Page 53 of Trophy
He wanted to be with her in any way she would allow. But he’d be lying if he said he wanted things to stay like they were forever.
He wanted them to really be together. He wanted everyone to know it. He wanted her to stop holding back parts of herself. Butit wouldn’t be fair of him to dump all that on her, since they’d agreed to a certain arrangement.
Things were moving in the right direction. He could be happy about that.
As always, the sidewalks and streets got more and more crowded as they approached the high school. Rob put a hand on Allison’s back to keep her beside him as they made their way through the crowds, and she didn’t pull away. In fact, she moved closer to him, occasionally taking his arm when they were crossing a street or entering the football field.
“I had no idea there were this many people in town,” she said when he’d steered them over to where Keith and Martha were holding their seats.
“It does look like a lot, when they’re all gathered together.” He checked her face. “You okay?”
“Of course.” She smiled at him. “It feels like everyone is staring at us, but I’m sure that’s just my imagination.”
“Definitely just your imagination.” Despite his words, he recognized that a lot of people were watching them as they walked partway down the field and then up the steps to where Keith and Martha were waving at them. He could see interest and curiosity on a lot of faces, and he knew there would be talk about the two of them.
He hadn’t dated anyone in a while—definitely not in the three months since Allison had moved in across the street. The news would travel fast.
He really hoped she would be okay with it. Maybe he should have suggested something else for their first outing.
Everything seemed to go smoothly as they took their seats, greeted Keith and Martha, and introduced Allison to the kids. Mitch came a few minutes later and immediately started telling Allison about his suggestions for improving the menu at Dora’s, which took her attention for several minutes.
While she was distracted, Keith leaned over to say to Rob, “This doesn’t count as a date. It’s a group thing. Don’t even think about claiming our bet.”
Rob had actually forgotten about that stupid bet he’d made ages ago, and he aimed his friend a cool glare. “Shut up about that.”
He didn’t want anyone to hear about that bet. He definitely didn’t want Allison to hear.
Keith gave him a light punch on the arm. “Good going, though, West. Didn’t think you’d get this far.”
Rob knew Keith was joking the way they always had, but he felt strangely uncomfortable about it. He wasn’t even sure why. He’d always joked about women with his buddies. There was no reason Allison should be different.
He turned his head to look at her and saw her smiling rather bemusedly at Mitch, who was still rambling on about what needed to be added to the menu. Even in the crowded stands she stood out. No one was as beautiful and elegant and poised as she was. And more than that—she was so brave and gentle and sweet. He couldn’t believe she was really here with him.
Pretty soon the activities began. There were a couple of routines by the cheerleaders. Then a few short speeches and explanations. Then a short scrimmage by the football team. Then a couple of numbers by the school band. Then more cheers and a couple of concluding speeches.
Rob enjoyed it all well enough, but he was preoccupied with making sure Allison was having a good time. She’d probably never been to something like this before, and she obviously didn’t know football, because she kept asking him questions during the game. But her face was relaxed, and her posture seemed natural, and he didn’t see anything on her face that worried him.
He was feeling better as the event wrapped up. Things had gone fine. He’d been worrying about nothing. Allison wasn’t about to retreat from him. A step forward wasn’t necessarily followed by two steps back.
When everyone was dismissed and people started pouring down the steps to get out, Rob said, “Let’s wait a few minutes until some of the crowd clears out.”
“Sounds good to me.” She smiled up at him and then, to his pleasure, leaned over so her arm was rubbing against his slightly. “Should we try to say hi to Cali? Would we even be able to find her?”
“We can give it a shot. That would be nice.” He was relaxing now, feeling a lot better, more pleased than ever because she genuinely wanted to make an effort with the girl, even though she had absolutely no reason to.
Martha was busy trying to corral her kids, but Keith was still sitting lazily and finishing a soda. He would have been drinking a beer and smoking a cigarette, but he wasn’t allowed to on school property.
“Was football a big thing at your high school?” Keith asked Allison.
“No,” she replied, pushing her hair back behind her ears. “It wasn’t. Soccer was the big sport for us.”
Keith nodded slowly and put down his empty can. “Where did you go to school?”
“A private school in Charlotte. It was very… snooty.”
“You’d think they would have done football, then,” Keith said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Allison smiled. “Who knows what they were thinking?”
