Chapter 15: The Sponsor

By Thursday afternoon I had eleven million views and no sleep.

I also had a phone with no text from Soren on it.

I had told him not to do me any more favors, and he had taken it literally.

I checked the screen anyway, between lessons, with my back to the boards.

The after-school class was twelve kids in rental skates. I had them in a line, practicing how to fall down on purpose.

"Knees first," I said. "Then hands. You don't fight the ice. You go with it."

The side door banged open.

Brady stood in the doorway in a gray hoodie with the hood up.

He had not shaved, and his eyes were red.

There were no cameras, no agent and no roses.

Every parent along the boards looked up from a phone.

"Keep falling, guys," I said. "Ten more."

The kids kept falling.

I skated over to the gate, close enough to talk, and far enough that he could not touch me.

"You're not allowed in here," I said.

"I know."

"Then why are you in here?"

"Because you went live and my phone hasn't stopped."

His voice came out scraped.

"The drink company is gone. Two more called this morning, and the league office wants a meeting."

He swallowed.

"Hanna, I'm going to lose the extension."

"That sounds like a conversation for the team."

"They're not talking to me. They're talking to Cass's agency."

He pushed the hood back.

"She sent my agent a draft this morning. It says I was a man under pressure and she only managed me."

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