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"I’ood to hi so the fact that I knew Nolan would never say anything remotely mean or rude to my dad

"Oh God, never I love his stories," she said, her voice honest and true My grin stretched ear-to-ear talking to her

"Oh, hey! Tell Pops to pull in to the et here His na," I said

"Got it," she said,the phone a little as she relayedin See you in a few!"

She hung up quickly, which was good, because I was about to unleash so’s h to block it all out I headed down thelike a schoolgirl Here I was about to play in the biggest game yet of my football career, and irl about to walk through the doors in front ofthem open first, but then he held one side open so Nolan could catch up and walk through

Daht before, she told o full Wildcat for me, but I didn’t think she’d look like that! She had on a red version of ed her body, slu low on her hips, showing off her smooth stomach and cute-as-hell bellybutton She pulled her hair back into a ponytail, the long curls swaying as she walked She was a goddauy in the lounge right noas staring at her, because she walked right up to ot to kiss her

"Well, that’s a fine way to say hello," she said after I finally let irls froerous in that outfit, Miss Lennox," I said, tugging on the bottom of the jersey

"Tooaway over her body I just pulled her arms back out and held the!" I reached around her and slung her back a bit, kissing her again, and then standing her back up in my arms "You just make it kinda hard to focus, that’s all"

"Ohhhh," she snickered, lowering her eyes and showing her embarrassment from my bold attention

I held her hand every second she was in the lounge withher around by my side while I introduced my dad to a few people I hadn’t really spent time with her since Christmas Day at my mom’s And the rollercoaster of that day had left us both pretty erateful that my mom had actually heard me when I had it out with her over how she treated Nolan I knew she wouldn’t be able to just flip a switch But the fact that she even had the sn--at least I was taking it for one I grilled Nolan pretty hard about the conversation they had, mostly because her eyes seemed red and swollen when she finally walked out of my mom’s office But she swore to me that my mom hadn’t been mean And she said my mom even told her she respected her, which seeushed over the way Dylan hich I guess was just one more reason why I loved Nolan so daarab a bite to eat beforeup with the rest of the family to take their seats They were near our bench this time, only a fes up My dad actually turned down box seats to get closer to the action He was neverevents He liked to hear and feel the grit of the gaot to kick-off, the more my nerves started to zero in on as at stake We weren’t contending for the title, just a higher ranking to end the season But I knew tonight I was out there for evaluation, and how I playedthe bench and freezingchance to start soo

I juy in the tunnel next to Trig He lived for this kind of stage And normally, so did I But I couldn’t seem to shake the cloud over my head I orried…and that worried me "Yo, Johnson You ready to show these Buckeyes how it’s done?" Trig shouted, bu his hel off into a sprint to race out onto the field