Page 35 of Home of the Brave

“They’re coming in,” Cambrie pointed out. “Oh, it’s Henson and Schultz.”

Just perfect. Cambrie asked about our awkward encounter yesterday, and I told her he’d been giving me attitude, but I didn’t know why. Maybe he was just hostile.

“Do you want to skip them?”

Yes, but unfortunately Schultz was a fan favorite and Henson was the starting goalie, so people would notice if we weren’t interviewing them.

“No, let’s just get it over with.”

I smoothed my shirt and lifted my microphone as Schultz finished with the group next to us. His smile wasn’t as friendly when I caught his attention, but I didn’t react. We were both professionals, even if his buddy didn’t seem to like me.

“Erik, you’re looking great out there. How excited are you for the first game?”

He beamed at the camera and leaned in to answer, “Very. The guys are working really hard, and we’re ready to face off with the East.”

“Thanks.” I was prepared to keep these short and sweet today, so when he moved on, I didn't stop him.

But Henson was next, looking at me with thinly veiled disdain.

“Josh, would you mind?”

While the players were very strongly encouraged to engage with the press during these breaks, no one could force them to participate. Especially not me.

“Sure.” He didn’t smile, but he moved to stand a very respectful distance from me. Barely within the same frame.

“Could you just…” Cambrie waved for us to scoot together, and I didn’t look at him as I shuffled in a few inches. He didn’t move. “Thanks.” She shot me a look before dropping her eyes to the screen.

“We had the privilege of watching most of practice today, and you look great. The Stars are lucky to have such a talented goaltender.” It was true, even when multiple players were taking shots at the same time, he was blocking more than any other goalie I knew.

He scoffed. Some people would say thank you to such a compliment, but he was not one of them. Got it.

“Does it help to have your Utah coach here with you?”

His jaw tensed before he finally answered, “Yes.”

Great. This is a train wreck.

At least Piper didn’t look at Joe like she wanted to squash him.

I sighed and made the cutting motion for Cambrie as I faced him. “Did I say something wrong?” I didn’t mean to snap, but I refused to keep this up for two weeks. “I just said you were talented.”

“Oh, so you do know what a good player looks like?"

His sharp retort caught me off guard.

I shook my head. “What? Yes, of course.”

He cocked his head. “Is that a newly acquired skill?”

Cambrie snorted, but I ignored her. What was his problem?

“Have I somehow offended you in the three days we’ve been here?”

His eyes narrowed. “You really don’t remember, do you?”

My brain searched through any memory of him, but came up blank. I’d covered every team in the league, at least once, but it had been a while, at least two seasons, since I’d done Utah. Was he mad about that? Had I not given him enough coverage? I definitely didn’t during the Olympics, which was a massive oversight on my end. One I still wasn’t sure how I managed. Was that what he was mad about?

“You don’t.” He scoffed. “So you don’t care about the things you write or say.”