“John Johnson is just dumb enough to do something,” David said.
That was probably more than he should have said since he didn’t know where Milena’s loyalties really were.
“I don’t really know what they have planned, but Crystal is worried.”
“Thanks. I’m not sure what to do with that information, but I’ll be careful,” David said.
“I’ll try to find out more,” Milena offered.
“I realize that you and Crystal are friends. Don’t do anything to hurt that. It has to be awkward when her boyfriend is my rival. I don’t want our drama to spill into your life, if that makes sense.”
“I imagine that’s bound to happen. Crystal and I are friends, and even if our guys don’t get along, we won’t let that mess with us. Crystal is much nicer than people think,” Milena explained.
Somehow David doubted that, but then again, if Milena considered her a friend...
They finished their meal, and David dropped her off at her sorority. There was no mention of whether or not she would swing by his place tonight. David went back to his dorm to shower and then hurried off to class.
From what Alyssa had to say before their accounting class began, it seemed that she and Seamus had spent some quality time together because Seamus was no longer a horse’s ass. David gave that about twelve hours before Seamus did something to revert to his usual self.
In his Stats class, David turned in his project proposal. He had left the objective vague and simply said that he would use statistics to help identify real estate buyers and sellers. David would have to sit down with either the professor or his teaching assistant anyway, once he’d fleshed it out. He’d have to discuss in depth what he wanted to do before he’d be able to get approval to move forward.
David was shocked when the girls’ shoe-shopping project was approved for the next phase while the others all got shot down. As David suspected, they were judged to be either impossible to prove or seriously flawed.
There was an awkward moment when the frat boy found out that David’s project had been given the green light to move forward. The guy wanted his team to join in on David’s project. While having a team to help was appealing, dealing with that guy was a deal-breaker. The professor had to step in before it got ugly and explain that the teams had already been formed.
David grabbed lunch at The Palace and found Cassidy eating alone.
“What’s up, Buttercup?” he said as he grabbed the seat across from her.
“Can I make the NFL guys pay me if they aren’t here?”
“What does your contract say?” David asked.
She wrinkled her nose in answer. She was starting to learn about the real world.
“Where are they?” he asked.
“They’re off being interviewed by different teams. Ridge went to Cleveland.”
“Let’s pray he doesn’t end up there. That’s where promising quarterback careers go to die,” David said.
The sports press was projecting that four quarterbacks would be taken in the top ten of the draft this year. Cleveland had the number one pick, and it was reported that Ridge was under consideration for that spot. Other teams trying to find a quarterback were the Jets, Bills, and Cardinals. It was said that both the Steelers and Ravens were also looking. Career-wise, those might be better landing places, but Ridge would lose out on significant money over the long run if he fell to either of those teams.
Then David had a thought.
“Why are you worried about money?” he asked.
“Pam and Tracy make me pay for utilities and food.”
“Don’t you have money to pay for that?” David asked.
“That’s not the point,” Cassidy grumped.
“Why don’t you make me pay for my training?” he asked.
“Your mom said I couldn’t. If I did, she said I would have to pay rent, too.”
David had to bite the inside of his mouth so as not to laugh. His little ninja hated to spend money that she’d earned. He had no doubt that he would be shocked if he ever saw how much she had squirreled away. At some point, he might have to ask her for a loan.
“Maybe I can take you grocery shopping so I can buy some guy food,” David offered.
Cassidy thought about it for a moment and must have figured if David was buying food for himself, it was probably okay for her to eat it. She reasoned it wouldn’t break David’s mom’s rules, and that was the key point. Cassidy nodded her agreement to his scheme.
They talked about her rowing success. USC was having a great year, and a big part of it was Cassidy. David decided that he would speak to Tracy and see if she would write a nice article about their friend’s success.
That didn’t mean she didn’t try to kill him working out. David hadn’t realized that without the NFL hopefuls around, she had more time to focus on him. By the time she was done, he’d rethought asking Tracy for some PR for Cassidy.
David had a quiet word with a few of his fellow players on defense that he trusted enough to share his suspicions about Matt. His voiced concerns were met with a lot of skepticism, though. The consensus was that a teammate would never do something to deliberately hurt a fellow teammate.
The specter of injury loomed over all of them. They’d seen too many of their teammates suffer through rehab and then worry whether they would ever play again. It would cause significant problems within a program if you had to worry about being intentionally hurt by your own teammates.
That all changed when three-quarters of the way through practice, the coaches pulled Matt because he was obviously still feeling the effects of his ill-advised fight at the fraternity. David was called in to replace him. Matt lost his cool and shot his mouth off about what he thought of David and of the idea that David was capable of backing him up.
The defense had seen just exactly how good a quarterback David was. They’d already realized that as valuable as David might be as a linebacker or defensive end, he’d be even more valuable as a replacement quarterback. Or, as some of them had admitted privately to each other, as starting quarterback, based on what they’d seen in practice and the scrimmage.
After practice, several of his teammates agreed to keep an eye out for him. David felt better knowing they would be watching his back.
Once practice was over, David shot over to the townhouse to pick up Cassidy for some grocery shopping. He wasn’t surprised to find that Pam and Tracy had helped Cassidy make a list. When they walked inside the store, Cassidy went to get a cart.
“We don’t need that,” David told her as he took her to the service desk.
David set up an account to have food delivered. Cassidy had figured out the process when he shot his J-drama, so she was a happy girl when they walked back to the car.
“You know what I like. Just make sure it’s available when I come over to cook before games,” David said to give her cover with his mom. Then he thought of something else. “Don’t give the login information to Pam. She’ll buy junk food for Coby.”
David went back to his dorm room to study. He did avail himself of the grocery delivery service when he found his refrigerator was empty. One of its nifty features was they didn’t check ID when you ordered beer or wine. He always kept some on hand for his dorm-mates, who tended to wander down before going to bed. David also wanted some junk food and cookies. He’d gotten off his diet on spring break and found he craved some stuff.
Kirk, Lindsey, Jamie, and Lauren talked him into going to the roof, and they all caught up.
Milena never showed up, to his disappointment.
Developmental Editors: XofDallas and Bud Ugly
Line / Copy Editors: Bud Ugly, TheMikeBomb, Zom, and Old Rotorhead