Keeping Pace by Dee Carney Page B

Rover into the city, a pleasant forty-five minute trip. There we parked in a garage and took the train to the stadium. Josh kept me close to him the entire time, either by holding my hand or resting his hand on the small of my back. The world I’d come to believe wouldn’t understand about us disappeared beneath his touching. I blocked all of it out to focus on him, and marveled that Josh had the ability to make me do that.
    I still felt a little out of place as we crossed the street to stand in line at the entrance gates. Sports weren’t my thing at all. I wouldn’t admit to Josh that I was the stereotypical female who watched the game to check out men’s butts, but that was the truth. I didn’t expect to have a good time, although I tried to keep up appearances.
    “Josh! Is that you? Josh!”
    We hadn’t gone inside yet, and both of us turned, trying to locate the caller in the crowd.
    “Over here!” A pair of arms waved frantically, six or seven people deep behind us.
    Josh’s face split into a grin as he apparently recognized the person still bellowing at him. “Hey Neil, long time no see!”
    His fingers entwined with mine before Josh pulled me to the side, out of the way of the pushing crowd. A young man about Josh’s age shoved forward, trailed by two women who might have been just a little bit younger than he. Neil was tall and thin, the notable feature about him being the well-groomed beard outlining his jaw. Josh dropped my hand to do one of those man-hugs with him where they shook but then bumped shoulders at the same time.
    “Dude, it’s been like four years or so, right?”
    Josh grinned. “Yeah, undergrad. How you been?”
    “Just chillin’, but hey, meet my friends Rayanne and Donna.”
    Rayanne was a cute bleach-blonde with pretty green eyes. She had a dimple in her chin and an easy smile. Her white tank top hid a pair of breasts that defied gravity along with the help of a burgundy-colored bra. I knew the color of the bra because no effort had been made to tuck the straps out of sight. She rounded out the ensemble with a pair of denim cut-offs and a pair of adorable flip-flops. Toenails covered in bright pink polish shone in the sunlight.
    Donna, on the other hand, had dark brown hair like mine. Hers, however, was long and curly, cascading over her back in a way that I’d never been able to get mine to do. She had wide brown eyes and a way of looking at me that left me uncomfortable. Her tiny sleeveless red shirt, worn without a bra as evidenced by erect nipples and swaying breasts, and equally tiny black shorts, didn’t help my growing dismay.
    Josh shook their hands, and I watched heat flare in Donna’s gaze. Neil and Rayanne were holding hands, which must have meant Donna was the third leg in this scenario. In seconds I watched Donna do some quick mental calculations of what it would take to latch on to Josh.
    Josh reached for me, pulling me forward. At some point, I’d managed to take a step or two away from them. He opened his mouth, presumably to introduce me, but Donna beat him to it.
    “Is this your mom? That’s cool you brought her to a game.”
    Neil’s eyes widened. Based on his reaction, he must have already met Josh’s mother, Susanna Smith. Josh, at least, didn’t betray his emotions, whatever they might have been, with his face. “This is my friend, my date , Regina.”
    Donna had the decency to blush. “Oh God, I’m sorry. I—nice meeting you.”
    I shook everyone’s hands, but the jovial atmosphere degraded into one of awkward silence. At last, Josh said, “Neil, I’m still at the same email addy. Keep in touch, man. We should do a few of these games together.”
    “Right. You bet.”
    Before we turned, I saw Rayanne frown at Donna, who gave a helpless shrug in reply. I almost felt sorry for her.
    Josh pulled me in close to him when we walked away, his hand on my hip. “You okay?” he murmured. His lips brushed across my hairline in a kiss meant to soothe