The thread snapped.
Braden shifted beside me, his jaw tight, shoulders rigid. I didn’t dare look at him again. Not with that image burned into my vision.
Claire’s tone softened, just slightly. “Look, we’re not here to punish you.”
That surprised me enough to glance up, that thread of hope singing again.
“We’re here to contain this,” she clarified. “Before it spirals further.”
Coach Palmer nodded. “Braden, you don’t need this kind of distraction right now. Not with the season you’re having. Not with what’s ahead.”
Braden didn’t respond. He was so still I wondered if he was breathing at all.
“Emily,” Claire continued, “you’re going to be at the forefront of this situation whether you want to be or not. We have a lot to figure out in terms of messaging, media, and how we move forward.”
Each word felt like a weight added to my chest.
“But let me be clear,” she said, her voice firming. “We are not firing anyone over this.”
Air rushed back into my lungs. “Really?” I couldn’t help how pathetic I sounded.
“For now,” Coach Palmer added. “We’re not trying to be the bad guys. You both have earned your place here and we want you to stay. But no one is happy about this — least of all the ones who now have to work tirelessly to clean it up.”
“Consider this your warning. Your one andonlywarning,” Claire said. “You both signed contracts that include a no fraternization clause. It exists for a reason.”
My pulse stuttered.
Wait… were they going to—
“What happens between players and dancers doesn’t stay private,” Coach Palmer said. “It becomes a headline. A distraction. A liability.”
Claire leaned forward slightly. “So whatever has been happening between you two—” her eyes flicked between us, sharp and knowing, “—it needs to stop. Immediately.”
The words hit harder than anything else she’d said.
Again, I found myself wishing for it to only be me who had to suffer.
Take the job,I silently begged the universe.Take my place on the squad. Take my uniform and all my ties to this team.
But please, don’t take him.
“Cool it off,” Claire finished. “Before this becomes something none of us can control. Because if there’s a next time, someonewilllose their job.”
I could feel Braden beside me, close enough to touch, impossibly far away.
Suddenly, his phone rang.
The sharp sound sliced through the tension.
All of us startled, turning toward him as he fumbled it out of his pocket. He glanced at the screen and everything in his expression changed.
Color drained from his face, and he answered without explanation to any of us, the phone to his ear. “Hello?” His eyes slid to mine, and the panic I saw there gutted me like a fish. “I’m on my way.”
He lurched out of the chair, snagging his jacket and bolting for the door.
“Braden?” I said, pushing to my feet. “What’s going on?”
Claire and Coach Palmer looked just as thrown, the entire conversation derailed in an instant.
