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"That sucks"

I slap Ty’s shoulder "So…your grandfather is taking care of everything then?"

Ty rubs the back of his neck, sneaking a peek at me

"No Not exactly He can’t afford it either ’cause he doesn’t get good health insurance, and it’s not like his insurance could cover Mo, so h to take us in I mean, he doesn’t have to help take care of Mo off the ht now And yesterday, I found a job doing dishes for a restaurant on Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays They were nice enough to work around our footbal schedule, but I don’t knohat the hel I’onna do"

"What do you h school, I’h school, I’h et Mom the care she needs at the sae?"

"Woods…I can’t go to col ege"

"You have to go to col ege What about Notre Dame?

You’re NFL material!"

"You don’t think I know that?" Ty says quickly Then he jerks his head, as if he’s mad at himself "I’m sorry…I didn’t mean to say it like that What I e, and I want to play bal , but I can’t just take four years off and leave my sister and mom to fend for themselves Papa doesn’tonYou’l get a scholarship"

"Scholarships don’t put food on the table"

"Then why are you playing bal now? Why aren’t you working ain, caressing it "I love footbalWhen I was a kid, my dad and I would throw a bal around for hours We did that almost every day…up until, wel , you know, the wreck"

"So you just want to play bal ?"

"This season is kind of like et a real job and stop drea"

I squeeze his hand "You knohat I think about dreahtly "What?"

"That if you spend tooAnd when you actual y do stuff, there’s a good chance things ork out Wearound dreaonna make me sound like a jerk, but what exactly would you have to dream about anyway? Your life is, like, perfect"

I laugh loudly "You’re kidding, right?"

Ty shakes his head

"Okay, welcompared to yours, but my dad doesn’t believe in me at al and hates the fact that I play footbal "

"Real y? But your dad seems so cool on

SportsCenter"

"He’s very cool…as long as you don’t bring up oes back to caressing my hand

My body feels so hot "Thanks"

"Can you co his thumb, Ty points over his shoulder at the house

"Yeah," I say with a smile

Hel , I’l coet to sit on his bed? Does he have graph paper bedding?

We hop out of o up to the porch, and as I approach the door, I start to freak a bit How could I be so self-absorbed to obsess about being in his bed when his mom is here, paralyzed?

When Ty opens the door, he reaches back and grabsseems meticulously clean Would I find any dust in this house?

The living room is total y 1970s, complete with a brown plaid couch I love it Maybe I can buy the couch off them and then they’l have more money But from what I know of Ty already, he would never accept handouts A beautiful girl who could only be Ty’s sister is sitting on the couch reading atelevision Sheal the boys’ hearts at her new school When she sees Ty, she juairl with

"Hoas the gairl with sandy blond hair She’s wearinghearts

"Great! Did you watch it on TV?" Ty replies

"Uhh…no"

Ty laughs, then says to me, "Vanessa hates footbalVanessa--this is Jordan Woods, and Woods, this is my sister, Vanessa"

We shake hands and his sister beams at me "Ty’s told me so much about you! I love that dress--can I borrow it soroans But which statement freaks him out more

--the fact that his sister asked if she can borrow this la about me?

"Vanessa, that’s rude," Ty says

I shrug "You can have it if you have so else I can wear hoo find so out of the room

Ty rol s his eyes but sroo at a table with his feet propped up, reading the newspaper

"Papa, I’d like you to randfather’s face toa hand "Jim Green"

"Nice to meet you," I reply