Page 54 of Trophy
“You should have seen old Rob on the field in his day.”
Turning to him in surprise, Allison asked, “You played football?”
Before Rob could reply, Keith snorted, “You mean he hasn’t trucked out all his old trophies to impress you? He played football and baseball and ran track. He thought he was a real superstar.”
Rob shook his head and murmured to Allison, “It was a small school in a very small town. A lot of kids did multiple sports.”
“You didn’t want to continue in sports, then?” she asked.
He gave a half shrug. “I wasn’t good enough. I played some in college, but it wasn’t a very good team.”
“Don’t listen to him. He was pretty good. Tell him to show you his trophies,” Keith said lazily.
“Would you shut up?” Rob told him. He turned back to Allison. “I wasn’t good enough to really do something with it. I’m better off doing what I do.”
The crowds were clearing out now, and Rob spotted a little blonde coming up the steps toward them in a cheerleading outfit.
“There’s Cali,” Allison said, waving at the girl with a welcoming smile.
Cali waved back, but her face was sober as she approached them.
“You were great out there,” Rob said. “You’re the best on the squad, aren’t you?”
She shrugged. “Maybe. I don’t know.” She looked from one of them to the other. “Thanks for coming, but y’all might want to get scootin’ now. Mom’s been drinking and she saw you here together. She’s not a happy camper.”
Rob felt his stomach drop. Just when things were going so well, Dee would have to show up to ruin it. He could just imagine the scene she would create and how embarrassed and awkward Allison would feel about it.
He met her eyes.
“Do you want to leave?” she murmured.
“It’s not a bad idea, unless you want to?—”
“No. We can go.” She stood up and gave Cali a one-armed hug. “It was great to see you out there, Cali.”
Rob clapped Keith on the back and called goodbyes to Martha and Mitch. Then he took Allison’s arm and guided her down the steps. He kept a sharp lookout for Dee and didn’t see her as they quickly exited the field and then hurried back to the sidewalk, headed for their houses.
“Sorry about that,” Rob muttered, stewing with anger and embarrassment.
“It’s fine. I totally understand why you don’t want to have a public showdown with her. It’s too bad she’s so… difficult.”
Allison didn’t sound upset, but she had to be thinking about what a mess his personal life was, how frustrating it would be if she started to date him and had to put up with an ex-wife like Dee.
Rob wanted to kick himself for hooking up with Dee in the first place. What the hell had he been thinking?
He’d been so sure that a woman who needed him as much as Dee did would never cheat on him and make a fool of him like Maria had.
Dee had never cheated on him, but she’d made a fool of him just the same. Now he was stuck with her, and he’d never be completely rid of her, since they lived in the same small town.
He wanted Allison to think it would be easy and natural to get together with him for real, for her to not see any complications. She had her own messy divorce to deal with. She didn’t need to have his too. There had to be some way to make it clear to Dee that the two of them were completely over.
He stewed about it all the way back to their street, until he remembered he should have been better company to Allison. “Sorry,” he said, rubbing his face and trying to get himselftogether so he could be what she needed. “Didn’t mean to space out on you.”
“It’s fine,” she replied softly. She placed a gentle hand on his chest. “Do you want to talk about it?”
He did want to talk. He wanted to pour out all his troubles and worries and take comfort in her. But that was the last thing he should do. She must already think he was a disaster just waiting to happen. He wasn’t going to let himself feel like a fool again, particularly not with Allison. “I’m fine. It’s really nothing. Just… annoyances.”
She dropped her hand. “Okay.”
