AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She desperately needed to get her mind off all this craziness. Whether she could was another matter entirely.
* * *
"I can't believe this," Madison said, staring around in wonder from the top of the double-decker, open air bus. "I've never seen anything like this before. Then again, I've never had a brother who won a Cup before, either."
Holly took a swig from her water bottle and peered out at the screaming, chanting crowd that lined both sides of the Strip. It was ninety-four degrees, but the crowd didn't seem to care, and neither did the players.
"It's pretty wild," she agreed.
Eli was definitely in his element—waving to the crowd, joking around with everyone, and taking photos with his phone.
Eli's other sister, Tabitha, chatted to Shaw Castle's siblings, Sloane and Cade. He'd also invited his father to ride on the float. When she'd asked him about it, he'd just shrugged and said, "Why not?"
Thankfully, her stomach wasn't acting up today, but she came prepared with some peppermints.
The bus was stocked with freezing cold soda, beer, and water, so no one was suffering too badly in the heat just yet. So far, they'd traveled halfway to the makeshift stage that had been set up near the Nevada Arena so the players could talk to the crowd later this morning.
Ryder was one float behind them with Zoe, West, Penn, and Ryder's family on board, as well as Nic, Fally, and baby Luke. Ryder's float had the most important guest riding along in it—the Cup.
The players, except for Fally, jumped off the floats every so often to take selfies and slap hands with the fans.
Holly squinted out over the crowd, and a shiny object caught her eye—an electric wheelchair decked out with brightly-colored Kingsnakes gear.
Hunter, the little boy from Castle's Cupcakes, was in the front row of the crowd, surrounded by a few of his friends. An older man leaned forward and said something to the little boy. Holly figured it must be his dad.
"Eli!" she yelled, waving at him. "C'mere!"
"Hey, kitten." He grinned as he walked over to her. "How's my favorite girl?"
"Look who it is!" She pointed at the little boy. "Hunter, the kid from Castle's."
"Oh, no way!" His eyes lit up when he saw the little boy. "I can't believe you spotted him. Okay, I've got a plan." He slammed his hand on the side of the bus, a cue for the driver to stop so he could climb down.
Eli motioned for Shaw to follow him, and they hopped off the bus. He ran back to Ryder's float as Shaw ran along the edge of the crowd, slapping hands with fans.
When Eli emerged from the other side of Ryder's float holding the Cup, the fans went crazy.
"What's he doing?" Madison asked Holly, as Tabitha walked over to join them.
"Just watch," she said, smiling. "He's about to make someone's day. Or maybe their whole year."
He pumped the Cup over his head, getting the fans going. Soon, chants of "We've got the Cup!" and "Let's Go Kingsnakes!" rippled through the crowd.
Eli headed straight for Hunter, and following behind were Shaw, Ryder, and West.
Hunter saw Eli coming toward him with the Cup, and the look on his face was something she would never forget. The pure joy and elation lit up the little boy from the inside, and his eyes shone as Eli waved his teammates over to join him.
The guys posed for a few pictures with Hunter and his friends, then Eli set the Cup down on the front of the wheelchair. Hunter beamed as he wrapped his arms around it, and Shaw took a few pictures with Hunter's phone.
Eli passed the Cup back to Ryder, and he and West headed back to their float. Eli leaned down and said something to Hunter, then he and Shaw fist-bumped him before walking back toward their float.
"We met Hunter about a month back at Sloane's cupcake shop," she explained to the twins, nodding toward Shaw's sister. "Your brother made his day by inviting him to have lunch with us. He got hurt in a car accident and is paralyzed from the waist down. Your brother paid for him to play sled hockey and got him tickets to one of the playoff games."
The girls watched as Eli took a few selfies, laughing and joking around with fans in the crowd.
"He's a good person," Tabitha said, glancing at Holly. "We're very lucky sisters."
"Agreed," Madison said, nodding. "I'm so happy we connected. It was such an odd thing to happen, but here we are."
