Page 101 of False Catch

"This is fucking embarrassing," Beckett pants between strokes.

"Good," Jackson spits. "He should be embarrassed."

"Can we deal with this later?" Tyler manages.

"There might not be a later," Cameron observes quietly.

He's right. If we row like this at regionals, we won't even qualify for nationals. Everything we've worked for will be gone.

The last five hundred meters are agony. Not physical—we're barely trying hard enough for that. It's the emotional weight of feeling everything we'd built crumble. We limp across the finish line dead last, fifteen seconds behind Crescent Bay.

"Let it run," Reese says quietly.

The paddle back to the dock is silent. Coaches from other teams are staring. Some look confused, others smug. Everyone knows something's wrong with Sable Ridge.

"Thirty minutes until the final," Reese announces once we're back on land. "Do whatever you need to do."

She walks away without looking at any of us. Bo starts to follow, but she holds up a hand without turning. "Alone."

The team scatters. I'm left standing by the trailer, completely isolated. This is my fault, but not the way they think.

"Gray."

I turn to find Cameron watching me. Of all people, our silent bow seat is the only one who hasn't walked away.

"That video's not from last week," he says, his voice hollow and deep.

"No."

"But the scratches are real."

I close my eyes. "Yes."

"So explain."

I look around, making sure we're alone. "Last Wednesday night. My father called. There was a charity function at the club. The Harrington Gala—major donors, society people, the usual bullshit. I was ordered to attend."

Cameron just watches, waiting.

"He'd arranged for Sophia Pemberton to be my date. Her father runs the second-largest shipping company on the east coast. It's been planned for months, before Reese, before any of this."

"And you went."

"I had to. If I didn't, my father would have come to campus. Started digging into why I was refusing. Found out the truth about Reese, about the team dynamics, about everything."

"So you hid her."

The words sting because they're true. "I was trying to protect her. My father would... yes, he met her at dinner. Yes, he knows her family has money and connections. But finding out she's an Omega? Finding out about the mixed-designation team? Finding out I'm one of eight Alphas orbiting around her?" I laugh bitterly. "He'd see it as a scandal waiting to happen. The Callahans might have wealth, but tradition matters as much as pedigree to him. Add in the pack dynamics and he'd use every connection he has to blacklist us from elite rowing clubs, kill our chances at nationals, make sure none of us get picked up by Olympic development. He owns half the selection committee."

"And Kinsley?"

"Was at the gala. Of course. Her family runs in the same circles." I run my hand through my hair. "She cornered me during cocktails. Started talking about the team, about Reese, making threats. I tried to walk away, but she grabbed me. Hugged me in front of everyone like we were old friends. That's when she did it—dragged her nails down my back hard enough to break skin through my shirt. I fucking knew she was up to something."

"Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"Because then I'd have to explain why I was there. Why I was with Sophia. Why I didn't bring Reese to meet society after she'd already met my family." My voice cracks. "She was at Sunday dinner with my parents as my girlfriend, and a few days later I'm at a gala with someone else. How does that look?"

Cameron's quiet for a moment. "Like betrayal."