It was fascinating, really. David was a master at juggling multiple girls. She’d kept waiting for the bloodbath that should have happened, but his open and easy-going nature somehow got him off the hook every time. Girls just seemed to be okay with having only a piece of him.
Cassidy knew that David was really a romantic at heart. He believed in settling down and living happily ever after. When he finally decided that he’d found the one, the one woman that he would spend the rest of his life with, all his playing around would end.
The problem was, why should he settle down now? It wasn’t yet time. David had just entered college, and that was where you experimented and had a good time with the hope that you matured and figured out what you wanted to do when you grew up. Cassidy didn’t have anything more than a general idea of what her own future would look like, so how could she get into a serious relationship right now?
“He’s not ready,” she finally said.
“Who said anything about ready? None of us are ready,” Tracy said.
“But...”
Tracy gave her a sad look.
“Honey, if you wait, he’s going to find someone, and then it’ll be too late. Stop letting your thoughts go in circles about when the perfect time will be. If you let him, David can be a lot of fun to spend time with while you’re figuring it out.”
“Why don’t you make your move?” Cassidy asked, to take the focus off of her.
Tracy looked up to heaven and shook her head.
“That opportunity has passed.”
Tracy had gone a little batshit crazy on David, but she had a legitimate reason. She’d actually spent time in the loony bin.
“The two of you are good friends. Aren’t the best relationships supposed to be based on friendship first?” Cassidy asked.
“The problem is that we know that we’re better friends than anything else. That doesn’t mean that I’m beyond using him for stud service when I get the itch,” Tracy said with a wicked look. “You should think about doing the same.”
“I don’t think so,” Cassidy mumbled.
“You could just go upstairs and barge in. You know David. He’s the Energizer Bunny,” Tracy teased.
“I couldn’t.”
“You wouldn’t be upset if I did?” Tracy asked.
Cassidy laughed.
“Go for it. I’m sure Pam can’t handle him on her own.”
“God, I hope not,” Tracy said as she slid off the washing machine.
Before she left, she looked back at Cassidy.
“At some point, you need to sit the boy down and tell him how you really feel about him. He might surprise you.”
“Same goes for you, Sister. Hug it out?” Cassidy asked.
The two girls hugged, and then Tracy left her standing in the laundry room. Cassidy tried to push the negative self-talk out of her mind. Tracy was right; at some point, Cassidy would have to find her ‘lady balls’ and put it out there for David. Otherwise, she would be stuck in the dreaded ‘friends zone’ and never have a shot.
When Tracy joined the fun, the noise level went up. Cassidy had to get out of the house, so she went to work out. She hoped it would relieve some of her frustration.
She was only partially successful, and had all but decided that she would jump his bones when she made her way back to the townhouse. She was greeted at the back door by Precious. Cassidy picked the cat up and rubbed her chest.
“Is the bad man still here?” she asked the beast, which just purred back at her.
“David had to get back to his dorm. He was invited to spend time with some people he just met,” Pam said from the kitchen.
Cassidy walked in and saw that Pam had an indelible smile plastered on her face.
’Bitch.’
But Cassidy couldn’t think badly of Pam for long. At least she’d made her move.
“I think I’ll see what the rowing team is up to,” Cassidy decided.
“The waves are good off the strand in Oceanside. Tracy and I planned to catch a couple of runs and then grab some dinner. You’re welcome to come with,” Pam offered.
“You know what? That sounds like the best offer I’ve had today.”
Chapter 8
David
David met Lindsey and Kirk at the elevator. They were with another girl who looked like the quintessential bookworm. He recognized that he would probably never have stopped to talk to her if he’d seen her on campus.
“Allen, this is Jamie,” Lindsey said to introduce them.
“So that’s what the ‘A’ stands for,” Jamie said.
’Uh, oh—game over!’
“What are you talking about?” Kirk asked.
David kept a neutral look on his face and prayed Jamie was not about to out him before he’d even made it through his first day.
“I must have seen a floor chart, and it listed his first name as an initial.”
Thankfully, the elevator came to distract Kirk and Lindsey. Jamie gave him the ghost of a smile to let him know that he owed her.
David was amazed by the cafeteria’s transformation. Each table had a white tablecloth, and there was actual waitstaff. Instead of going through the food line, as he’d expected, they were handed sheets of paper with the evening’s menu.
“Is this how this always works?” David asked.
“Only at night. For breakfast and lunch, you go through the line,” Kirk explained.
“Tell us about yourself, Allen. I take it you grew up on a farm,” Lindsey said.
“Not exactly. My grandmother, father, and uncle did, but my father left the farm when he went off to college. My grandmother recently moved to Malibu with my parents, so only my uncle farms now. I grew up in a small Midwestern town. It was the kind of place where everyone knows everyone else,” David explained.
“What do you like to do?” Jamie asked.
“Normal stuff, I guess. Our high school was big on sports, so I played both football and baseball. In fact, I was thinking about trying out for the baseball team on Monday.”
Kirk and Lindsey each gave him skeptical looks. David had decided to refrain from totally deceiving them. It would be easier if they knew some truths when his true identity was finally unveiled.
“That might be harder to do than you think,” Kirk weighed in.
“I’m sure it will be,” David conceded.
Their conversation was interrupted by Veronica and a girl with two guys David didn’t know yet. He didn’t have to know their names to guess what they represented, though. David had a friend, Halle James, who was also an actor and had grown up around the business. While he had filmed one of his movies, he’d stayed at her house when he was in LA. Halle had taken David to a party that her high school friends were having. These four would have fit in perfectly.
“Fair warning, Allen. If you want to have any kind of social life at college, you shouldn’t hang out with these three,” Veronica said.
“Don’t you all have something better to do than harass us? Like torturing kittens or whatever it is you get up to for fun?” Kirk fired back.
The other girl looked appalled at the kitten reference.
“He’ll never fit in, regardless,” one of the guys commented.
“You’ve been warned,” Veronica said and then led her group to another table.
“You’ve been warned,” Lindsey mimicked snarkily. “I hate my roommate some days.”
“Wait,” David said. “She’s your roommate?”
“Yes, and she’s a total entitled snot,” Lindsey grumped.
“Does she wear frilly panty sets?” David asked like he was a twelve-year-old horndog.
Lindsey had a look of horror on her face. Both Kirk and Jamie cracked up when they saw her reaction.
“Linds, he got you again,” Kirk observed.
“We were looking for a replacement when we met you,” Lindsey threatened.
David batted his eyes at her.