26. Josh
JOSH
The plan came to me in the middle of the night. I sent a text as soon as my thoughts came together, and we were already in the midst of executing the first step.
“Single file.” Hartman walked along the tunnel, waving guys to stand against the wall like elementary school students.
“There’re two questions, rapid fire. That’s all we need,” Madi explained for the third time as she walked from the front of the line to the back. “If you have anything else to add, tell her at the end.”
“Next,” Amelia waved the next player to move forward.
Jake crossed his arms over his chest, “East is going to win the women’s. West is going to win the men’s. I know Coach Badaszek is in on it, but I don’t know who he’s working with.”
I rolled my eyes at Jake’s prediction. He was getting too in his head about the wedding cake stuff.
“Perfect,” Victoria grinned. “Thanks.”
He walked off, and Adam Lombardi replaced him. “East women are going to win, and East men are going to win it all.” He paused. “I don’t think it’s one person. I think there’s at least three people, but I’m pretty sure Taz is in on it.”
“Any tips?” Cambrie asked. “How do you know?”
“He just seems the type.” Adam turned and eyed his captain before walking away.
“West women, West men,” Sean rushed next. “I think it’s the goalies working with the coaches, but I can’t prove anything.” He blinked. “No tips.”
“Very efficient,” Victoria thanked him as the line moved forward.
When I told her my idea this morning, she wasn’t very excited. I understood she was a journalist, not a social media content creator, but times were changing, and she had a demand for these videos.
When she showed me her accounts after the museum yesterday, while we were eating cannoli, I’d been shocked by the endless direct messages.
I thought all the questions and requests were in the comments, but she had thousands of unread messages pleading for her to ask what they wanted to know from their favorite players.
She was in an incredibly unique position, not only as a journalist, but as a friend to so many players to be able to fulfill fan requests.
She pulled this off, getting the men’s teams to the arena before the women’s game an hour early so she could ask them to predict the tournament winners and guess who was behind the pranks.
She not only asked, but the guys showed up.
There weren’t many people in our sport, or the industry as a whole, that could make this happen.
Sure, some of the guys did it as a favor to me, or because their captains encouraged them, but they did it. They were here, and she was getting content no one else had.
By the time she and Cambrie were done, they were practically vibrating with excitement. “We need to start working on this now.” Cambrie slung her bag over her shoulder. “We can work in the press room and watch the game on the TVs.”
Victoria looked disappointed, but quickly agreed. “Yeah, the women's predictions need to be up before the game starts.”
“Then, let’s get to it.” Cambrie headed toward the elevators, but Victoria hung back.
“Thank you again for putting this together.” She paused for half a second before stepping forward and wrapping her arms around my waist and resting her head against my chest.
It was absolutely the best feeling in the world. I’d lose the tournament, the next season, even retire early to feel this every day.
That realization was shocking, but I held onto her, willing the alarm to go away.
“I’m glad it worked out,” I said against her hair before placing a quick kiss on the top of her head. “But you need to hurry.”
“I’ll see you after?” She looked up at me.
“Yes.”
Before I could react, she pecked a quick kiss on my lips and ran down to where Cambrie was holding the doors open.
“Dang,” Schultz appeared at my side. “That’s a huge change from two days ago.”
I ignored him.
“A miracle, some would say.” Madi was suddenly at my other elbow. “What could have caused such an abrupt turnaround?”
“Leave him alone,” Amelia chuckled as she walked past.
Derek put his arm over his wife’s shoulders. “Nah, tell him you guys were right again.”
“Honestly, you should have seen it coming,” Kendall said from behind me. “You’re lucky they started with something small. Plans B and C were much more dramatic.”
I turned, glaring down at all my so-called friends. “More dramatic than saying she should give up her life?”
“B involved combustibles,” Kendall shrugged, like that wasn’t an insane thing to say.
“C required at least one international flight, so really, he should be grateful it didn’t come to that either. He probably would have missed the last game,” Derek pointed out.
“What?” They were reaching new levels of delusion with the schemes. “Never mind, I don’t want to know.”
Madi and Amelia shared a sly smile.
