The Realest Ever (25 page)

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

HOMECOMING

The following Friday Donovan’s Mad Stallions faced the North Side Steers for their homecoming game.  Donovan’s team was on a surprising three game win streak, bringing their record to 3-3.  There was magic in the air that night.  Many of the fans who were praying to end the season with an even record were now wondering if Western Hills could pull off a
winning
season.

Unfortunately, i
t was not meant to be.  North Side’s blitz package completely overwhelmed Donovan’s offense on a few crucial plays that led to two interceptions and a fumble.  Donovan’s team lost 26-17.  It was a bitter defeat, but the festivities of the homecoming celebration took a little of the sting out of it.

Donovan called Kyra later that night
, a little before midnight.  She was still awake, eager to hear about tonight’s game.  She would’ve gone herself, but Kat was under the weather.

“
Hey,” she said.  She went to the living room and got comfortable on the sofa.  “Sorry about the loss.”

“Oh, you heard already?”  Donovan
sighed.  He sounded exhausted.

“Yeah. 
I was keeping up with it on the radio.  It was close, for a minute there.”

Donovan smiled.  “You listened to my game on the radio?”

“Yeah, I’m surprised, too,” Kyra said.  “That announcer was boring as hell.”

Donovan laughed.  “How’s Kat?”

“She’s actually better now,” Kyra said with a trace of irritation.  “She’s eating and everything.  I hate that I missed your game.”

“
It’s cool,” Donovan said.  He yawned.  “It’s been a long night.”

“Are you tired?  Want me to let you go?”

“No, I’m alright.” Donovan stretched out on his bed.  “I’m laying down now.  I’m cool.”

Kyra nibbled her thumbnail
.  She longed to crawl into bed with him. 

“So what’s up with your defense there, coach?”

Donovan chuckled.  “You realize it wasn’t me out there playing, right?”

“That’s no excuse,” Kyra said.  Her smile lit up the darkness.  “Your offensive line was playing like they’d never seen a blitz before.”

“Whoa,” Donovan said.  “That’s a little harsh.”

“I’m just kidding.  That’s what the man on the radio said.”

“The boring guy?”

“Yeah, him.”

“It was still a great night,” Donovan said, closing his eyes.  “Everybody was all dressed up.  They had the halftime presentations, the homecoming king and queen.”

“I know,” Kyra said.  “That’s the main reason I wanted to go.  I never went to a homecoming game before.”

“If I wasn’t coaching, I would’ve loved to take you,” Donovan said. 

Kyra’s heart
danced at the thought of it.  Homecoming games had a romantic feel to them – well, that’s what she gathered from the pictures they put in her senior yearbook in Little Rock.  The boys and girls got dressed up, and the boys bought their sweetheart a mum with both their names on it.  During the game, students would disappear under the bleachers for flirting and smooching and sometimes a little more.

“How have things been going at work?” Donovan asked.  “I still feel bad about interfering with your, um, relationship.”

Kyra giggled.  “
Relationship
?  Donovan, I was not in a relationship.”

“That was your boyfriend,” he insisted.

“No it wasn’t.”

“You kissed him.”

Kyra’s grin was devilish.  “Jealous?”

Donovan felt the heat rising between his legs again.  “Yeah.
  Kinda.”

Kyra
sat up straight.  Her pulse began to race.  He was jealous?  Really?  What did that mean?  They never got this close to talking about how they felt about each other. 

“How is it at work with Roland,” Donovan asked.  “Does he treat you any different?”

No, don’t change the subject
!  “He treats me fine,” Kyra said.  “I don’t be thinking about him.  Um, you were jealous?”

Donovan grinned.  “What do you want me to say?”

“I don’t know.  But I do think that’s worth talking about, don’t you?”

“
Do you think I got mad when you told me about that jerk, because I want you all to myself?”

Kyra’s mouth went dry.  Her eyes were wide and
anxious.  “Did, do, do you?”

“I think we should talk about it,” Donovan said.  “But I’d rather
do it in person.  Hey, I just had a great idea!”

Kyra didn’t think things could get any better.  She was on the edge of her seat.  “What?”

“Guess who’s having their homecoming game tomorrow night?”

Kyra had no idea.  Her brain was still stuck on
I think we should talk about it
.  “Who?”

“Finley High!” Donovan said.  “Do you want to go?”

Kyra thought she might pass out from an awesomeness-overload.  A homecoming game at Finley High School
with
Donovan
and
he wanted to talk about whether he was jealous and wanted her all to himself or not?  She couldn’t get her answer out fast enough.  “Yes, I want to go!  Hell yes!”

“Great.  I’ll pick you up at seven-thirty.  Can you get your aunt to watch the kids?”

“Will this be like, a real date?” Kyra dared to ask.

“I
reckon so,” Donovan said.  “Wouldn’t be right if I ran your boyfriend off and didn’t offer to take you out myself.”

≈≈≈≈≈≈≈

Donovan showed up the next evening wearing dark pants with a royal blue button down that matched his Finley High School baseball cap.  His shirt was short-sleeved, and it was tucked in, showing off his remarkable upper body and slim waist.

Kyra wo
re a fuchsia dress that dipped low in the back and in the front.  The dress wasn’t form fitting, but Kyra’s curves shined through anyway.  Her breasts were nice and perky.  Her lipstick matched her dress.  She grinned at Donovan and blushed when he smiled at her.  She felt like a school girl.

“Here, this is for you,” Donovan said, and it was only then that Kyra noticed he had one arm behind his back.  He produced a blue and white mum with four-
foot streamers that were decorated with little footballs and bells and school specific lettering.

