Chapter Twenty-Six

The team had just returned from South Carolina and was in the locker room changing out of their travel clothes. Tony was eager to see Allison. He missed her like crazy, even more than he thought he would. He had one foot on the bench and was tying the laces on his tennis shoes when Coach Ryan’s voice boomed through the locker room. “Ramos! Coach wants to see you in his office. Now!”

Oh great. What did I do now, Tony wondered to himself. He stowed his gear in his locker and slammed it shut. As he passed a dozen teammates, each man patted his back and called out words of encouragement like, “Good luck, Tony” and “Stay strong, Ramos.”

His shoulders slouched as he headed down the corridor toward Coach Fairchild’s office. He was looking at the floor when he heard Allison’s words in his head. “You shouldn’t bow your head in shame ’cause of what you think others think about you. Rise above it. Be proud of the man you are, the man you’re tryin’ to be. You’re an amazin’ guy, Tony, and you have the power to change perceptions.”

Tony took a deep breath and pulled his shoulders back. He lifted his chin, knocked on the door to the coach’s office, and opened the door with confidence. “You wanted to see me, Coach.”

The coach took his eyeglasses off and motioned for Tony to enter and sit in a chair across from his desk. Tony swallowed hard, vowing not to let the coach see he was nervous.

“I hear you’re starting a youth coaching program in your hometown. Madison High in Bradenton, correct?”

“Why? Is that a crime?” Tony asked defensively.

“Not at all. I think it’s admirable.”

His eyes widened with surprise. “You do?”

“Of course. Tell me, Ramos, what made you decide to do that?”

“I…” Tony shifted in his chair for a minute, feeling like he was on the witness stand. Taking a deep breath, he sat up taller, laced his fingers together and looked the coach in the eye. “I just wanted to give back. I had a tough childhood and I could have ended up a drugged-out criminal if it wasn’t for a couple people who believed in me. There’s lotsa kids like me—kids from broken homes who think no one cares and the future don’t matter.” He looked down at his hands for a moment. “I figure if they have someone who believes in them and something that gives them purpose, they might not think their life is hopeless. And if they see I’m just like them and I go to college and play a sport, it might make them think about going to college too.”

The coach smiled, almost inadvertently. “I wish you’d have told me about this plan of yours beforehand.”

Tony was about to get defensive again. What the hell business was it of his anyway? Then he realized maybe the coach was right. Tony signed lots of agreements when he became a Barracuda, having to do with ethical conduct, complying with team rules, making public appearances. He represented the Barracudas, so the team really should know if he’s involved in a community venture. “Sorry, Coach. I probably should have.”

The coach leaned back in his chair. “I’d like to help.”

Tony’s jaw dropped. “For real?”

Nodding once, Coach said, “I’ll talk to the EFU athletic director. I’m sure he’ll want to get team members from our other sports programs involved, donate equipment, help coach the kids, that is, if that’s all right with you.”

“All right with me? Hell yeah!”

“Good. And I’d like to volunteer my time as well. Not now, of course, but in the off-season. And I’d like to see as many of your coaches and teammates getting involved as possible.”

“Wow.” It never occurred to Tony to involve his teammates.

“This could be good press for EFU as well. As you noted, we can use it to promote the college and higher education in general. The boys—”

“And girls,” Tony added.

Coach Fairchild smiled slightly. “The boys and girls will be more likely to stay in school if they have role models like you and our other athletes.”

Tony’s lips formed a smile. The coach had just called him a role model. “Thanks, Coach.” Tony stood up and started walking out of the office when something occurred to him. He turned back around. “Um. How did you hear about this anyway?”

“The young lady you brought to dinner last week. She mentioned it to me.”

“Allison?”

“We had a good conversation.”

Tony squinted at the coach. He felt like there was more to it than he was telling Tony. But rather than probing, he nodded and started to leave again.

“Ramos, one more thing.” Tony turned back around. The coach rose to his feet and said, “You’re starting on Saturday.”

“Starting what?” The coach merely stared at him. Tony’s eyes flashed. “You mean at quarterback?”

