Chapter Ten

Tony had just finished working out and working off some steam. The resentment he felt in the pit of his stomach would not go away. After proving he was more than capable of leading his team to victory, he was relegated to playing second fiddle to Matt Warner, a transfer from some Christian junior college whose football team was a joke. The guy wasn’t even officially starting his Junior year at EFU until the fall and he’d already won the starting quarterback job. It took Tony a year and a half to win that role. It took him only a day to lose it.

Okay, so the workout clearly didn’t calm his nerves, but maybe seeing Allison would. He knew Brittany was giving Allison a lesson right now, so after showering, he waited for her outside the gym. He peered through the window in the door and caught sight of two blonde heads on a bench. His senses were instantly awakened and he found himself eager to gaze into Allison’s Caribbean blue eyes, touch her ethereal blonde hair, to drink in her shapely body, and inhale her strawberry essence.

When she exited the gym, she was clearly surprised to see him.

“How did it go?” he asked.

“Uh. A little better,” she said, tucking a hair behind her ear.

“Good!” He clasped her shoulder. “See, I told you you’d get better with practice.”

She looked at his hand on her shoulder, then at his face. “You know, you don’t need to feel responsible for me. It’s not necessary to check up on how I’m doin’.”

Tony swallowed hard and dropped his hand to his side. Seemed like she was telling him she didn’t want him around. “I know. I just—I was just being friendly.”

“Oh.” She blushed. “I guess I’m out of practice with that too.”

Not ready to give up yet, he asked, “Where you headed?”

“To my dorm. I need to change for work. I’m on the four to ten shift.”

“Okay if I walk you?”

“I guess.” She tucked the same strand of hair behind her ear again. Tony smiled from ear to ear, relieved that she didn’t say no this time. He tugged on the strap of her backpack, silently offering to carry it for her.

“Afraid I’ll drop it,” she jokingly asked.

He shook his head no. “Just trying to be a gentleman.”

She nodded and allowed him to slide the backpack off her shoulder. He tucked it under one arm like a football.

As they walked through the double doors that led to the path from the sports complex to the main campus, Tony stroked his chin, struggling to find something to talk about. The bright Florida sun gave him an idea. “Hot out, huh?”

“Yeah well. It’s June and this is Florida—”

Come on Tony, you can come up with something more interesting than the weather. “You’re majoring in Psychology, huh?”

“Yeah, major in psych, minor in Spanish. Say, you speak Spanish, right?” she asked.

“Me? No, why?”

“Well, you’re Hispanic, aren’t you?”

“Half. Father was Cuban, but I never met him. I grew up with my mom’s side of the family. They’re Italian.” He laughed a little. “And before you ask, I know very little Italian.”

She cocked her head. “Did you say you never met your dad? Did he die?”

“No,” Tony answered, looking down at the bricks on the pathway between buildings. “I mean, I don’t think so. My dad was deported before I was born.”

“Deported? Why?”

“Something illegal.” When Allison’s eyes widened, he quickly added, “I don’t mean he killed nobody. Nothing like that. From what my grandmother told me, it had to do with drugs. Either possession or selling. Not for nothing, the story changed every time she told it, so I’m not sure what the truth was. Sometimes I think he took off on my mom just like she took off on me.”

“Your mother left you?”

Tony stared straight ahead as they walked. “Geez, I’m talking way too much. I don’t usually tell people this stuff.”

“It’s okay.” She touched his arm all too briefly. “I’m a good listener.”

Her sweet expression was so disarming. And that little touch felt like a big deal to him. It made him wish the walk to her dorm was much longer. “So are you gonna psychoanalyze people?”

With a small laugh, she said, “Not the way you mean, like an office with a couch. I’m studying educational psychology.”

“What’s that?”

“It has to do with how people learn, starting in childhood.”

His brow knit and he hoped she didn’t think he was stupid. “Where do people do that kind of work?”

“In schools and universities,” she explained. “Or the government, or even private corporations. There’s lots of options. I haven’t decided which one I want to take. But we were talking about you. And your parents. So you never met your father?”

Hmmm. Tony was actually pleased she turned the conversation back to him. Could be she’s interested after all. “No, never. He probably wasn’t much older than I am now. My grandmother—that’s who raised me—she says she knew he was trouble the minute she saw him, but my mother was always drawn to bad boys.”

There was a lull in the conversation that made Tony regret mentioning bad boys to someone like Allison. He searched his brain for a segue, but she beat him to it. “Are you still close with your grandmother?”

“Yeah, I guess. She’s the only person in my life who ever really gave a damn. If she didn’t push me, I wouldn’t be in college, and I wouldn’t ’ve gotten a scholarship. Her and my high school coach are the only two people who ever believed in me.” He sighed. “Sometimes, I think they wasted their time.”

“Don’t say that. I’m sure that’s not true.”

Tony stopped and looked at Allison, surprised by her kind remark. Allison’s cheeks reddened and she pressed her lips together. Silence fell between them again as they continued their leisurely walk to the main campus.

