Page 83 of Off the Edge

We walked down another corridor and entered an elevator. I was still flanked by the security. Someone somewhere really had it out for me, apparently. Because this was bullshit.

I pulled out my phone.

Ddisciplinary panel called me in again, i might be fucked

For a few long seconds, he didn’t see the message. Then the ticks turned blue and the dots bounced.

I’ll deal with it

He would? Could? Maybe he had connections? Whatever he could do, I was probably going to need, because the panel had made it clear before—one more indiscretion and I was out. Which meant Zoe was out.

I gritted my teeth and swallowed the lump in my throat.

They wouldn’t do that.

I hadn’t done anything wrong.

This was just a misunderstanding.

Ren would help. His father knew people. The Hasegawa name had weight.

Maybe this would all be okay?

THIRTY

REN

I was sitting in a debriefing room with the rest of Team GB and my father when Cam’s text came through.

Ddisciplinary panel called me in again, i might be fucked

I looked up at my father. He was listening to the team coach talk about the day’s schedule and wasn’t looking at me.

Cold, surgical anger came up through me.

I’ll deal with it.

The coach still talked.

My heart pounded in my head now.

Fury like I’d rarely felt sat like a scorching stone in my chest.

I stood. “Father, I need to speak with you outside.”

The coach stopped speaking.

The entire room turned to look.

My father frowned. “Can’t it wait? Your coach⁠—”

“No.” I walked toward the door. “Excuse us.” Tamsyn watched me leave, and I felt her gaze track me the whole way.

Outside in the corridor, when I looked back, my father was following, his face red with anger.

I found an empty room adjacent to the one the team were in, opened the door, and gestured for my father to step inside.

I stepped in after him and gently closed the door behind me. At the click, a cool clarity fell over me, like a layer of ice strong enough to skate on.