Page 96 of Home of the Brave

I moved in with Hartman and watched the screen replay the guys coming down the stairs yesterday. It was from her personal account.

And there were over five hundred thousand views.

“Wow,” I remarked. “It’s popular.”

“The one with our uniforms has over a million.” Ted showed me on his phone.

“It’s just a little too convenient, that’s all I’m saying.” Holden crossed his arms.

“Someone has to be tipping her off.” Levi pressed his hands on his thighs. “Whoever’s behind the pranks.”

“And what if they are?” Tyson asked.

Ted shrugged. “I guess it doesn’t matter.”

“Exactly,” Tyson glanced at me. “It shouldn’t impact our interviews with her.”

Why was that directed at me?

“No blowing off any of the reporters after the game,” he told everyone. “Win or lose.”

Ah, yeah, that’s why.

“Tyson, what’s your strangest pregame ritual?” Micah asked.

“What?” Tyson turned to him.

Micah was looking at his phone. “It’s a question in the comments.”

“People are asking questions about us?” Hartman asked.

“Yeah, there are hundreds,” Ted scrolled on his phone. “Some are pretty unique.”

“Like what?” Tyson asked.

“What your diet looks like through this week. How do you maintain energy with only one day between games? What’s your oldest piece of equipment?” Micah riddled off.

“Those are all for me?” Tyson asked.

“Well, some of them are asking Victoria to ask us, and some are directed to one or two players.”

“Should we answer?” Micah looked up.

“Sure,” Tyson shrugged. “When you have time.”

“No,” I jumped in, an idea forming. “Wait until you’re with Victoria. Let her ask you and film the response.”

“Good idea,” Hartman agreed.

No one argued, and I relaxed, moving to my locker. If her prank videos were doing well on their own, I had a feeling her asking the questions her viewers wanted to know would take off.

She could ask the questions her bosses wanted, then do the fan questions for her own accounts. I wanted to text her to give her a head’s up, but was slapped with the reality that I still didn’t have her number because I never got the chance to ask.

But this was a professional matter. It had everything to do with work.

“Hey, Hartman,” I stepped closer to him to keep everyone from listening in.

“Yeah?” he asked as he pulled on his base layer.