THE COMPETITOR CALLS

Maya deleted the text.

Then she undeleted it. Then she screenshot it and sent it to Tasha.

*Maya:* Victor Bennet is calling me about Caleb

*Tasha:* THE Victor Bennet?? CEO of that evil tech empire??

*Maya:* Yes. What do I do??

*Tasha:* You tell Caleb. Immediately. You’re his coach not his secret service.

*Maya:* What if it ruins the 60 days??

*Tasha:* What if it ruins HIS COMPANY??

*Maya:* ...fair.

But she didn’t tell him. Not at Barton Springs. Not when he was laughing and failing to do a cannonball and looked 12 years younger.

She told herself it was “protecting the client’s mental space.”

It was a lie. And Rule 2 was No Lying.

That night Caleb texted her at 11:47pm.

*Caleb:* Thank you for today. I haven’t laughed like that in 3 years.

*Maya:* You’re welcome. Get some sleep, CEO.

*Caleb:* Can’t. Board meeting tomorrow.

*Maya:* You said no work after 8. $10k.

*Caleb:* Charge me.

She didn’t.

The next morning, Maya called Victor Bennet back from her office.

“Ms. Rhodes,” his voice was smooth, expensive, 50s. “Thank you for returning my call.”

“Mr. Bennet. How can I help you?”

“I’m calling about Caleb Hart,” he said. “I understand you’ve been contracted by him.”

Maya’s heart pounded. “I can’t discuss my clients.”

“You don’t have to,” Victor said. “I just thought you should know. The board is voting to remove him next Friday. Hostile takeover. He’s not well. He’s distracted. Dating coaches, public pools... it’s sad, really.”

Maya gripped her desk. “He’s fine.”

“He’s not,” Victor said gently. “And I think you know that. Which is why I’m offering you $250,000 to step down as his coach. Effective immediately. We’ll say it was mutual. He’ll never know you were paid.”

The number hit her like a truck. $250k. That’s 5 years of Clean Break. That’s paying off her divorce debt. That’s security.

“Why me?” Maya whispered.

“Because you’re the only person he listens to right now,” Victor said. “And if he keeps listening to you, he’ll lose everything.”

He hung up.

Maya sat there shaking. Alimony whined at her feet.

At 6pm, Caleb showed up again. No warning.

“I fired my COO today,” he said, dropping on her couch. “Board’s mad. But I feel... good?”

Maya stared at him. Wet hair from the pool still. That smile. Trusting her.

“Did something happen?” he asked, noticing her face.

“No,” Maya lied. Rule 2: broken. “Just tired.”

Caleb frowned. “You’re a terrible liar, Maya.”

She flinched at her first name. He’d never used it before.

“What?” she said, too fast.

“You called me Hart for 3 weeks. Now it’s Caleb,” he said. “And you’re looking at me like you’re about to quit.”

Maya stood up. Paced. “Hypothetically. If someone offered me a lot of money to stop coaching you. What would you do?”

Caleb went still. “Who offered you money?”

“Hypothetically!”

“Victor Bennet,” Caleb said flatly. Not a question.

Maya stopped pacing. “How did you—”

“I’ve known Victor since Stanford,” Caleb said quietly. “He’s been trying to buy me out for a year. He goes after the people closest to me first.”

Oh.

“So you knew,” Maya said.

“I suspected,” Caleb said. “But I needed to know if you’d tell me.”

The silence was awful.

“And?” Maya asked, voice small.

Caleb walked to her. Stood too close. “And you didn’t. For 24 hours. But you’re telling me now. So... I’m not firing you.”

“Even though I lied?”

“Even though,” he said. “But new rule. Rule 4: No secrets. Not about this. Not about us.”

“Us?” Maya said. “There is no us.”

Caleb looked at her. Really looked. “Not yet.”

Her phone buzzed. Another text from Victor:

_“Offer expires in 48 hours, Ms. Rhodes. Think carefully.”_

Maya looked at Caleb. At his board meeting. At his company. At the $250k.

At the man who paid $10k for a taco lie.

She had 48 hours to decide if she was a coach, or a traitor, or something else entirely