“I realize I haven’t been exactly fair to you. You haven’t been late for practice since that day last May, and I hear that incident was a misunderstanding. I know you’ve been practicing hard. I’ve gotten positive feedback from your practice squad and from the coaches. I’ve seen you provide leadership to the team, and you’ve remained positive even though you were benched. You’ve earned your spot back, Ramos. I have faith in you. Now all you have to do is get out there and win.”

Tony approached Coach Fairchild and after a momentary hesitation, he gave the coach a guy hug. “Thanks, Coach. I won’t let you down.”

»»•««

Tony flew out of the coach’s office and rushed down the corridor leading toward the sports complex exit. He couldn’t wait to see Allison. His joy wouldn’t be complete until he shared his news with her.

“Hey, where’s the fire?”

When Tony saw it was Brittany calling to him, he turned around, but continued walking backward down the hall. Smiling from ear to ear, he called out, “I’m starting next Saturday!”

Brittany raised her brows. “Woo hoo!” She raised both hands in the air, then pointed both her index fingers at him. “Go Ramos!”

He wasn’t sure if Brittany’s impromptu cheer was sarcastic or sincere. It was always hard to tell with her, but he laughed anyway and gave her a wave. He turned back around and started jogging down the hall. After a moment, he stopped short, turned and ran back in the direction he just came from. “Brit, hey wait.” Catching up with her, she looked at him quizzically. “You can’t tell Allison,” he said. “If you see her before I do, you can’t tell her I’m starting Saturday.”

“I wasn’t planning on it,” she answered flatly.

“Good, that’s good, ’cause I wanna be the one to tell her.”

Brittany shrugged. “Okay. Whatever.”

Tony nodded and was about to walk away when Brittany said, “You’re really into her, aren’t you?”

Smiling from ear to ear, he nodded. “Oh man. It’s way more than that.”

“Ha! I predicted it at Allison’s first cheer lesson. So you guys are serious about each other?”

“Hell yeah.”

Brittany punched Tony’s arm. “That’s awesome ’cause I’ve never seen you like this.”

“Like what?”

“Head over heels in love.”

He sighed. “It shows, huh?”

She drew an imaginary heart in the air around his head and said, “All. Over. Your. Face.” She poked his chest with her finger, making him laugh. “Seriously, I’m glad for you guys. Maybe someday it’ll happen to me.”

“Thanks Brit, I appreciate it. And I appreciate everything you did to help Allison with tryouts… Shit!”

“What?”

“I never talked to Warner for you. I completely forgot.” Brittany put her hands on her hips and squinted at Tony in mock anger. “Okay, okay,” he said, holding his hands up. “I promise, I’ll talk to him.”

“You better,” Brittany said with a wink. “Hmm.”

“What’s up?”

“Oh, nothing,” she cooed mischievously.

“That look on your face don’t say ‘oh, nothing.’”

“Nothing for you to worry about, handsome.” She gripped his shoulders and turned him in the opposite direction. Giving him a little push, she said, “Now go out there and crush the Cheetahs next Saturday.”

As he headed out of the sports complex, it hit him. He was happy. He was truly happy, and he actually had a lot more people in his corner than he ever thought—his grandmother, Coach Samuels, Coach Fairchild, Philip Mason, his teammates, the guys on the practice squad, Brittany, and of course, Allison. Life was pretty damn good.

»»•««

The last twenty-four hours crept by at a snail’s pace. Being Tony-less was even harder than Allison expected. Even though they spoke a few times while he was away, it wasn’t the same as being together, listening to his breathing in the night, hearing him laugh, inhaling his masculine scent, basking in his caress as he locked her in his arms, feeling his scruff graze her cheek, his lips on hers. Those magnetic eyes drew her in, making her feel loved and admired every time he looked at her. Her thoughts, her feelings, her opinions all mattered to him. With him away, it felt like a part of her was missing. Sure, he’d soon be home, but not nearly soon enough for Allison.

God she’d grown so dependent on him.

She was about to head out for a run around the track to burn off some nervous energy when her phone buzzed. It was her favorite ringtone—the music she and Tony danced to in the nude before cheer finals. She smiled and clicked the answer button. “Hey handsome.”

