They meandered the halls of Reunion Arena, Dan dying at each rise and roar of the crowd—Tarpley was single-handedly dismantling the Houston space program. Dan bought some Blue Bell to share with Cady, and he watched her lips on spoonfuls of peaches and cream. He needed less distraction to plan strategy. He had a tentative date on the books, but he still needed to kiss her, and there was an unspoken shared terror that this was expected. But frankly the corridors of Reunion Arena were as romantic as a big beige urinal and not so conducive to Beatrice-Benedict repartee.

“Do you watch L.A. Law?”

“No, my parents watch Cagney and Lacey.”

“Oh. L.A. Law is like the best show ever.”

“Sorry.”

While they were both trying, Dan felt the swing in momentum, much like the Mavericks, who let the Rockets back into the game. Halftime came, and the crowds swarmed into the hallway. Time for a move, and Dan made one—he grabbed Cady’s hand and pulled her up the ramp for their section. It wasn’t exactly Burt Lancaster on the beach with Deborah Kerr, but when they got back to their seats Cady didn’t let go of his hand.

Like good teams should, the Rockets and Mavs survived the third quarter, trading buckets, sizing each other up for crunch time. At the start of the fourth, Perkins picked up a cheap fifth foul and MacLeod put his hands through his gray perm in disgust. So here came Tarpley. The Rockets had been threatening to start a run, but Tarpley grabbed the board off a Hakeem baseline shot. He ripped it down and then kicked it out past half court to Aguirre, who backed in with his big butt and easy off the glass. Fitch took another time-out in disgust. Rockets down by five.

Dan smiled at Cady. They were still holding hands when “Shout” came on the speakers. The crowd stood up at the command of Otis Day’s long tambourine rattle.

“Do you want to dance?” Dan yelled at Cady.

Say that you love me, say that you need me . . .

Cady’s cheerleader training kicked in, and they shimmied together while the whole arena screamed “Shout” at the Rockets’ bench.

Now wait a minute . . .

A few in the crowd yelled out Yeah yeah in response and Dan lip-synced into an empty Dr Pepper like Boon in the movie. Cady grinned but apparently hadn’t seen it.

A little bit softer now . . .

Shots of the toga party on the Jumbotron. Dan held Cady’s hands as they dipped into a crouch. The whole stadium was ready to pounce, and then . . .

A little bit louder now . . .

Cady and Dan swung back up together, and it was time to SHOUT again and everyone in the stadium forgot who they were—a few beers went flying, a few fights broke out, and a couple of people were having a good time.

Hey HEY hey HEY . . .