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After the right number of sheep had been penned in the right locations, Carter jogged back to the buildings.

He didn’t mind the extra cardio even though the team had been given the afternoon free to do what they wanted.

A lot of the players took summer semesters in courses through either university or TAFE, while some had other side businesses that required time.

Carter had followed his mum’s sound advice about investing his earnings and had his own thing going on in the property market, but there was nothing pressing for him to attend to while he was here.

Slowing to a walk, he lifted his hat and used the bottom of his singlet to mop up the sweat before it dripped into his eyes.

Indy crossed in front of him from the sheds towards the horses in the paddock behind the guest rooms. Her eyes on him burned but he averted his gaze.

He couldn’t risk letting on anything that might give away their plan for later.

He’d never looked forward to cleaning animals before.

Heading in the opposite direction to the horses, Carter followed the yelling and cheering to the beach volleyball courts behind the netball courts.

At least half the team were gathered, watching the four players on either side of the net.

He peered through the trees at the building where Blossom was nestled on the verandah and warmed at the idea that he knew something about this place the others didn’t.

Except for Ethan, but he wasn’t around. As far as Carter knew, Ethan was planning on squirrelling himself away in their shared room for the afternoon to make some headway on his sports exercise degree.

Carter swiped one of the waters in the esky sitting by a trainer.

‘Extra cardio, Hendrix?’

‘Something like that,’ he replied, unscrewing the lid and downing half the bottle in one go.

‘You want in on a round?’

‘Nah, just coming down to check it out.’ He stepped back to the edge of the crowd and assessed the backs of his teammates’ heads before landing on the ones he wanted. Skirting the courts, he came up behind them.

‘Hall, Burgess,’ he said, keeping his voice low. ‘With me, now.’

The men exchanged guilty looks that told Carter everything. But they seemed to respect his seniority in the team enough to turn and follow him up to the footy field.

‘I just went for a run beside some paddocks with sheep in them. Want to have a guess what I saw?’ Carter asked.

George Hall dropped his gaze to the ground while Shaun Burgess swallowed hard then took a deep breath.

‘I’d imagine you saw a whole lot, Carter.’

‘You bet I did, but most interesting was a mob of sheep that a worker here quite angrily referred to as the Scorpions’ new mascots, given the fresh paint on their wool. I wouldn’t imagine you two would know anything about that?’

Burgess paled and Hall’s head jerked up.

‘You know how it is, Carter,’ Hall said. ‘It was either paint the sheep or they were going to shave our heads. We made sure the paint they gave us wasn’t toxic to animals.’

‘Who gave you the ultimatum?’

They exchanged a look.

‘Beau, Liam and some other guys,’ said Burgess.

He knew it. Wasn’t sure why he’d even bothered to ask. A heavy sigh escaped him. ‘Tell me everything.’

Carter listened carefully as the whole story came out. He only just stopped himself from strangling them.

‘You’re not going to dob us in to the coach, are you?’ Hall asked. ‘Or that farm boss lady? It wasn’t her who found them, was it?’

‘No, you’re lucky it wasn’t. But Indy, the farmhand who did find them, is really not happy. They could’ve kicked us off the property. We’re their guests; we’re not supposed to be making extra work for them like this. You’d be even less popular than me if that happened.’

They mumbled their apologies. ‘What can we do to make it better?’ Burgess asked.

‘You can keep your heads down and not stuff up again. I know you’re trying to fit in, but pick the right people to hang out with in your downtime.

’ Carter bit his tongue against the other things he could say about Beau.

They’d need to figure it out on their own.

‘Look, you’re both really talented footy players and initiation dares are part and parcel of being on the team, but doing something that’s going to jeopardise the whole camp isn’t going to win you any favours with the coaching staff.

You gotta be smart about it. Trust me on that one. ’

‘So you won’t tell?’ Burgess asked.

‘Not this time. I convinced Indy not to either, but that could all change if we don’t get the sheep cleaned in time.’

‘We can help!’ Hall volunteered. ‘We’ll make up for it.’

‘Appreciate it, but that’d draw a bit of attention. There’s a plan; just keep quiet and stay out of trouble.’

The men thanked him again before returning to the volleyball court.

