Oh dear.

“Perhaps I can tell you later,” I suggested.

“What went down with Noah, Josie?”

I stared into his eyes and noted he was not going to back down.

So it was me who held his hand tighter and I again got closer before I shared, “Obviously, he has no idea who I am and thus I overheard him—as boy Taylor put it—trash talking Amber.”

Jake’s mouth got tight in a way I found vaguely frightening but I persevered.

“I’m afraid I lost my temper and gave him a talking to,” I admitted.

“You gave him a talking to,” he repeated.

“Indeed,” I confirmed.

He said nothing to that and asked, “I need to have a word with Noah’s parents?”

I shook my head quickly.

Jake studied me.

Then he asked quietly, “He was trash talking Amber?”

I nodded my head slowly.

His big man energy started expanding all around.

“What’d he say?”

It was then I got even closer, lifted my free hand and put it on his chest, trying to find the words I needed.

I found them from memory of what boy Taylor had said and stated, “It doesn’t matter, Jake. I laid him out.”

He again studied me before asking, “Amber know what he said?”

“Some of it, yes. But I think the Taylors have that in hand. They’re quite supportive in a way it’s most gratifying. Further, neither of them likes Noah very much.”

“Was she there?”

I shook my head.

He took in a big breath and exhaled.

Then he shocked me by grinning, turning into me so he could sling his arm around my shoulders and tuck me into his side as he moved us toward the bleachers, stating, “Then I guess we’re goin’ to a concert in a couple weeks, Slick.”

We?

I didn’t ask this.

And I didn’t because I was noting that it was awkward walking with him with his arm around my shoulders and mine hanging down at my sides, so I slid one of mine around his waist.

Jake kept us connected until we hit the steps that led to our seats in the bleachers. He bid me to go before him and did this by putting a hand in the small of my back and gently pushing me toward the stairs.

I ascended, noting that children had appropriated more seating for us and Ethan had returned.

Though there was no sign of Conner and Ellie didn’t look any less anxious.

Jake maneuvered the seating arrangements so he was sitting between me and his daughter. Although extra seating had been procured, it was close and my side was plastered to Jake’s, including hip and thigh.

But he didn’t curve an arm around me again.

Instead, he curved one around his daughter and pulled her close to his other side, bending to kiss the top of her head.

When he lifted away, she tipped her face back to gaze at him, her eyes soft and partly lost, partly loving, and seeing that I thought she never looked lovelier.

And seeing Jake silently give his daughter his loving care, I thought he’d never been more wonderful.

And he was normally quite wonderful.

Clearly father/daughter affection was acceptable only for short periods of time at high school events for Jake released Amber a short time later and turned his attention to me, again curling an arm around my back and pulling me even tighter to his side.

It was then it occurred to me why Conner would think I was his father’s new girlfriend. Jake’s easy, and frequent, affection could undoubtedly be misconstrued in this manner.

I wondered if I should talk to him about this for I felt it might be confusing to the children and if he should (regrettably, but very probably) find another woman, they might not understand.

I was thinking this when Conner returned and Jake didn’t budge from my side even as his sharp eyes locked on his son.

But Conner saw no one but Ellie. He went directly to her and claimed her from boy Taylor who was sticking close.

Upon witnessing this, it became clear that Ellie was the one who was going to make “the cut.” Watching them after he returned, I noted that Conner seemed very attentive of her, also very protective and, as they said these days, very “into” her.

Our seating became even tighter when Conner joined us but the other spectators were involved in the game so they didn’t appear to notice.

Needless to say, our cocoas were lost in the shuffle and eventually got kicked under the bleachers without even being sipped. This was done by an excited Ethan, who did it when the Magdalene Tritons made one of their many touchdowns. This situation was rectified at halftime when Jake sent Ethan (who was accompanied on this errand by Conner and Ellie) to procure all of us warming beverages.

Except for the fact that it was a rather exciting game and even though I had not watched one in some time, I saw the Tritons were very talented, it seemed our drama for the evening was thankfully at an end.

