Page 36 of No More Heartbreakers

His whiskey-soaked breath surrounded me as he crowded my personal space. “You’re way cuter than you are on TV. They should make the news desk see-through. You have great legs.”

The guy lurched back from me as Aric stepped in and gave him the buddy-slap on the shoulder, employing more force than seemed necessary.

“Okay, friend. Time to move along. This one’s spoken for.”

Aric’s voice sounded even deeper than usual. Though he’d obviously been referring to Hale, the protectiveness of his tone struck a shameful chord of pleasure in my midsection.

I hadn’t actually been afraid—we were in a crowd of people in broad daylight—but there’s something almost magnetic about a guy whose instinct is to stand up for you.

In his state of drunken invincibility, the stocky kid bowed up, frowning in offense. Then he apparently realized how faruphe had to crane his neck to see Aric’s intimidating expression. He shrank away and joined his friends stumbling into the stadium.

We picked up our gear and headed for the sidelines, flashing our media passes at the security guard on the way in.

“Thanks,” I said quietly.

Aric cut a glance in my direction and grinned. “Anytime. Reporter, photographer, bodyguard. Whatever you need.”

We staked out a spot on the sidelines and got some crowd shots. “Want to shoot a stand-up before the game starts?” I asked.

“Good idea. Give me a minute to think of something,” Aric said. He clipped on the lav mic, running the cord up under the front of his shirt and bringing it out at his collar.

While he came up with something to say, I set up the tripod and focused the camera on him.

Uniformed players milled around behind him, some of them trash-talking and getting pumped up, others standing and looking out at the packed stadium. I’d never gone along on a sports shoot before. It was nearly overwhelming to be there on the field of a stadium holding more than ninety-thousand fans.

And to be so close to the players. Aric was a big guy, but these boys were monstrously huge.

After a few minutes, Aric stepped over to the nearest section of stadium seating and said something to the red-and-black-wearing fans there. I guess he needed crowd participation for this one?

Walking back to the sideline, he patted his ridiculous beard to make sure it was still in place and told me he was ready. I slipped on a set of headphones so I could hear his audio over the crowd noise and hit the record button.

“I’m going to walk and talk, so follow me, okay? Three, two, one… If facial hair could win a football game, Georgia started with a huge advantage today over the Murray State Racers…”

While he spoke about the game, Aric strolled from his position at the player’s backs over to the base of the seating stands. Just above his head, bearded fans talked excitedly and waved red pom poms and Go Dogs signs. A few watched us expectantly.

“…reporting from Sanford Stadium, I’m Aric Amore, WPVG Sports.”

As Aric ended his stand-up, he pulled a move I wouldn’t have believed if I hadn’t captured it on camera myself. He jumped up and somehow threw his body backward, landing in the arms of the crowd, stadium-jumping in the sort of Lambeau Leap I’d seen players do on television.

Everyone stayed in position a few seconds then set Aric down, hooting and high-fiving him.

“Thanks guys,” he said as he jumped back to the turf.

One of the enormous players who’d seen the stunt nudged the guy beside him. “We need to get that dude out on the field.”

The two of them laughed and turned back toward their teammates.

Aric approached me with a satisfied grin. “Did you get it?”

I stared at him, astonished at the flexibility and power of his body. “How did you do that?”

“Volleyball. I’ve always had a pretty good vertical jump.”

I shook my head at his nonchalance. “Yeah. Pretty good.”

Georgia won sixty-two to seven. We grabbed a few interviews with players coming off the field then Aric chased after the head coach for a comment. I could’ve told himthatwas hopeless.

In fact, Dennis already had. Coach Bobby Barlow hated the media and didn’t give one-on-one interviews.

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