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Danny was the fourth player to ereen eyes diligently searched the bleachers When he spotted Mia, he s even after he’d acknowledged his sister

Her spirits plu for Their mother

Who, as far as Mia could tell, hadn’t shown up tonight

Shocker

She watched her brother’s face as he continued to scan the crowd, her heart aching when she glimpsed the disappointment that befell his expression His shoulders sluhtened up and turned to talk to Ken Jones, the head coach

"You okay?"

Jackson’s voice was gentle, his touch even more so as he rested a hand on her ar about Danny again"

"Ah, he’ll be fine, sugar Check out those offensive linemen," he said helpfully "Those kids are monsters They’ll have your brother’s back"

I have his back, she almost blurted out, but she sed the words at the last second

It was the truth, though She was the only one in this world who had Danny’s back Who loved him unconditionally Not his coach, not his teammates, certainly not their sorry excuse for a mother Just her

And God, it took sothat she was solely responsible for Danny, for raising hiht Because what if she screwed hi decision and he ended up in jail? Or the subject of a TV show like Dexter?

She was only twenty-six, da on this kind of responsibility

"Game’s about to start"

Jackson’s voice pulled her out of her thoughts Noasn’t the ti such heavy notions, anyway This was Danny’s big night, and she needed to concentrate on supporting hi a breath, Mia forced away her worries and focused her gaze on the field

By the time the clock on the jumbotron counted down to zero, Jackson’s date had cheered herself hoarse She’d jumped to her feet whenever the offense took the field, yelled out encouragements, whooped each time Danny successfully completed a pass, and when her brother had run the ball in hi touchdown, Mia had bounced up and down like a kid in a toy store