Kyra squealed as she took it from him.  This was her very first mum!  It was fifteen years late, but
she was happier now than she would’ve been if she received it in high school.  One of the streamers read, “GO GRIZZLIES!”  Another said, “FINLEY HIGH SCHOOL 2013.”  The
best
one read, “KYRA + DONOVAN.”  Kyra’s eyes were glossy as she looked up at him.

“They, um, they asked if it was for a girl, and I told them you were my date.”

Yeah, whatever
, Kyra thought.  She knew that whoever designed the mum would only put their names together like that if Donovan told them it was for his
girlfriend
.  He didn’t have to admit it, if he didn’t want to.

“Put it on me,” she said.  She
gave Donovan the mum and thrust her chest in his direction.

Wow
.  He tried to keep his eyes on the work at hand rather than get lost in Kyra’s cleavage.  “I’m not sure if I know how to do this…” 

He reached
and fumbled with her dress.  Kyra giggled at him as he tried to attach the mum without touching her skin.

“Try a little harder,” she teased.  “Don’t be afraid to get up in there.”

A few beads of sweat blossomed on Donovan’s forehead.  “I haven’t had my hands near these babies in fifteen years,” he muttered.

Kyra’s heart stopped.  She looked into his eyes.  Donovan winked at her and smiled. 

He did remember
!

“Got it
.”  Donovan withdrew his hands, and the mum remained firmly attached.  He reached for Kyra’s hand.  “Shall we go?”

Kyra bypassed his
hand and gave him a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek.  “I’d be delighted,” she said and led the way outside.

≈≈≈≈≈≈≈

Donovan drove her to Milton Stadium, the host of Finley High’s homecoming game.  It was an impressive structure, built in the late seventies.  Nostalgia was in the air from the moment they entered the parking lot and saw the school buses lined up.  Nearly every car and truck had Finley High’s colors and fight slogans painted on the windshield.

The parking lot was
filled with teenagers who were dressed to impress.  The boys wore their shiny shoes.  All of the girls had beautiful mums, the bigger the better.  There were also a good number of older fans who had been coming to Finley’s homecoming games since their graduation. 

Kyra
heard the band warming up when Donovan helped her out of his truck.  Her heart knocked at the same pace as the bass drums.  She hadn’t heard Finley High’s class song in so long, she had forgotten the words.  But she never forgot the melody.

The game started with a kickoff that was returned all the way for a touchdown by the opposing team
.  But Kyra couldn’t have been happier.  Sitting on the bleachers with Donovan with Finley High students and banners all around them made her feel like she was in a time portal.  Her mind was flooded with memories; bells ringing, fights after school, science projects gone horribly wrong.  Donovan was there through all of it.

The BFF’s watched the sun set
as the home team miraculously tied the score at 20 to 20 by the end of the second quarter.  The stadium went crazy at halftime with the battle of the bands and the presentation of the Homecoming Court.  Everyone hustled to get snacks and refreshments after that.  Donovan wanted to get some popcorn and candy, too, but he suggested they wait until the beginning of the third quarter, when the lines wouldn’t be long.

“I can’t thank you enough for tonight,” Kyra
told him.  She half turned on the bleacher so she could look him in the eyes.  “I used to dream about things like this; a homecoming game, my mum.”  She couldn’t stop smiling.  “You make me so happy.”

“It’s the least I could do,” Donovan said.  He took his cap off and
brushed his hair forward with his hand.  Kyra loved his haircut.  The waves on top were a work of art.

“Why do you say that?” she asked.

“Because I told you to break up with your boyfriend.”  Donovan shook his head.  “I still don’t think that was right.”

“Stop saying that,” Kyra said.  “He wasn’t my boyfriend, for one.”

“Were you gonna go out with him again?” Donovan asked.  “Tell me that.”

“I don’t know,” Kyra said. 
“Probably not.  The bottom line is he’s gone now, and you don’t have to be jealous anymore.”  She smirked at him.

Donovan grinned.  “Who said I was jealous?”

“You did.”

“You really want to talk about that, huh?”

“It’s the closet you ever came to saying you like me,” Kyra noted.  “So, yeah, I think it’s kinda important.”

Donovan looked up at the sky.  He stared up there for so
long, Kyra looked, too, wondering what she was missing.

“Do you remember when we kissed?”
he asked abruptly.

Kyra’s heart jumped all the way to
the back of her throat. 
Oh my God!  Finally
!  She swallowed and exhaled slowly.  “Yes.”

Donovan wasn’t smiling
now.  There were a lot of people moving around them, but Kyra had tunnel vision.  She only saw one person. 

“Do you remember the song?” he asked.

Kyra nodded.  “We Can’t be Friends, by R.L. and Deborah Cox.”

Donovan grinned slightly.  It was a
cheerless smile.  “I remember, too.  I’ll never forget that song.”

“Me neither,” Kyra said.  She hung on
each one of his words, as if Donovan was about to reveal the secret of life.

“I cry every time I hear that song,” he said.

Kyra gasped.  “I do, too.”

“I used to try to avoid it,” Donovan said.  “I’d change the station and listen to something else.  But once I heard even a little piece of that song,
I couldn’t help but think about that day.  I end up changing to the station back, so I can hear the rest of it.  After a while, I stopped trying to avoid it.  That song always reminds me of you, and I liked thinking about you, even though it hurt.”

Kyra’s eyes filled with tears.  She wiped them quickly so she could maintain focus on Donovan
’s eyes.

“That song scares me,”
he said.  “That’s why I’ve been acting the way I have.  That’s why I didn’t want to tell you how I feel.”

“How, how do you feel?”

Donovan looked puzzled.  “I love you, Kyra.  I always have.  You know that.”