“Wow, this really is my lucky day.” Tony sounded a bit out of breath, like he was in the middle of some activity while talking to her. “You’re the second girl who called me handsome in the last ten minutes.”

Allison’s brow knit. “Um. Somebody else has good taste?”

“Listen, I’m heading to my dorm. I need to take a quick shower, but I need to see you right away. Where are you?”

“At my place. I was about to go for a run. Should I come over?”

“No, wait for me there, okay? I have to tell you something. I’ll be over in less than fifteen minutes.”

“Oh. Okay. I’ll wait here then.”

Smiling, she held the phone to her chest. In just fifteen minutes he’d be back in her arms. She wandered over to her bedroom window to wait for him so she could see him coming down the path toward her building.

It was a bright, sunny day. The weather app on her phone confirmed it. Sunny with a high of 92 and a low in the low 70s. There was a chance of afternoon thundershowers, same as every September day in Florida.

Staring at the phone screen, she tried not to let it bother her, but she couldn’t stop thinking about how odd and mysterious Tony’s phone call was. What was all that about someone else calling him handsome? She rolled her eyes. Don’t do this Allison. Don’t get jealous all of a sudden. He’s not coming by to break up with you. You and Tony have a good thing going and you know how much he loves you.

Her head jerked up when she heard three sharp knocks at the door. “It’s me,” she heard Tony’s voice from the hallway.

She left her bedroom and, as soon as she opened the door to the suite, he scooped her in his arms and whirled her around. She laughed as he set her on her feet. “What’s—” Before she could finish her question, his lips descended on hers. He held her face in his hands and she felt whole again. Whatever she may have been fretting about a minute ago was gone.

He abruptly broke the kiss. “I’m starting Saturday.”

She looked at him quizzically. “Starting what?”

“The game! Coach is putting me back in as starting quarterback!”

Allison’s lips parted. “Tony! Oh my God!” She threw her arms around him. “That’s the best news ever!”

“I know. I know,” he said, hugging her tight. “And I have you to thank.”

Allison pulled out of his embrace to look at him. “What do you mean?”

“You talked to the coach, right? At Rusty’s. When I came out on the terrace, you were talking to him about me, weren’t you?”

Allison shrugged. She considered playing dumb, but she remembered how angry she got when Tony withheld the truth from her. That was not going to happen to them again. “So, now we’re even,” she admitted.

“Huh?”

“You saved my job by bribin’ Bob with those tickets. Now I saved yours.”

Tony’s eyes widened. “You weren’t supposed to know about the tickets. How did you find out?”

She reached up and ran her fingers through his still-damp hair. Gazing into his eyes, she said, “If we’re gonna be in a long-term relationship, you are gonna have to learn you can’t keep secrets from me.”

He instantly pulled her into his arms. “I’m learning already.” He chuckled.

Allison was still clutching her phone when it buzzed. She pulled away to look at the display. It was a text from Brittany, all lower case letters with no punctuation. “need 2 c u dont tell tony.” Allison’s stomach flipped. What did Brittany want? She looked up at Tony, torn because she just told him that secrets are unacceptable. She glanced at the display. “can I cm ovr?”

Allison texted back. “No. Meet u @ gym 5 min.”

Tony’s brow knit as he watched her. He reached for Allison’s hair. “Something the matter, Nails?”

“Um.” She looked from the phone to Tony. “No, nothin’,” she said, as she slipped her phone in her pocket. “I need to, um, go see a friend for a few minutes. How about if I come to your place after?”

“Okay. I was thinking we could go out and celebrate later.”

“I’d love to celebrate with you.” Allison put her arms around Tony and closed her eyes. Whatever Brittany had to say, she just hoped it wasn’t anything that would interfere with what she and Tony had. They’d come too far to let anything come between them now. She pressed her lips to his cheek. “I love you, Tony. Always.”

»»•««

The gym was empty when Allison arrived. She sat down in the first row of bleacher seats and blew some air between her lips. Glancing at the time on her phone’s display, she felt uneasy, like she shouldn’t even be here. Whatever gossip her cheerleader friend wanted to spread about Tony or whatever she had to say about him didn’t matter. She and Tony had been through so much together. They had supported one another in every way ever since they met. Tony loved her and she loved him and that’s all that mattered.

