Jaz has been secretly posting videos on social media, thanks to Aurora who handed over the passwords. Turns out, Leo’s flirtatious ways have come in handy by giving us an ally in the front office. She even secretly dropped hints to some of our fan accounts, and now they’re spreading viral messages urging fans to show up tonight.
Our super-fans have become our squeaky wheel on the internet, the best free advertising for igniting a hockeyrevolution.
Vale glances up from his phone, his face in shock. “Brax, you didn’t tell me you made a video.”
“Brax made a video?” Dawson jumps the bench to watch it over Vale’s shoulder, along with Lucian, Tate, and Leo.
“Wait, is that the kid from the elementary school we visited?” Lucian asks.
“Yep, that’s Ethan,” I say. “I told him the team needed his help to promote this cool thing we were doing to raise funds for charity. He even decorated his wheelchair.”
“Over two million views,” Vale marvels. “This kid stole the show.”
“That was all Jaz’s doing,” I say. “She got him to talk about his love for the Carolina Crushers. She even gave him a ticket for tonight.”
“But will people give money just because they saw a cute kid?” Leo asks.
Everyone looks at me for an answer. “It’s the best shot we have.”
“Guys, we got the delivery!” Sloan yells as she bursts into the locker room with an enormous box. Jaz follows behind her.
“Wow, Sloan,” Vale says, lifting an eyebrow. “You could at least knock before you barge into the men’s locker room.”
She gives him a wry smile. “What? And miss you without your shirt on?”
Vale is conveniently shirtless and only seems too happy to have Sloan acknowledge it. “Well, we could have had our pants down.”
“That still wouldn’t have stopped me,” she says with a grin.
Vale’s eyebrows shoot up as the others snicker.
“Somebody’s feeling better,” Vale notes with a smirk. “You even dressed up.”
She’s dressed in a short black dress with a swingy skirt, leopard-print heels, and a leather jacket. Her hair hangs loose around her shoulders.
“You look . . .wow,” he says.
Sloan blushes at the compliment. “I feel good. I’ve hardly had any headaches or dizziness lately. I’m not out of the woods, but the doctor says it’s a good sign that the treatment is working.”
I glance over at Jaz, who is blinking back happy tears. She would never cry in front of the guys, but seeing her sister well again means more to her than anything.
As Sloan passes out jerseys, there’s a flurry of noise outside. When Jaz opens the door, my sister, Mia, stands in the hallway.
“Surprise!” she yells, lifting her arms in the air.
Jaz practically knocks her over with a ferocious hug full of laughter and happy shouts.
Jaz turns to her with a bewildered look. “I thought you weren’t coming.”
“I didn’t want to ruin the surprise!” Mia beams as she loops her arm through Jaz’s. “When Brax invited me, I told Jace there was only one choice: to be here to support you.”
“Hey, what about us?” Vale asks. “Don’t I get a hug?” He opens his arms to his sister.
“Only if it’s gentle,” she warns.
Vale gives me an evil look. “Time for a MacPherson sandwich?”
I give Vale the signal, and we sandwich Mia in a hug from two sides.