Page 118 of Home of the Brave

What about Victoria? Did she know?

“Witches,” I muttered.

“Don’t say that too close to them—it fuels their powers,” Schultz called back.

The East won. It was a grueling game, and the West put up a fight, but the East scored on a breakaway during the third period and stayed on defense after that. We cheered through the entire ceremony, and I was pretty sure none of us would have a voice for our own final game tomorrow.

I caught sight of Victoria, and she was crying, clapping and cheering them on as Piper Pierce lifted the trophy for the first time.

She loved those players, and this game. I wished there were something I could do to help convince her bosses to give her the assignment covering them exclusively, but that wasn’t in my power. If only they could see the passion she had for these moments.

Maybe I could write a reference letter, or ask some of the women to as well. That might help sway the decision. If her company wanted exclusives and information directly from sources, she was their best bet.

“Ready?” Amelia tapped my arm and pointed to where the rest of our group was exiting in the other direction.

“Yeah.” I shot one more glance back at Victoria, wanting to soak her in, even knowing I’d see her soon.

“I can’t believe they pulled that off,” Hartman told Kendall as we exited the arena.

“You could feel the buildup,” she argued. “I could feel their hunger from our seats!”

“Yeah, but that was a once in a lifetime play,” Schultz joined them, but at the same time fans recognized that most of the male athletes were around and started asking for autographs.

Amelia, Madi, and Kendall drifted out of the way as even Derek was surrounded.

He caught my eye and winked. “Still got it.”

I rolled my eyes and smiled down at the little girl staring up at me. “You’re a giant!”

I lowered to one knee, but I was still a bit taller than her. “Nah, I just ate all my vegetables growing up.”

She giggled and held out her tournament-themed teddy bear that wore a miniature of her t-shirt. “Will you sign him, please?”

I smiled at her politeness and quickly obliged.

I signed a few more times before I caught Victoria’s voice and looked around to find her surrounded by her own fans. She was smiling and taking pictures, and I was relieved to see the Pride women by her. If things got out of hand, they were well-versed in what to do, so I went back to focus on the teenage boy in front of me.

After about twenty minutes, the crowd dissipated, and I was able to rejoin the guys who were all watching Victoria. She still had one more teen waiting, but seemed completely unbothered.

“This is the first time I’ve seen fans approach her,” I admitted. She was easily recognizable if you were in the sports world, so maybe it just hadn’t happened while I was around.

“It’s not for her journalism,” Madi came to stand next to me.

“It’s not?”

“No, she’s gone viral.”

“With the prank videos?” That didn’t make sense. She didn’t include her face in those.

Kendall leaned forward, past Madi. “Yes, but also the mini-interviews she’s been doing with the players.”

“The fan questions,” Amelia clarified.

“She’s only posted a few, but people are going crazy over the fact that she pulls from the comment section. It’s not just the standard, routine Q and A.”

“Huh,” I hadn’t been on my phone enough to realize how popular it had gotten. Had my idea this morning even been necessary? “How did the predictions video do?”

“Look,” Madi showed me her screen.