Page 74 of Home of the Brave

“Sorry about that,” Josh whispered, but I just gave him a smile.

“It’s not like I wasn’t an active and willing participant.”

He grinned, “Yeah, but you didn’t consent to pictures."

“They’re pretty blurry,” I glanced around. “Someone should work on their sleuthing.”

“Or just ask me next time,” Cambrie winked.

I narrowed my eyes at her. “No aiding them.”

“That would have been a good idea,” Hartman grunted. “We should have asked you.”

“Hey,” I pointed at him, “she’s my camerawoman. Get your own.”

“We’ll talk later,” she told him before looking at Erik and Josh. “You guys look amazing,” Cambrie waved her finger up and down at their outfits. “I thought you looked patriotic yesterday, but this is next level.”

“You like the overalls?” Erik tugged on the straps across his chest. “Madi found them last month.”

“Got us all a matching set,” Josh bounced his shoulders, and he posed in his American flag outfit. None of them were wearing shirts and had red, white, and blue body paint down their arms.

“It’s a look,” I agreed. I certainly didn’t mind seeing his muscles on display, even if they were covered in poorly drawn stars.

“There you are,” a stunning blonde called from the doorway. She walked in with Amelia and another woman with gorgeous golden curls.

“We told you where we were going,” Erik kissed her quickly. “Madi, you might remember Victoria, and this is Cambrie from Sports Now.”

“Oh, I would have referred to her as Victoria from the pictures,” Amelia teased, laughing at my halfhearted glare.

“Right,” the other woman grinned. “We’ve heard so much about you.”

“Ladies, this is Kendall, my wife.” Hartman gazed down at her with a look of pure love before kissing her temple.

“I can only imagine what they’ve said,” I admitted.

“Only the best things,” Amelia said, while Derek rubbed his stripe-covered stomach.

“I’m about five minutes from becoming hangry Derek,” he warned.

“Yikes,” Amelia cringed. “We have a reservation for dinner. Would you two like to join us?”

Cambrie was agreeing before I could even think about our schedule. “That would be lovely. We didn’t get a chance to eat this afternoon.”

“Are you sure?” I asked. “If you have reservations––”

“I added a couple,” Madi winked. “In case you said yes.”

Cambrie grinned at me, “Perfect.”

I eyed her, suspicion growing.

18

JOSH

Ishould have known the Pride would get involved the second they arrived. I knew better than to think Amelia would keep the kiss a secret from them. Or that Hartman and Schultz would. The moment I saw Madi and Kendall, I knew they were already in matchmaking mode.

“You have a lady friend,” Madi said by way of greeting when she gave me a hug.