Chapter Twenty-Seven

Game day and Allison was taking it all in.

In the middle of her pregame cheers with the squad, Allison lifted her chin and scanned the crowded stadium. Screaming fans, hawking vendors, the band, the TV crews on the sidelines reporting on the action, and the planes soaring overhead gave new meaning to the phrase, “I can’t hear myself think.” Allison always thought the noise in the stands was deafening, but it was nothing compared to the decibel level on the field—and the home team hadn’t even made an appearance yet.

Allison shivered with excitement. Brittany was right. Despite the goose bumps covering her arms, she felt more excited than nervous. She never would have pegged Brittany for the sentimental type, pretending to have laryngitis just so Allison could be on the field during Tony’s first game. She made a mental note to treat Brittany to lunch at Old Smoky’s one day soon.

Waving her shimmery silver pom-poms in the air, even Allison would admit she looked gorgeous in her blue and white cheer costume. This was her first day as a bona fide Barracudas cheerleader—and likely her last—but it was okay. Even though the urge she once had to be a cheerleader was out of her system, this was kind of fun.

The crowd roared when the Barracudas offense jogged onto the field. Her eyes widened as she turned her attention to the fifty-yard line and spotted her favorite quarterback. She thought she saw Tony searching the cheer squad to locate her, so she shook a pom-pom in the air, but he didn’t see her. Pretty hard to stand out in a crowd of pom-pom-waving cheerleaders.

She leaned backward and shouted to her partner behind her so he could hear her above the crowd. “Mark! Lift me up!”

“Now?”

“I know it’s not part of the routine, but please?”

Mark shrugged and lifted Allison on his shoulders. “Stand up,” he ordered. Her eyes widened with fear as she clutched her pom-poms while setting a foot on each of Mark’s shoulders. Standing nearly twelve feet high, she felt herself wobbling and prayed she wouldn’t fall. Oh God. Not now! Please not now.

She could hear Tony’s voice in her head telling her to focus, concentrate on her core, maintain her balance. She drew a breath and steadied herself.

Next time Tony looked in her direction, she shouted his name and waved a pom-pom. When his eyes locked with hers, she felt such a deep emotional connection to him. He briefly pointed at her and waved back before getting into formation on the line of scrimmage.

»»•««

As the game progressed, Allison kept forgetting to cheer. She was all about the routine when the Barracudas were on defense. But when they were playing offense and her man was center stage, she fell into spectator mode instead.

Tony was having a career day. His arm was strong and his throws were accurate and he was calling plays like a pro. By the fourth quarter, he’d thrown three touchdown passes and ran a quarterback sneak play into the end zone.

Every time his team scored a touchdown, Tony grabbed a football, ran toward the stands, and handed it to a youngster, the way some of the big league quarterbacks do. The crowd went absolutely wild, and Allison got chills when she saw him winning over fans. This game seemed like a turning point for him and she felt so lucky to be witnessing it firsthand. He had worked so hard to come back from adversity since last season, to overcome negative perceptions, along with his own personal demons.

Despite Tony’s stellar performance, his team was on the losing side. The Barracudas’ kicker missed the extra point twice and the defense allowed the Cheetahs to score three touchdowns and two field goals. With less than a minute to go in the game, the score was 27 to 26 with one time-out remaining on each side.

Allison stepped out of cheer formation so she could get a better view of the field. Being cheerleader for a day was awesome, but right now, her focus was on the line of scrimmage. She watched the center snap the ball. Tony danced around looking for an open man in the end zone. A Cheetahs linebacker was coming up on his blindside. Allison gasped. Don’t get sacked. Don’t get sacked. He was forced to throw a short pass to his tight-end for a gain of eight yards.

The team marched closer to the goal. Another short pass. Another six yards, enough for a first down.

The suspense was excruciating.

They were now less than thirty yards away from the end zone and Allison could hear the crowd yelling for a field goal. Everyone in the stadium wondered why Coach Fairchild wasn’t calling for the kicker, including Allison. The coach probably didn’t trust the guy after he missed those extra points. Then she saw Tony glance over to the sidelines as if he too was expecting the call, but the coach was sticking with him, showing faith in his quarterback with twenty seconds to go.

Allison held her breath as the team got into position at the line of scrimmage once again. They were near enough to her side of the field that she could hear Tony shout out the play. He caught the snap, took a few short steps backward, then stunned the defense by cutting through the middle and barreling into the end zone with no time left on the clock. Touchdown!

Allison jumped up and down and instinctively shook her pom-poms in the air. While the players celebrated on the field, Tony grabbed a football and rushed past the line of cheerleaders to hand the ball to a child in the stands behind her. He pulled off his helmet as he turned back around. When he spotted Allison, he took three steps toward her and lifted her in the air.

A female TV reporter had pushed through the crowds toward them, holding a microphone in one hand and pulling her cameraman behind her with the other. “What an incredible end to an exciting game,” she said in a hoarse voice that sounded like she’d been screaming all game. “Let’s see if we can get a comment from the Barracudas’ quarterback Tony Ramos. Tony?”

But Tony was busy kissing his girlfriend. With his arms still around her, he shouted, “We did it, Allie. We won!”

“I know. I’m so happy for you,” she said, laughing with joy.

“No, not me, babe. We. You and me. We did it. We did it!”

The reporter pushed herself in between them and shouted into her mic. “If I can drag you away from the cheerleaders for a minute, the world is waiting to hear from you, Tony Ramos. That was one of the most exciting games we’ve seen at EFU in a year. How important was this win to you personally and to the team?”

Tony took the microphone from the reporter, but kept his eyes on Allison. “First of all, this isn’t just some cheerleader.” With his free hand, he touched Allison’s cheek. “This is Allison Martin, the love of my life.” He turned back to the reporter. “And my name is Russo. Tony Russo.”

The reporter looked at him quizzically. “Yeah, Russo, as in my grandmother, Barbara Russo, the strongest woman I know.” He faced the camera and touched two fingers to his lips. Holding them up, he said, “Love you, Mamma.”

When fans began chanting, “Toh-nee. Toh-nee. Toh-nee,” Tony smiled broadly and waved at the crowd.

Allison felt herself choking up. She knew she’d never forget this moment for as long as she lives. Who knew the best day of her life would be spent at a football game?