Page 67 of Home of the Brave

Presley sized me up as if I wasn’t over half a foot taller. “Then who was it?”

“I cannot say.”

“It’s been years; you don’t have to keep this up.”

“There is no statute of limitations on team secrets.” Plus, it was her now-husband who did it, and I was not going to get in the middle of their marriage.

“Are you Presley Shaw?” a little girl ran up to her.

She lowered to a crouch, so they were eye level. “Yes, I am. What’s your name?”

The girl’s parents rushed over, apologizing, but Presley just smiled at them and signed the little girl’s patriotic teddy bear.

She waved as they walked away, then turned toward us. “Fifty-three.”

“Dang,” Crystal muttered.

“What?” I asked.

“We’re tracking how many times we get spotted.” Jackie explained. “She’s winning.”

“Fifty-three times? Just today?” There was no way.

“Jealous?” Presley whispered.

I glared down at her through the blue lenses of my glasses. “No.”

“Because you, too, could be meeting fans if you weren’t trying to hide.”

“I met plenty earlier. I’m just surprised.”

“Cause we’re women?” Jackie lifted her chin.

I fought back an eye roll. “No, because you want to be seen.”

“We’re here for this tournament. Of course we want to meet fans,” Crystal explained.

“I know, I just––”

“Not all of us are here to go on dates,” Presley pointed between me and Victoria. “But I totally support this.”

I closed my eyes and willed the ground to open.

“Thanks,” Victoria beamed and bobbed her head.

I stared at her, shocked until I realized she hadn’t heard Presley and was still talking to Jackie, who reached out and tapped the flashing star.

“Where did you get them?”

“At a stand near the pirate ship swing.”

“We’re going to have to go find some,” Crystal said to her team.

“Yeah, let’s give these guys some space. Have so much fun, you two,” Presley winked at me, and I glared back. She almost gave me a heart attack, and she knew it.

We moved up in line, and soon it was our turn at the booth.

“Four tickets,” a sunburnt teenage boy said in a bored voice with his hand held out.