“Uh. You in a sorority?”

“Me? No. I rushed one or two in my freshman year but didn’t get in. Told you I never get into anything on the first try.” She laughed, even though her comment wasn’t funny. “The sorority sisters told me I just didn’t have it.” She hooked her fingers into air quotes when she used the word it. “Whatever it is.”

Tony searched his mind for something else to talk about. “So what about your family,” he asked.

“What about ’em?”

He was clearly going to have to work a little harder to get her to open up to him. “Well, your accent sounds like you’re from the south.”

She looked askance at him and gave him a sweet smile. “What accent?” She lightly hit his arm with the back of her hand to let him know she was joking. That was the second time she initiated a touch during their stroll and this one had quite an effect. The touch, her charming accent, and her sweet smile resulted in an unexpected erection. Down boy, he said to himself. She’s not that kind of girl—at least he didn’t think she was.

“I’m from a suburb of Atlanta called Dunwoody. Ever hear of it?”

Tony shook his head no and tried to focus on something unpleasant. “Um there are tons of good schools in Georgia. Why’d you decide on a Florida school?”

“To get away from my mother.”

Ah. The mother. Now we’re getting somewhere. “Guessing you don’t have a great relationship with your mom.”

Allison merely shrugged, but that wasn’t good enough for Tony. He had opened up to her in a way he never had to someone he hardly knew. He wanted to know more about her, so he tried a provocative question. “Bet she’d hate it if she knew her daughter was hanging out with a guy like me.”

Allison nearly gasped. “Oh my God, she’d—” Allison’s words trailed off and her demeanor softened. “Actually, I think she’d be surprised that a guy like you would even talk to a girl like me. Guys like you aren’t usually nice to me.”

He was surprised by Allison’s response. He was trying to get her to think of him as boyfriend material, but Allison didn’t seem to pick up on that.

Before Tony could think of a response, Allison continued. “Anyways, I don’t mean to make my mom sound like a wicked witch or anythin’. She’s okay I guess. I just never gelled with her the way my sister did. They were two peas in a pod. You shoulda seen them do cheers together. I’d be sittin’ on the bed with my legs crossed—I shared a room with my sister—and the two of them would be puttin’ on a show like it was the big game, you know?”

“Your mother did cheer routines?”

“Didn’t I tell you? She was a cheerleader in high school and college and she was absolutely fabulous. Just ask her,” Allison said sarcastically.

“So, are you trying to follow in her footsteps?”

Allison stopped and faced Tony. “No. No, of course not.” She shook her head vehemently and started walking again.

Catching up to her, he reached for her arm and held it. “You mentioned they did cheers and you watched. Why didn’t you do the cheers with them?”

“I tried to. I mean, I’d get off the bed and start doin’ the routine with them, but surprise surprise, I have no coordination and I’d just mess up their fine-tuned performance.” She paused before adding, “They used to laugh at me. Same way you did.”

Tony felt an ache in his gut. Her reaction to his laughing at her finally made sense. He rubbed his hand up and down her arm. “Oh God. Allie, I’m sorry. I had no idea.”

“I know. It’s okay. You don’t know someone until you know someone. You know?”

Tony nodded. “So what’d you do when they laughed?”

“I laughed too. Well, I pretended to. The two of them thought it was this fun, close, family moment, but it tore me up.”

“Did you ever tell them how it made you feel?”

“I’m not sure they’d care. And I didn’t want them knowin’ how hurt I felt. I was dyin’ on the inside and laughin’ on the outside.”

Processing the information, Tony muttered, “So instead of encouraging you and helping you, your mom basically validated the idea that you were uncoordinated.” Sight unseen, he already hated Allison’s mother.

“It’s not an idea, Tony. It’s a fact. I am uncoordinated.” She stopped walking. “We’re here. This is my dorm.”

Tony briefly glanced at the building entrance and let his hand drop to his side. The walk might be over, but he wasn’t finished. “I’m not so sure about that.” Tony faced Allison. “I think it’s just a matter of gaining confidence.” When she gave him a skeptical look, he added, “I’m speaking from experience. Look, I had no confidence until my grandmother pushed and my high school coach shoved. If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t of had the confidence to keep trying. Everyone needs someone to believe in them, Allison.”

Allison looked down at her feet. “Maybe, someday I’ll have someone like that in my life.”

He touched her chin and quietly told her, “You already do.” She looked up into his eyes and he felt the urge to kiss her grow stronger. Something told him he’d only scare her away, so he broke the gaze and took a step back. Focusing on a tree on the path, he mumbled, “I have an idea.” He looked at her again. “Would you meet me after practice tomorrow night?”

“Why?”

“You’ll see… On second thought, why don’t you come to practice? Or are you working?”

“No, I’m off tomorrow, but—”

“No buts,” he interrupted with a sly smile. He slid her backpack onto her shoulder. “And no more questions. Just come. I’ll leave your name at the VIP ticket booth.”