Page 87 of Shape Of My Heart
“That’s all,” she decided to say. “I was just thinking about it all and it made me feelantsy.”
“Come here.” He pulled her into his chest and held her. “I’m sorry that happened to you. You deservedbetter,baby.”
He kissed her forehead and she rested her head on his chest as he lay back, holding her. She listened to the rapid beat of his heart and heard it slow down as he drifted off to sleepagain.
Amy willed herself to sleep but she was still aware andawake.
All she kept thinking was that if she wasn’t careful, she’d end up exactly like hermother.
Or probablyworse.
* * *
It was like déjà vu.Josh stood next to Corey as the national anthem played, signaling the start of the new footballseason.
With his hand on his heart, Josh took a moment to appreciate being here. He made it. He made it and he was happy to be here. Happy and honored to join the Gladiators again and be the ManciniMachine.
He smiled to himself as warmth rushed over him and he thought of how proud his mother and Clarissa would be. He carried their memories and his love for them in his heart, carried them in his soul where they wouldalwaysbe.
Josh looked ahead at the crowd of fans and fixed his gaze on his father, Pete, and his beautiful Amy. They were in the front row looking on at him with pride andhappiness.
Amy smiled at him and he hoped that she could see him smiling too. He knew she didn’t tell him everything earlier, and it seemed to be something she found difficult to talk about. That was why he stopped insisting and hoped she would tell him when she felt like shecould.
He was so happy she was here and that she’d come back, and he couldn’t wait for this season to end so he could spend all his time with her. What she’d told him about her father really got to him and he was starting to get the impression that she didn’t have the best childhood. He felt that she’d gone through a lot and was one of those people who had to struggle to get to where they wanted to be. Josh had plans for them, and he wanted to make sure he did all he could to make her happy. Shedeservedit.
He turned his attention back to the game as the anthem finished. Time to focus and play. The team moved with one mind and like one body. It was time to be a part ofthatnow.
As the game kicked off, Josh had no trouble putting his mind in the zone, and by the end of the third quarter the score was thirty to twenty-five. The Centaurs were doing their best, but of course the Gladiators were in the lead. It was a crucial time, though, because the game could go both ways depending on which team scored the nexttouchdown.
Josh signaled to Gage as they got back on the field for the last quarter ofthegame.
“HeyMontgomery.”
“Yes, old man?” Gage smiled as he came closertohim.
“That pansy ass receiver over there needs to know who’s boss.” Josh motioned to the Centaurs’ receiver, who was medium height and stocky like a pit bull. He’d zoned in on Gage several times and tried to trip him up at least fourtimes.
“What do you have in mind?” Gage smiled withmischief.
“Let’s make him our bitch so he won’t try that shit again,” Josh said with a firm nod. Gage laughed and bumpedhisfist.
The receiver was a distraction and hadn’t done anything he was supposed to during the whole time they played. Their coach must have set him on Gage to slowhimdown.
As the game began again and the ball was passed around, Josh saw the receiver going in for Gage when he gottheball.
Gage didn’t have to communicate with Josh to tell him he was going to pass the ball to him. It was like telepathy, the mental bond they developed from years of playingtogether.
When Gage ran forward making it look like he was heading for the finish line to score the touchdown, Josh knew different when he watched him lift hisarmsup.
As Gage launched the ball backwards, over his head, Josh was right there to catch it. He was also right there to do a little distraction of his own as Gage lunged himself out of the way of the receiver so that he would crashintoJosh.
The idiot couldn’t even stop himself. The guy collided straight into Josh, knocking himself backwards from the impact. Josh, however, was still standing up, as if he hadn’t been rammed into by a two-hundred-pound muscle freak. Thank God for the body he had. His muscles and height balanced him out perfectly, unlike his dumb friend on theground.
The momentary debacle and confusion was the perfect distraction and Josh simply threw the ball back to Gage, who was now well in the clear of anyone who thought they had achance.
Josh smiled knowing they had this game in the palm of their hands as he watched Gage take off, lightning speed down the field. As the receiver tried to get up, Josh put his foot on hischest.
“Stay down, bitch, and look ahead, that’s how you win a game like a real man,” Joshbalked.
