Chapter 3

“I don’t get it. You’re Jase Woodard. Everyone loves you.” Steve was shaken at how quickly Jase had pulled into himself.

“Hardly.” Jase gave a humorless, very sad laugh.

“Well, let’s think about this a minute.”

“Okay. Whatever.” Jase’s shoulders moved in a tiny shrug.

“I mean, what about your parents?”

Jase’s shoulders moved inward a tiny bit more. Then he added another shrug.

“Never knew them. I grew up at the Central Valley Children’s Home. No love lost there.”

“Oh.” The big man seemed to be shrinking in front of Steve. His family wasn’t particularly emotional or physically close, but he’d still felt loved growing up. He couldn’t think of anyone he knew who didn’t feel a little love from family. Of course, he’d been raised in a bland middle class suburb and until this moment didn’t even know a children’s home existed.

“Okay, I guess. But what about football—the coaches, the fans?”

Jase’s arms wrapped around his torso as if he were giving himself a hug.