"All right, ladies, I want all of you in bed by 9,” Derrick says as he slides his credit card to the server at the restaurant. “Tomorrow is a big day for some of us, and a huge day for Juniper.”

I blush immediately and look down as he draws attention to the fact that I’m here as a separate entity. A sort of tag along with the team. “Cheers to that,” says Ashley, one of the rowers from the team boat. The women on either side of me clap me on the shoulders. They wish ...