“Jesus Christ,” I said, feeling called out. “And what’s the third?”
He hesitated, then smirked. “This one’s a little on the nose. ‘Are rivalries between universities detrimental to student well-being?’”
I smiled. “You’re kidding.”
“Nope!” he said. “Seems like the universe wants me to roast Kingswell and their sick little superiority complex live on stage.”
I huffed out a laugh. “Guess we’re both up against them.”
“Exactly, you on the water against brutish jocks. Me in a room full of anxious nerds with microphones.”
“A battle of physical dominance and intellectual warfare?”
“Basically.”
“We should get matching shirts.”
“We should not.”
But he was smiling, and so was I.
Or at least, something inside me loosened enough to feel lighter. It meant something, having him joke about it. Hearing him frame it as something we were both stepping into.
Two fronts of the same war.
We rounded the corner leading toward the river path, the scent of damp leaves drifting on the breeze. As we approached the long stretch of pavement that led toward the Riverside side of campus, someone came into view, walking up from the boathouse with an energy that set me on edge.
Tyler.
He spotted us, his attention snapping to me like he’d been waiting.
“Moore,” he called out, slowing just enough to speak. “Dude… you have no idea what’s about to happen.”
My stomach tightened. “What?”
He gave a low whistle, shaking his head. “Scrimmage matchups are posted.”
Just like that, he kept moving, hands in his pockets, whistling like someone who’d dropped a live grenade and decided it was somebody else’s problem.
My heartbeat pulled tight.
Noah looked at me. “You good?”
I swallowed. “Yeah.”
He didn’t believe me. “I’ll come with you. I got time.”
“Thanks.”
The closer we got to the boathouse, the more I felt that tightening in my lungs, that slow build of adrenaline that hit right before something major.
We stepped inside.
The hallway was packed.
Voices collided in the narrow space, ricocheting off the oar racks and the framed photos of past Riverside crews. Someone had propped the back windows open to let in the river breeze, and sunlight streamed across the floorboards.
Everyone gathered around the bulletin board.