Carter turned for the showers but not before he caught sight of Beau scowling at him from the side of the crowd.

Carter narrowed his eyes, not intimidated by the big fullback at all, and Beau broke the stare off first. Carter changed his direction to stand with Diego and Matt, who greeted him with claps on the back as he settled in to watch some volleyball.

With his plate loaded with pasta, chicken and vegetables, Carter slid into the seat next to Ethan. He took a long drink of cordial, wishing it were one of the beers Emery’d had last night.

‘Hey, stranger,’ Ethan said, shovelling in his own dinner. ‘What’d you get up to this arvo?’

‘Went for a jog and watched some volleyball,’ he replied before taking a few big mouthfuls.

The others at the table were engrossed in a heated debate about which movie out of the Jurassic franchise was best: Park or World.

Carter listened in, not really having an opinion but laughing at the stupid points and respecting the well-thought-out arguments.

‘Why are Hall and Burgess ogling you like you’re their new hero?’ Ethan asked. ‘I thought they were firmly in camp Beau.’

Carter nodded at the two eighteen-year-olds who were trying to catch his eye, giving him beaming smiles. It was the first meal where they weren’t seated with Beau and his goons.

Checking the Jurassic argument was still going—it was; the new topic was that a young Laura Dern was hotter than Bryce Dallas Howard and it completely consumed them—he turned to Ethan.

‘There’s something I need to tell you.’

‘Aw, man, don’t tell me they’ve developed crushes.’

Carter laughed and shoved his shoulder. ‘No, you idiot.’ He dropped his voice. ‘Beau dared them to paint twenty sheep in Scorpions colours last night.’

Ethan spluttered into his chicken and Carter glanced around. No one seemed to have noticed, although Indy was watching him from her usual table. He didn’t hold her gaze.

‘Bloody hell,’ Ethan muttered, taking a sip of water. ‘How much trouble are they in?’

‘None, yet. I caught Indy in time and convinced her not to tell Nova or Jonathan or any of the coaching staff.’

‘How the hell did you do that?’

‘I promised to clean them before anyone noticed.’ He shovelled more food in his mouth. ‘Tonight.’

‘Why would you do that? You don’t owe them anything. They’re rookies. Big dumb rookies.’

Because I get to spend time with the most intriguing woman who happens to hate me, which I find extremely hot .

Carter mentally rolled his eyes. He wasn’t ready to admit that out loud.

‘Because Nova would kick the whole team off the mountain if she found out and then where would we train? Besides, this team doesn’t need any more drama.

I just want to clean the sheep and then forget it ever happened. ’

‘They don’t deserve it,’ Ethan said, scowling across the room. ‘Neither does Beau. He should know better.’

‘I know, but it’s better than the alternative.’ Carter scraped his plate for a final mouthful. ‘I need your help.’

‘Dude, I wrangle little humans not sheep.’ Ethan appeared suitably horrified and Carter laughed.

‘Not with the sheep!’

Ethan’s relief made Carter laugh harder. As if he’d share his solo time with Indy.

‘I need you to cover for me if anyone comes looking for me after the program tonight or if there’s some random drill in the middle of the night. Just tell them I have a migraine or something.’

Ethan considered his request thoughtfully. ‘It’s a done deal, on one condition.’

‘What?’

‘You tell me your side of the story with Aaron. I’m not listening to the rumours; I know you’re a good guy and I also know that you don’t deserve the treatment you’re getting. That snake this morning was next level and I want to know everything so I know what we’re up against.’

Carter closed his eyes against the lightness of Ethan’s friendship; having someone on his side without having to plead with them to be there. That snake could’ve explored their room and ended up over in Ethan’s bed. Carter did owe him an explanation after that.

He nodded and Ethan pushed his empty plate to the other side of the table so he could rest his arms in front of him. ‘Let’s hear it then.’

Carter glanced around as their teammates started to empty out. The clock above the sliding doors to the verandah indicated that they still had twenty minutes to get down to the field. Here went nothing.

‘So, Aaron had been dating this woman, Nyssa, for a while. She’d come to the awards the year before and had hung out at the clubhouse, so we all knew her. Did you ever meet Aaron?’

Ethan shook his head. ‘Only studied his play and shook his hand on game days.’