Page 20 of Home of the Brave

I started toward the back where a two-top was getting cleared off, but paused when I heard our names being called.

“Victoria, over here!” I turned to my right and found about half of the women’s West team waving us over.

“We have two chairs at the end,” Hilary, one of their left wingers, pointed.

“Thanks,” Miles gave a few of them fist bumps as he passed and squeezed into a remaining spot, leaving me the last one to slide into.

“This place must really be good,” I smirked at Miles, who rolled his eyes.

“Oh, now that they’re here, you believe me?”

I nodded. “I trust you all.”

That earned a few laughs, and Hilary leaned over. “We just ordered eight pizzas, so there will be plenty for you guys, as long as you don’t have any allergies.”

“None for me,” I checked with Miles, who shook his head. “You don’t mind sharing?”

“Of course not.” Sarah leaned in from across the table. “After you saved an entire sheet of tiramisu for us on the last night in Milan? We still talk about that.”

A few of the women groaned.

“It was so good,” I agreed.

“And as long as you don’t take any embarrassing pictures of us stuffing our faces,” Taylor pointed at Miles.

He held up his hands. “No phones, no cameras.”

“And everything said is off the record,” I promised.

“Then eat, drink, and be merry,” Sarah held up her water glass as if toasting.

“Speaking of Milan, remember the night we didn’t get back to the hotel until two a.m. and Victoria was passed out in the lobby?”

“Drooling on a silk decorative pillow,” Marie agreed.

“You were supposed to be back like seven hours prior,” I scoffed. “I needed to submit my interview by, like, five that morning.”

“And the time catering forgot about the press area and we snuck her into the locker room wearing a pair of my warm-ups?” Taylor laughed.

Miles gapped. “I didn’t realize I was partnered with such a rebel.”

“Oh, don’t even get me started on this one,” Hilary cut in. “Back in college, we were constantly doing get-up sprints for stunts she pulled.”

I held up a hand. “It was not always me. Ryann was just as bad.”

“Yeah, and now I know all her weak spots and get to exploit them,” she wagged her brows.

“Playing against old teammates is the best,” Marie leaned back.

“Is it like a sibling rivalry?” Miles asked.

“Sometimes,” Marie agreed. “But that’s only when we still like and respect each other. Other times, it's finally getting to release years of pent-up frustration and annoyance without your old coach yelling at you to get along.”

A few of them smiled fondly.

“We’re not as bad as the men, though,” Taylor told Miles. “There aren’t enough of us around to really hold grudges. We need to be supportive of each other and protect each other.”

Marie nodded. “Yeah, just because we’re not on the same team this week doesn’t mean we won’t get traded next season.”