They did—and their boat crossed the finish line first. They’d won!

“You did it! You won! You guys won!”

For a moment, no one said anything. Teagan couldn’t breathe. What was going on? They’d won.

And then the boat erupted into cheers. Even Cam was smiling.

Whooping with joy, Baloo reached out his hand and shook hers. “Well done, Crew Girl.”

Teagan rode home on a wave of euphoria. Couldn’t wait to tell her mom the news. She was the Easton Eagles’ new cox! She burst through the front door, but no one answered when she called out.

A stack of mail sat on the kitchen counter. She sifted through it, stopping when she saw a letter from Easton Prep. She opened it even though it was addressed to her mom.

It took a minute for the red letters to take form. And when they did, every ounce of joy she’d felt evaporated.

TUITION PAYMENT DECLINED

As if she needed reminding who had landed them in this nightmare, her father’s voice came to her. Never get overconfident, Teags. One bad catch can end a run.

Thanks, Dad. I’ll try to remember that.

TEAGAN

A few days later, after practice, Teagan pressed her ear to the door of the guys’ shower room, listening. Her crew were arguing about who deserved to be in stroke seat. Perry had put just himself forward. Apparently, he was stressing about impressing his dad. No one voted for him.

She needed to be part of the conversation. No way was she sitting out a Josh Regis–led vote to put Josh Regis back in the stroke seat. That was it—she was going in!

“WHOA!” she shrieked as eight shades of naked were burned into her retinas forever. A few in a good way. Not that she’d admit it. The rest? The less said, the better.

As she covered her eyes, and the guys covered… other parts, Ryder voted for himself and got a show of support from Noah. Cam, to her surprise, didn’t get any. He, of all the rowers, deserved the team’s support.

“Who’s with me?” demanded Josh.

Teagan peeked through her fingers to check the show of hands. Everyone bar Cam, Noah, and Ryder raised their hand.

Lemmings.

Josh strutted about like it was a done deal.

“It doesn’t matter what you want,” warned Ryder. “Coach Hayden made the final calls—not us.”

Josh patted him on the cheek. “You keep telling yourself that, cuz.”

Ryder’s punch might’ve landed if Baloo hadn’t picked him up and put him on the other side of the room. Teagan thought it was good to see Ryder standing up for himself. He’d gone for it even though he knew the odds were stacked against him. And, more to the point, put a target on his back.

This was Josh Regis—the type of guy who made it his mission to destroy you if you didn’t do his bidding. Like stealing your cox box, for example.

She found it in the end. In her locker. Even though the team was doing a pretty good job of letting her know they hated her, whoever had stolen it had been kind enough not to add it to the list of bills her mom couldn’t pay. Now that the FBI had frozen her education trust—the reason behind the unpaid school fees—it wasn’t like her mom could afford to buy a new one.