“Probably for the best,” Amelia winked.
“It also means we can keep those in case of another emergency,” Madi told Kendall.
“You’re right,” she agreed. “Don’t lose that pilot’s contact information, just in case.”
“In case of––” I shook my head. “No. Never mind.”
“Good boy,” Madi patted my shoulder. "Don't ask questions you don’t want the answers to.”
They were terrifying sometimes.
“Now that the next phase of the plan is in place, what do we do about––” Amelia side-eyed me. “That.”
Was I that?
“Oh, I sent an email around three this morning.” Madi checked her phone. “There should be a response within the next few hours.”
“An email about what?” I asked.
Kendall looked at me like she forgot I was there, then stepped to form a tight circle with the women. As if they could ignore me better if I were out of sight. Two feet away.
“It's best not to ask.” Hartman crossed his arms over his chest.
“It’s scary how efficient they are,” Derek agreed.
“But what is the new phase? These interviews? They were my idea.”
The three women snickered, and I glared at them. “It was.”
“Keep thinking that, sweetie.” Madi waved me off like a silly child.
“It was!” I looked at the guys for support. “I sent the text this morning.”
“Yup,” Kendall winked. “You sure did.”
“Because it was my idea. That I came up with.”
Amelia looped her arm with the two of them. “They’re so cute when they think they’re smart.”
They walked away, and I stood stunned and confused.
“How could they possibly take credit for this?” I asked the guys.
“Again, you don’t want the answer to that,” Derek looked unbothered.
“They’re pretty good at making us think we came up with ideas on our own. Sometimes they admit they masterminded it; sometimes they let us have the win.” Schultz shrugged.
“But they didn’t come up with this. None of them even mentioned Victoria’s accounts to me,” I argued.
“Oh, Josh, you innocent fool. Once they have a plan in place, you won’t even realize it until it’s already done. If anything, they’re giving you a clue to get you to catch up.” Hartman slapped me on the back. “Come on, let’s go find our seats.”
They started walking down the tunnel while I remained frozen. Was I losing my mind? Have they inceptioned me? Would I know if they had?
What about Victoria? Did she know?
“Witches,” I muttered.
“Don’t say that too close to them—it fuels their powers,” Schultz called back.
The East won. It was a grueling game, and the West put up a fight, but the East scored on a breakaway during the third period and stayed on defense after that. We cheered through the entire ceremony, and I was pretty sure none of us would have a voice for our own final game tomorrow.
I caught sight of Victoria, and she was crying, clapping and cheering them on as Piper Pierce lifted the trophy for the first time.
She loved those players, and this game. I wished there were something I could do to help convince her bosses to give her the assignment covering them exclusively, but that wasn’t in my power. If only they could see the passion she had for these moments.
Maybe I could write a reference letter, or ask some of the women to as well. That might help sway the decision. If her company wanted exclusives and information directly from sources, she was their best bet.
“Ready?” Amelia tapped my arm and pointed to where the rest of our group was exiting in the other direction.
“Yeah.” I shot one more glance back at Victoria, wanting to soak her in, even knowing I’d see her soon.
“I can’t believe they pulled that off,” Hartman told Kendall as we exited the arena.
“You could feel the buildup,” she argued. “I could feel their hunger from our seats!”
“Yeah, but that was a once in a lifetime play,” Schultz joined them, but at the same time fans recognized that most of the male athletes were around and started asking for autographs.
Amelia, Madi, and Kendall drifted out of the way as even Derek was surrounded.
He caught my eye and winked. “Still got it.”
I rolled my eyes and smiled down at the little girl staring up at me. “You’re a giant!”
I lowered to one knee, but I was still a bit taller than her. “Nah, I just ate all my vegetables growing up.”
She giggled and held out her tournament-themed teddy bear that wore a miniature of her t-shirt. “Will you sign him, please?”
I smiled at her politeness and quickly obliged.
I signed a few more times before I caught Victoria’s voice and looked around to find her surrounded by her own fans.
She was smiling and taking pictures, and I was relieved to see the Pride women by her.
