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"Brooke." I hear Coach Bennett's gruff voice come across the aisle next to me.

"Yes," I squeak, having jumped when he spoke.

"You're not in trouble." He chuckles to himself like it's an inside joke.

"Um, good." I frown and look to Cami for confirmation that it's a good thing he's laughing.

"I have to start every conversation like that." He laughs it off. "Don't worry."

I nod at him, but I am, in fact, very worried.

"I wanted to check in on how The Drop is going?" he asks.

"Oh," I say, genuinely surprised that he's interested in hearing it from me. I know my professor has been updating him. "It's going great. We sell out every drop we've done. I've even upped the supply for this one and the next."

"The football team did well, too?"

"All the jerseys went quickly, and we increased our followers by using the footballers." I pull out my phone to show him the Instagram, leaning across the aisle to pass it to him. "I'm planning another football drop to coincide with the Super Bowl."

"Well, I'm impressed," he says, sitting back. "What's the plan at the rink for this one?"

"I want the crowd, so I'm borrowing Clark and Ryan to model pre- and post-game.” Both boys are injured, so they can't play today.

"I like it." He nods. "Do you need any of the other boys for post-game?"

"I was trying to avoid it in case it messes with your plans," I say hesitantly.

"Take 'em if you need 'em." He nods at me again and hands my phone back. "I mean it. I'm impressed by this, Brooke. I'll make sure I feed it back."

"Thanks, Coach,"

He faces back to the front, and Cami punches my arm.

"Ow," I hiss, rubbing the now sore spot where she hit me.

"You're killing it," she hisses back. "I want to be you when I grow up." She sighs dreamily, and I laugh.

I feel less nervous; it's all going to be okay.

1 hour later

"What do you mean, my bags are not here?"

We are standing in the lobby of the Redwood Raiders hockey rink, and I'm on the verge of a meltdown.

"I saw it come off the bus, I swear." The equipment manager, Andrew, reassures me. "It arrived here, but now it's missing."

"I'm going to throw up." I cover my mouth, and he steps away from me like I might hurl.

"No, no, it's going to be fine." Cami is straight on calm-Brooke-down mode; she moves me back to sit on the lounge chairs that are dotted around for people to relax in.

I'm not relaxed, nor do I find it relaxing. I'm the opposite. What's the opposite of relaxing?

I'm so panicked, my brain is melting.

"Cami, I have to go live two hours after the game to meet the shipping deadline before Christmas." I run my hand through my hair. "I never should have risked leaving it this late."

"We've got one hour before the game. There's got to be something open around here." Cami pulls her phone out.