Free Scrimmage Gone South (Crimson Romance) by Alicia Hunter Pace Page B

you.”
    “Oh, Miss Tolly, I can’t — ”
    “Hush, Kirby. If you were going to be where no one was going to take care of you, you might as well have gone to Ohio. I’m going to screw up. So are you. But we’re also going to figure this out.”
    “Yes, ma’am.”
    “Is there anything else that you need immediately? Anything we need to get tonight?”
    “No. Only — ” His eyes wandered to the rah-rah paraphernalia on the sofa. “I just want to say that I know you didn’t used to go to games and I didn’t expect it. But it means a lot that you got that stuff.” He gestured to the pile of blue and gold. “I’m glad you’re going to come and see me play — that there’ll be somebody there for me like the other guys, you know. Wearing that shirt and all.”
    Oh, no. Anything but that. Anything.
    “Kirby, I — ” But she couldn’t say it, couldn’t look into his eyes and tell him he was mistaken, that she would not be coming to watch him play.
    “Yes?” He smiled a sweet smile and he wasn’t embarrassed at all anymore.
    “Uh … I know I’m not your mother. Not your grandmother. But is there anything else that the other guys’ moms do? Other than go to the games and make cookies?”
    “Well. You probably can’t do this because you have to be at work but lots of parents come to the pep rallies.”
    She took out her iPhone. “And that’s when?”
    “Fridays at 2:15.”
    She punched it in. “I’ll be there if I’m not in court.”
    “Really?”
    “Really. What do the other guys’ moms wear to pep rallies?” His eyes drifted to the shirt. Well, of course.
    Not only was she was going to a football game, she was going to a pep rally. And she was going tricked out like the biggest supporter who’d ever lived.
    Fabulous.
    “Come on.” She stood up. “Let’s do our errands and get some dinner so you can do your homework. You’re probably already behind on
The Great Gatsby
.”
    • • •
    After parking at the high school, Tolly threw her blazer in the backseat and jerked the rah-rah shirt on over her silk blouse. Because she always wanted to know exactly what was going to happen to her, she had thoroughly interrogated Kirby about what would go on at this pep rally. According to him, there would be a section of bleachers in the gym reserved for parents — who would be mostly mothers — and, though this part was not dictated, the band parents always sat at the top, the cheerleaders’ parents in the middle, with players’ parents — where Tolly would sit — in front. For the first ten minutes, the band would play and the cheerleaders and majorettes would dance. Kirby wasn’t sure what else went on before he made his entrance with the team.
    She was late, but if she hurried, she’d make it before the team came in. The band was playing “Mr. Touchdown” and Tolly looked past the dancing cheerleaders to the section of rah-rah shirts. Sondra Bowman waved and motioned for the other women to move closer together to make room for Tolly.
    “Thanks, Sondra. I had a client who would not leave.”
    “No problem.” Sondra was a pretty woman with dark amber skin and a friendly smile. Her son, Marcus, played left guard and it was his primary job to protect the quarterback — Kirby — after the ball was snapped. “Glad to see you here. You’re a good woman for what you’re doing for that boy.”
    “Not really,” Tolly said. “Kirby is the good one. No trouble at all.”
    Sondra laughed. “There hasn’t been a teenage boy invented who’s not trouble of some kind. But Kirby is a sweet boy. I’ll grant you that. He and Marcus have played together in their same positions since seventh grade and Kirby always thanks Marcus for protecting him. Look.” Sondra pointed to the north door. “Here they come.”
    Nathan stepped inside first and the band shifted into the Bobcat fight song. As cheers emanated from the crowd, Nathan made his way across the gym with the assistant coaches behind