Page 54 of Crew Girl

Behind him, she spotted Gravenhurst’s head coach go into the erg room looking like she hadn’t cracked a smile in a decade. She needed to go. “Super. Glad we sorted that out. Talk later?”

“Sure.”

He looked confused. So was she. In about an hour’s time, she’d explain. Maybe. “Awesome. Buh-bye!” She jogged off. Buh-bye? Since when did she say that?

Since the moment she’d accepted a favor from Britney Garner.

Gravenhurst’s head coach was even scarier up close.

“Thank you so much for inviting me,” Teagan blathered after a way too long introduction. Why had she said her middle name? “I really appreciate it.”

“It wasn’t my invitation,” the coach said. “I was asked to as a favor for the principal.”

Ohhhh. Duh. She looked about as happy to have Teagan here as Coach Hayden had looked when he’d put Josh back in stroke seat for the alumni race. Never mind. She could do with burning off some of these nerves.

“Well, thanks anyway.”

The coach showed her to an erg with the enthusiasm of a prison guard escorting a new inmate to their cell. “You won gold last year in the single, but now you’re coxing an eight?”

“Yes.” She knew it looked bad, like Teagan wasn’t focused on rowing, but launching into the entire story was too complicated. “But I keep my erg training up. The single is my passion.” That was why she was here, right?

“My girls train hard. The group you’d sit in if you’d stayed in singles hit seven-forty. Sometimes faster.”

“Great.” Teagan had been training with guys. Big, muscly guys. “Me too.”

The coach nodded at the erg. She’d wait to see the proof.

While the rest of the team strapped in, Teagan took a breath and found her way into the zone. She closed her eyes. It was just her and the erg. Every muscle in her body twitching like a racehorse waiting for the starting gun.

“Sit ready!”

The second the call came to row… she was back in her happy place. Rowing had never been a duty. It brought her genuine joy. Back straight, shoulders strong, legs locking into a rhythm she knew they’d never forget. She didn’t need to beg her body to push harder, dig deeper. It knew what to do. Didn’t care how much sweat poured down her face. How much her thighs burned.

When the coach called time, she pulled her forearm across her forehead, her eyes stinging with sweat.

The coach held up the stopwatch, her rock-hard expression gone. “Seven thirty-two.”

Teagan grimaced. “Shoot. My PB’s seven twenty-eight.”

Murmurs of disbelief filled the room.

“Everybody back to their erg,” Coach instructed. “You,” she said to Teagan, “are done for the day.”

What did that mean? Had she done enough? Been a show-off? Ticked a box on the coach’s To-Do list?

When the room filled with the whirr of cables extending, coiling back in, Coach signaled to Teagan to follow her to the door.

“I think you should come train with us again next week. We have a slot in our program. You might be a good fit.”

She managed to resist punching the air. She’d nailed it! “That would be amazing. Umm, if I transferred to Gravenhurst, would I still be able to cox for Easton?”

“No. Gravenhurst rowers are required to stay focused in their streams. It’s one or the other. Is that a problem?”

“Nope.”

“Good.” The coach gave her clipboard a couple of raps with her knuckles. “I’ll catch up with you later.”

Teagan jogged up to the regatta course to meet Crabcatcher, who was stretching his quads.