In fact, she really should have told Tony where she was going. Just because Brittany cautioned her not to say anything wasn’t a good enough reason to keep a secret. She started to text him an explanation when Brittany arrived.

“Hey, thanks for coming.”

Allison turned her phone off and looked up. Brittany looked gorgeous as usual, not a hair on her blonde head out of place, flawless makeup, runway-ready outfit. “Yeah, no problem. What’s up?”

Brittany took a seat beside Allison in the bleachers and began to cough. Allison patted Brittany’s back. “You okay? Need some water?”

Brittany pressed a fist to her mouth and shook her head no. She held her hand up. “I’m fine,” she rasped.

“Really? You don’t sound fine.”

Whispering loudly, Brittany said, “Coming down with laryngitis I think.”

“Oh no! I hope you’ll be okay.”

“Me too. I get these miserable allergies this same time every year.” She held her hand to her throat and widened her eyes. “Look how bloodshot my eyes are.”

Allison leaned forward and squinted. “They look clear to me.”

Brittany looked away. “Eye drops must be working.”

“Um. Okay. So, what’d you wanna see me about?”

“This,” Brittany said, turning back to Allison and pointing at her throat. “If I can’t talk, I can’t cheer. And we can’t go out there with eight guys and only seven girls,” she rasped.

“Uh. Not followin’.”

“You need to take my place on Saturday,” Brittany commanded.

Allison’s eyes grew as large as saucers. “What? No! I couldn’t.”

“Yes, you can and you will. You know the routines. You’ve rehearsed them a million times.”

Allison’s heart rate went from zero to sixty. “Yeah, but not in front of tens of thousands of people!”

“You get over that. You’d be surprised how fast you get caught up in the moment. You’ll see,” Brittany explained.

“No, no, no.” Allison stood up without thinking. “You need to find someone else. Look, Saturday is still days away. You’ll be better by then!”

“I doubt it. I’ve been down this road before.”

Allison looked around the gym, trying to come up with a way out of this. “Are you sure there’s no one else?”

Brittany tugged Allison’s hand, forcing her to take a seat again. “What’s your problem, girl?” Brittany asked. “You wanted to be a cheerleader. You danced your little heart out. There’s a spirit practice tomorrow and you can get back up to speed.”

“Um. I don’t have a uniform.”

Losing patience, Brittany rolled her eyes. “We’ll find one your size in Wardrobe. Come on, Allison. Stop putting up obstacles. This is your big chance.”

She thought a minute and realized Brittany was right. It was only one day, and she’d have the chance to experience what it would be like to be a cheerleader during an actual game—a game her boyfriend was playing in. Instead of being in the stands, she’d be right there on the field with an eye-level view of the action. Yes, she’d be a nervous, but like Brittany said, she’ll get over it. She bit her lip and laughed. “Okay, yes, I’ll do it.”

Brittany shouted “Yay!” and raised her arms in the air.

“Your voice! It’s back!”

“Oh.” Brittany cleared her throat. “Comes and goes, but I can’t take a chance. Doctor says I need to rest my vocal chords.”

Allison squinted at her mentor. Seemed like Brittany’s story was taking on a life all its own. “You went to the doctor?”

Brittany swatted at the air. “A different time.”

Allison nodded. “So, um, how come you didn’t want me tellin’ Tony?”

“I just thought you might want to surprise him,” Brittany said matter-of-factly.

“We don’t keep secrets from each other,” Allison replied, musing more about her ideal world than the real world.

“You guys are nauseatingly cute.” Brittany rolled her eyes. “This isn’t a secret, Al. Surprises are different from secrets. But,” she said with a shrug, “it’s your call.”

“Can I—hmm. Can I ask you somethin’?”

“Sure.”

“Did you and Tony ever—” Her words trailed off, and she immediately regretted raising the subject. If she really wanted to know about their previous relationship, it was Tony she should ask, not Brittany. Still, Tony admitted to being a girl-a-night kind of guy, and Brittany had a similar reputation. It would stand to reason they would have hooked up at some point.

