Page 99 of Home of the Brave

Coach let us off with a speech about not letting two losses get into our heads, and I appreciated that he saw our effort and didn’t make it a bigger deal than it needed to be. If he were too hard on us, it would cross the line from motivational to insulting. We were here for a reason; we were the best in the league facing off, and not everyone could win.

“Let’s end their winning streak on Sunday,” he finished, and we clapped.

I left to shower and was changing into my street clothes when Colt and Joel walked by talking about rubber duckies.

“What’s that about?” I asked Schultz.

He chuckled. “Evidently East is being haunted by them, and they’re getting bigger.”

I pulled my shirt over my head. “Rubber ducks?”

“Yup, Jayce Brady can’t escape them.”

I laughed and tugged on my shoes. “It could be worse, I guess.”

“Very true,” he stretched his neck. “Madi and I are going to dinner at some seafood place she heard about if you want to come.”

I studied. “Is this a pity invite?”

“Nope, it’s a friend invite.”

“Yeah, sure. Thanks.”

“I’ll text you the details later. I’ve got to hurry through press. Madi wants to go to a museum this afternoon.”

“Have fun.” I grinned, and he waved as he jogged out of the room.

I was only a few minutes behind him, but he was already gone when I got to the press room. Most of the reporters were talking to East players, so I waited for a bit to make sure I wasn’t needed. Then I noticed a group slowly forming around Victoria and Cambrie and moved closer.

“I swear I didn’t do it.” Victoria was fighting a smile in front of Taz and Jayce.

“Then who did?” Jayce pulled something from his pocket and showed her. “If I find one more––”

She burst out laughing. “What is that?”

“One of the many ducks haunting me.”

She covered her mouth and looked at Cambrie, who was giggling too.

“Rubber ducks? I haven’t heard about this.”

Jayce scanned the room. “Someone here does.”

Levi cut in, “Did you see the comments on your videos?”

Victoria shook her head, “What do you mean?”

“Fans are asking you questions about us,” he explained. “We thought it might be good content for you to film you asking them.”

Cambrie pulled out her phone and began typing. “As long as we get the boring, I mean important, stuff out of the way.”

“We already filled our quota,” Victoria sounded disappointed. “They’ll likely only post one or two.”

“Then you can add these videos to your account,” Cambrie held up her camera with her phone next to it. “This one has three thousand likes, so we can start here.”

Victoria leaned in to read it, then faced Taz. “How would you describe the difference between playing in this tournament versus a typical season game?”

He grinned and looked down the lens. “I tried to tell the guys before we started that there was less pressure, to have fun and enjoy this moment, but as soon as we step onto the ice, all that disappears. We’re competitors, and we want to win, even if the only stakes are bragging rights.”