Page 59 of Home of the Brave

“Yes, we all know you’re talking about Victoria, so at least use her name.”

“Sorry,” Colt grimaced. “Victoria is very pretty, and that hasn’t gone unnoticed.”

Perfect. I wasn’t the only one she’s caught the attention of? Not even the only one on my team. I was used to being one of the only single guys, but that wasn’t the case here. Why hadn’t I stopped to consider this? There were fifty players here, even if only half of them were single, that was still a good number of other options for her.

Not that we even knew if she was interested in dating.

She was just as nomadic and unpredictable as us, not to mention career-focused. Who was I, or any of the other guys, to assume she’d think of any of us as anything other than her assignment?

“But if she can distract you for an entire practice, I’m going to guess that you’ve more than noticed her.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I said through gritted teeth.

“That you have a crush,” Derek teased.

“You’re still here?” I shook my head.

“Are you calling dibs?” Sanchez asked.

“Dibs?” I repeated. “Are we ten?”

“She’s not the front seat of a car,” Amelia chastised. “There’s no claiming her.”

Sanchez grinned. “I wasn’t going to. He was.”

I pressed my hands to the rim and lifted out. “You guys are ridiculous.”

I came in here to decompress, not get heckled. They were distracting me from what I should really be doing: thinking of ways to help Victoria, whether or not she was interested in me.

15

VICTORIA

For the first time since I arrived, I got to play tourist instead of journalist. I’d been looking forward to the parade since I read the tournament itinerary, mostly because it would be a day off for me.

There was enough national coverage that Cambrie and I weren’t required.

My plans consisted of sleeping in, check.

Room service coffee and breakfast, check.

Lounging around in my pajamas, check.

It was already ten, and I’d only left my bed to bring in my food. I was watching a rom-com I’d seen a few times and didn’t have to pay close attention to follow. Some might consider this lazy. I deemed it self-care.

Each time my phone buzzed, I ignored it.

This was my one and only day off, and I was going to protect that.

The main characters were finally admitting their feelings for each other when there was a knock on my door.

Nope.

I hadn’t ordered anything else, so there wasn’t a chance I was going to answer.

Another knock.

Nothing good could be on the other side.