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Tracey said, smoothing her hands over her jeans. Her soft tone indicated that the need to say it was more for herself than for me. People stepped aside, letting me go all the way to the front of the line. We purchased our tickets from a girl whose face reddened with each word I said. I tried to keep the verbiage to a minimum, afraid she’d eventually burst. Tracey took the tickets from her outstretched hand, and when I prepared to move my crutches to step away, I heard the girl in the ticket booth tell me to have a great day. I turned back to her, a smile stretched across my face.
    “Same to you,” I said, noting her quivering lips. Tracey came up beside me, keeping pace with me as we headed to the stands.
    “You probably made her dreams come true, you know.” She slid her eyes my way with a smirk.
    I shrugged. “She was nice. I was nice back.”
    “As if you don’t know that all of these girls are in
love
with you. Okay. You may’ve forgotten. So, I’ll tell you. All of these girls are in love with you.” She laughed when I rolled my eyes. “When I got custody of you, all I could think was, how the hell am I going to keep the chicks off my lawn? I was once a teenage girl. I know how messy it gets. Prepared for that, I am not.”
    “Have I given you much trouble in that department?” I asked as she led me to an empty bleacher far from the crowd. She’d managed to keep us away from the entrance as well. It seemed we both weren’t looking forward to seeing and being seen.
    “Surprisingly, no. Your parents raised you to be respectful to women and you always have been. When you linked up with Becca, I think you figured it was what was expected of you. Woman experience, I mean. Before that, you went on a few dates. Nothing serious. Not that I’d call your experience with Becca serious. But, I must say, she was the first who could ever get you to call her back.”
    “I told you all of this?”
    She nodded, her cheeks pink from the cool air. “I told you, we used to be sort of close.” She bumped her shoulder into mine. “And I’d give you lady advice. You used to ask all sorts of questions.”
    “Like what?” She scrunched her nose and I chuckled. “That bad?”
    “Not bad. Just funny.” Her body language changed and her voice deepened as she tried to imitate me. “Why do they get mad when I don’t call? I never promised them anything. What’s it like to be with someone of actual substance? I don’t think I could ever fall in love. Please don’t tell me you were anything like
them
, Aunt Tracey.” She was in a fit of giggles by the end.
    “What’s it like to be with someone of actual substance?” I asked.
    “Yep, you totally asked me that one. Always the tough questions.” Her eyes were on the field.
    “No, I’m asking again.” I pulled the scarf closer to me and rubbed my hands together, looking out at the field as well. I felt her gaze on the side of my face, but I didn’t want to see the pity I knew would be in her eyes.
    “You’ll know it when you have it,” she whispered. “But you have plenty of time for that. Just have fun.”
    We sat in silence, watching the game. The home team was winning. I didn’t know how, but I knew Ralph was number 24. He walked with the same dominance and bulldozing swagger that he had when I first saw him. I watched him weave through players and take someone down. It looked painful.
    Tracey cheered beside me, her cheeks still pink. I watched the crowd after a while. Most everyone’s eyes were on the game. But there were the few who watched me with indiscernible eyes.
    Before we knew it, half-time was upon us. Tracey wiggled her legs nervously before jumping up and announcing that she needed hot chocolate. I was moving my crutches to let her pass when she said she wanted me to accompany her.
    “Besides, you need to take your meds.”
    The excuse didn’t make any sense, but before I could say as much, she was helping me up and we were off. I struggled