Page 128 of Home of the Brave

“This,” she gestured around the room.

“A hotel room?” Did she mean a vacation? I mean, that did sound nice now that the tournament was done. We could go somewhere. Relax and unwind.

“Good grief,” Kendall muttered.

I looked at her, but Victoria quickly continued. “I want a community. I want friends I see more than once every few months. I don’t want to keep doing life on my own.”

I sucked in a breath, still too scared to let myself believe what I was hearing. Did she mean she wanted this community? Me and the guys and the Pride? Or just something similar?

“We’ve spent all day talking and planning,” she directed her attention to Madi, who smiled.

“We might have been able to convince her that Salt Lake is a great location for a home base.”

Kendall joined in. “Yup, we have a big airport and four professional sports teams.”

“One of which is women’s,” Amelia winked.

“The cost of living is way lower than New Jersey,” Madi continued. “And she can do her job from anywhere.”

“What job?” I asked, still trying to catch up.

“Well, we looked at my accounts, the number of followers and views and comments,” Victoria began, but Madi interrupted.

“Her private messages and emails. The demand for someone, a person who is friends with the athletes and comfortable asking them questions the fans want to know, is incredible. She has enough requests to build out content for a year.”

“And that pays?” I asked.

Kendall shook her head. “You silly man.”

“When you have enough followers, you get put into the creator fund that pays out based on views and interactions,” Victoria explained. “I’ve had enough followers for years, but these past few days it’s been crazy.”

“Meaning?”

“She can make a living doing this,” Madi simplified for me. “She doesn’t need to work for a network or a big company. She can interview whomever she wants, whenever she wants, about whatever she wants.”

“As long as I have the connection," Victoria reminded her. “I don’t know a lot of NFL players, so that might get tricky.”

“But you also don’t care about football. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to anymore,” Kendall reminded her.

“True,” Victoria conceded with a grin. “And the format we were discussing doesn’t require me to be there.”

I held up a hand. “What format?”

“A podcast,” she replied. “I know everyone and their dog has one, but I have a unique perspective and direction I want to take it.”

“Former athletes interviewing athletes is the most successful setup, but add in her experience reporting, and the relationships she has,” Madi beamed, “it has the makings of a one-of-a-kind show.”

“Especially as someone who isn’t necessarily famous,” Kendall added. “Victoria has her name and credibility, but it’s not a celebrity chit-chatting with another celebrity.”

“Exactly,” Cambrie agreed.

“Are you going to be a part of this?” I asked her.

“At least at the beginning,” she smiled at Victoria.

“Did you get fired too?” I couldn’t believe I hadn’t asked before.

“No, but I can take a step back from accepting assignments and do this and some freelance work for a while.”