The only thing earth shattering that happened (and this was only my perception) was that when we were seated (in other words, when Jake wasn’t clapping or cupping his hands around his mouth and shouting encouragement at the team I was relatively certain they couldn’t hear or jumping to his feet like all of those around us, applauding and shouting), Jake held me to him the whole time. And some of that time, I even felt the tips of his fingers stroking my hip (yes! stroking my hip!) through my jeans.

It was a lovely feeling (very lovely) but it was another display that more than likely, if caught by his children, could be confusing.

When the Tritons emerged victorious, after the raucous applause ended, Jake commanded to our brood to, “Roll out.”

We all moved.

Once on the graveled lane in front of the bleachers, Ethan leading the way followed by Amber and the Taylors, their heads together, looking like they were plotting, followed by Conner and Ellie with their arms around each other, heads also together, looking like they were doing something vastly different, Jake again claimed me. He did this like his son claimed his girlfriend except without our heads together.

No, when I slid my arm around his waist, I looked up and saw his head was held high and regardless of the drama that began our foray into high school athletic spectatorship, his expression seemed most content.

Perhaps his most handsome look.

Then again, that would be hard to judge as they all were.

I started to look to my feet in order to best negotiate the gravel in my high-heeled boots but my eyes caught on Ellie’s thumb hooked in the belt loop of Conner’s jeans.

When it did, I had another overwhelming urge—an urge so overwhelming, it was a yearning to do the same to Jake.

More accurately, to be to Jake the person in his life who could stake that kind of claim of his jeans (an inappropriately heated thought).

But more, his person.

I sighed as I realized my pretending needed to be well and truly done for even if Jake was holding me close, I knew it was simply Jake doing with me what he would do with his daughter if she would allow him to do so in front of her peers.

On this thought, I spied Noah standing with his companions to the side of the end of the bleachers. In spying him, I saw he was studying Amber and doing it closely.

His friends were as well, and if I was not mistaken, a couple of them were doing it not with speculation or indignation but admiration.

I looked to Amber and saw her resolutely avoiding eye contact with Noah and I knew, as a woman but also someone who was once a teenaged girl, she knew he was there.

Her slight of Noah didn’t go unnoticed. I saw his jaw get hard and then I saw his gaze turn to me.

I held his eyes momentarily before I looked away, fought back my grin but didn’t fight back my murmur of, “That’s my girl.”

I knew Jake heard this when his arm around me got tighter. I also knew Jake saw it when Amber looked over her shoulder and leaned to the side to catch my eyes.

I winked at her. She grinned at me. My entire frame warmed delightfully and it warmed even more when Jake pulled me so tight to his side, I had to twist slightly into him to accommodate the embrace.

“You take care of my girl,” he said softly.

I looked up at him. “Yes, Jake. But I believe I get more out of it than she does.”

His gentle gaze held mine captive when he replied, “Then you believe wrong, Slick.”

I pressed my lips together and looked away for the warmth I was feeling was so acute, so lovely, even precious, I needed to concentrate on walking so I didn’t get overcome by the feeling and fall flat on my face.

It was within five more feet of our advance when it happened.

And what happened was that a remarkably attractive, tall, buxom redhead approached our parade, crying out, “My babies!”

“Fuck,” Jake muttered.

I quickly glanced up at him as he stopped us.

He no longer looked content.

And I saw when I looked in the direction his eyes were aimed that he stopped us because the advance of our party was halted by the woman bearing down on Amber to give her a tight hug that Amber markedly didn’t return.

The woman didn’t seem to notice as she let Amber go and moved promptly to wrest Conner away from Ellie and do the same.

Unlike his sister, Conner hugged the woman, though it appeared to me that he did this more out of consideration than fondness, and I knew in that instant the woman was Donna, Conner and Amber’s mother.

It was then my study of her heightened and I noted she looked very like her daughter except for the fact she was far more curvaceous. And this last wasn’t lost on me in any way that Donna, Jake’s ex-wife, had big hair and big…other stuff.