“Does it matter?” Brittany’s tone was so nonchalant that Allison didn’t know how to interpret it. “Lookit, I’ve always liked Tony. He’s real, not fake, you know?” When Allison gave her a look, she said, “Yeah I know. I’m one to talk, right? I’m someone who likes being mysterious. Keeps people guessing. But with Tony, his heart’s on his sleeve.” She cocked her head and looked directly at Allison. “He loves you, Al. What more do you need?”

Allison ignored the fact that Brittany’s voice sounded perfectly normal and healthy again. She took a deep breath and nodded. “You know, you are absolutely right, Brit. I don’t need another thing besides that.”

»»•««

That night, Allison and Tony went to a food festival on Church Street in downtown Orlando. They’d gotten pretty good at scouting out events that offered a student discount. In this instance, admission was free and students paid a reduced price for food at each vendor’s booth. After making their food selections—a cheeseburger for Tony and pizza for Allison—they found a bench on the tree-lined median and ate under an old-fashioned street lamp.

Taking a bite of his burger, Tony rambled excitedly about the upcoming game on Saturday. “I feel like my life depends on the outcome of Saturday’s game. I need to win if I wanna stay a starter. If I’m not a starter for the rest of my college career, my draft chances are pretty slim.”

“You are gonna do so good, Tony. I have faith in you.”

He grasped her hand and kissed it. Smiling warmly at her, he remembered, “That’s what Coach said too. I didn’t tell you that Coach even said he’d help out with the Madison High project during the off season.” He touched her chin, wiping off a little pizza sauce with his thumb. “Did y’all tell him about that too?”

She shrugged and blotted her face with a napkin and smiled coyly. “I might have mentioned it. I just wanted him to see what a great guy you are. I’m glad he knows it now.”

Tony leaned closer. “I only care that you think I’m a great guy.” He kissed her lips. When he leaned away he squinted at her. “Okay, Allie, give it up.”

“Give what up?” she asked, trying to appear wide-eyed and innocent.

“Don’t know, but all night, I’m feeling like there’s something you’re not telling me.”

Allison looked upward and laughed. “How do you know me so well?”

“I pay attention. It’s my job to read the field,” he said flatly. “Now tell me.”

She smiled and bit her lip remembering Brittany’s advice to surprise him on game day. She was growing weary of everyone doling out advice—Brittany, her mother, her professors. She’d wasted years giving credence to all those tidbits of relationship advice her mother liked to spew—Heatherisms, as she and her sister used to call them—when her mother couldn’t even hold onto a man of her own. It was time to cast the Heatherisms and the Brittanyisms aside and trust her own instincts, instincts based on actual personal experience.

Right now, her instincts were telling her that surprising Tony on game day wasn’t a good idea. His head needed to be one hundred percent in the game. “Okay. Okay, so—” She set down the slice of pizza. “So, while you’re on the field playin’ your little football game, I’m gonna be on the sidelines doin’ cheers.”

His brow knit. “Huh?”

“Brittany has laryngitis.” She rolled her eyes. “At least that’s what she told me. I don’t think she’s really sick, but she asked me to sub for her on Saturday and I said yes.”

“Allie! That’s killer!”

“I know. I was hopin’ you’d be happy about it too.”

“Of course I’m happy. That’s the best news since—”

She raised a brow. “Since you got your starting job back?”

He nodded and held up his bottle of pop. “We really do have a lot to celebrate. Here’s to us.”

Allison clinked her bottle against his. “To us.” They each tilted their head back and sucked on their soda bottles. Allison set the bottle down and tucked her legs under her on the bench. “You know, Brittany is a lot nicer than people think. We should try findin’ a guy for her.”

“I tried.”

Allison leaned away a little. “You tried?”

“Yeah, kinda. But the guy isn't into her,” Tony explained. “If you ask me, he’s not her type anyways.”

Allison laughed and rubbed Tony’s thigh. “You never know. Sometimes the best couples are the least likely ones.”

Grasping her hand on his lap, he looked into her eyes. “No argument there.”