If things got out of hand, they were well-versed in what to do, so I went back to focus on the teenage boy in front of me.
After about twenty minutes, the crowd dissipated, and I was able to rejoin the guys who were all watching Victoria. She still had one more teen waiting, but seemed completely unbothered.
“This is the first time I’ve seen fans approach her,” I admitted. She was easily recognizable if you were in the sports world, so maybe it just hadn’t happened while I was around.
“It’s not for her journalism,” Madi came to stand next to me.
“It’s not?”
“No, she’s gone viral.”
“With the prank videos?” That didn’t make sense. She didn’t include her face in those.
Kendall leaned forward, past Madi. “Yes, but also the mini-interviews she’s been doing with the players.”
“The fan questions,” Amelia clarified.
“She’s only posted a few, but people are going crazy over the fact that she pulls from the comment section. It’s not just the standard, routine Q and A.”
“Huh,” I hadn’t been on my phone enough to realize how popular it had gotten. Had my idea this morning even been necessary? “How did the predictions video do?”
“Look,” Madi showed me her screen.
There was a one point four under the hearts. “Fourteen hundred?”
Kendall laughed. “You are so social media illiterate.”
“I’m wounded,” I deadpanned. I jumped on from time to time, but my agent had a team that ran my accounts.
“That’s one million four hundred thousand,” Madi explained. “And counting.”
“One million?” I repeated.
“In three hours,” Amelia beamed. “She’s a star.”
I grabbed Madi’s phone and watched the entire video.
Victoria explained she was asking the male athletes their predictions for the women’s finals, then cut to the videos Cambrie recorded.
It was quick and concise. She was gorgeous and comfortable in front of the camera, but it didn’t seem that special.
“I don’t understand,” I admitted. “It’s just the predictions. It’s not flashy or––”
“That’s why people like it. She got all the players in one video, not dragging it out or making people wait,” Madi explained.
“She listens to her followers when they say the format they want.” Kendall agreed. “Plus, she has over a million now. People are calling her the people’s reporter.”
“That’s amazing.” That was more than I had.
“Look,” Madi went back to show Victoria’s account, “every video she’s posted since the first prank gets more and more views than the one before.”
There were about twenty posts, more than I knew about. I really should have checked her account sooner. It had completely changed since our first day.
“Thanks, Victoria!” the final girl waved. “Remember to let Taz know we love him.”
“I will,” she smiled and crossed to where we were waiting. “Hey.” She gave me a hug, and I squeezed her before stepping back.
“You’re a celebrity.”
She blushed. “Hardly. I doubt any of the buzz will last past this tournament.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Madi said with a small grin. “You’re the voice of the people.”
“The people’s reporter,” Kendall corrected.
“I like the voice of the people more,” Amelia jumped in.
“Me too, but you don’t get to come up with your own nickname. The fans decided,” Madi argued.
“Maybe we can leave comments with the voice of the people and see if it catches,” Kendall said to Amelia, who nodded.
“I didn’t realize how much your account has grown,” I admitted. “Congrats.”
“Thanks.” She looked around. “I didn’t really plan on this, but I had to take advantage of a great situation when I got the messages about the pranks.”
“Did you ever find out who was behind those?” Madi asked.
“No, maybe they’ll reveal themselves after the tournament is over,” Victoria shrugged. “We’ll see.”
“My money is still on one of the coaches,” Hartman cut in. “They’re the only ones with all the access needed.”
“And the excuse of being so early to practice and games,” Derek eyed his wife. “Or a team trainer.”
Amelia put her hands up. “I know better than to start a war I can’t finish.”
“Well, whoever it is, I want to thank them.” Victoria smiled. “It’s made this week much more interesting.”
“Just the pranks?” I teased, and she laughed as I leaned in and pressed a kiss to her temple.
“Let’s hurry and get lunch before you guys have to get to practice,” Kendall stepped forward. “I made a reservation up the street.”
Hartman joined her as they led our group, and Victoria slid her hand into mine. I relished how easy it was. How I didn’t even have to ask. She was a part of our little family now.
I just didn’t know how long it would last.