David knew a couple of students in his classes who also videoed the lectures. They were kind enough to send them to him. He skipped his workout with Ridge to meet with his tutor to make sure he understood what he’d missed today in his classes.
He decided to go back to the dorm for an early dinner before going to baseball practice and swung by Lindsey’s room to see if she wanted to join him.
“Thanks,” Lindsey said, looking relieved that he hadn’t abandoned her. “We should ask Lauren, too.”
“Why?” David asked.
“Veronica said some unkind things...”
David did a mental head slap for causing drama for the unfortunate girl. He just nodded as they went across the hall to Lauren’s door and knocked.
“Come to dinner with us,” David offered when she opened the door.
Lauren thought about it for all of a second before she joined them. They were quiet until they got onto the elevator.
“I figured out what you were doing, and it worked. Veronica and the rest of them aren’t talking to me,” Lauren accused David.
Lindsey was terrible at this because she did the whole looking-away bit that gave David away. His experience was that when caught, own it.
“Yeah, I set you up,” David admitted.
“I thought you said you were done playing games,” Lindsey grumped.
“I am, but I’m not without skills.”
“David was the one who stopped a lot of the retaliation,” Lindsey shared.
Lauren looked at him for confirmation, and he just shrugged.
“Were you planning on messing with our hand cream?” Lauren asked.
That made him smile.
“If the stuff didn’t take so long to wear off, I would have,” he confessed.
“Is Lexi going to mess with us?” Lauren asked.
“Boy, you’re just full of questions,” he said as the elevator door opened and they got off.
David stopped them before going into the cafeteria.
“What I said last night, I meant. I don’t need Lexi to fight my battles,” he said and saw Lauren relax. He waggled his eyebrows at her. “But that doesn’t mean I control Lexi, either.”
“Jerk,” she mumbled.
That put a smile on his face. In his experience, if a girl called him a jerk, it meant she liked him. If Lauren hadn’t been hanging around Christian, Peter, and Veronica, he’d probably have asked her out. He saw why Kirk had dated her. He looked forward to getting to know her better.
While David was getting dressed for baseball practice, he reflected on dinner. People noticed that David was having dinner with the two girls. He was sure word would get back to his floor. He hoped the message would be received.
Lindsey had complained that she was starting to get fat, so David suggested that she join him for afternoon workouts. Cassidy had tailored each guy’s exercise regime to fit their particular needs. He assured Lindsey that Cassidy could help her tone up.
David was surprised that Lauren wanted to come, too. To his eye, she was near perfect. Plus, his Alpha Male side took notice and became protective. He knew that was probably not good. David relented when the big brain kicked in and reminded him that he didn’t need a girlfriend. Besides, any girl who looked like Lauren could handle a few jocks.
David was of the belief that Cassidy would be good for Lindsey. He’d talked to Tracy, and she attributed Pam’s gain in self-confidence to his little ninja’s influence. He hoped Cassidy could also insert a backbone into Linds. Maybe she could even learn to stand up to her overbearing boyfriend.
Just as David was ready to go grab some batting practice, he was summoned to the coach’s office.
Workmen were busy making repairs, so they used the trainer’s office.
“I hear you had some excitement last night,” Coach Deneau said to kick their meeting off.
“Not ideal for the middle of the night,” David admitted.
“You’re okay, though?”
“I’m fine.”
“Jorge and Mason caused an uproar in the athletic department today. It’s not official yet, but they will be leaving school. Please don’t say anything until I tell the team.”
David was surprised that a college coach would share that with him. It told him that this particular coach trusted him.
“Yeah, no problem.”
“I received a call from Coach Farrow to discuss the logistics of sharing you during spring football practice. Have you thought about how you want this to work?” Coach Deneau asked.
“I made a commitment to the baseball team to help support Andres, but my main focus when coming to USC was to play football. They want me to switch to defense, so I’ll have to work to make that happen,” David said, not really solving Coach Deneau’s predicament.
Coach Deneau took a moment to think about what he wanted to say.
“If you were just about anyone else, I would be worried that you would let baseball slip so you could focus on football,” he began.
“I’d thought I could come in before or after football practice to use the batting cage. I would also tell the football team that if we had games, I would have to skip football,” David offered.
“That was along the lines of what I was thinking. Andres is convinced that we should do whatever it takes to make sure you’re part of the team. I also had an interesting conversation with Allard. I didn’t realize that whenever you play, your team wins.”
David shook his head.
“That was a happy coincidence when I was on the USA Under-18 team. In a way, it’s true, because we only won when I started.”
“Well, I looked at our record for this year, and it’s happened here too, so far. If it keeps happening, I’ll start to believe it,” Coach Deneau said, looking amused.
David just shrugged.
“When I talked to Coach Farrow, he told me that the football team had promised you a scholarship and hadn’t come through.”
That was something David wasn’t happy about. He read the football blogs, and one kept track of available football scholarships. It was evident that the football team had one to give him.
“Yes,” David said neutrally.
“I talked to the athletic director today. What would you think of me giving you Mason’s scholarship and Jorge’s to Seamus?”
David blinked a few times before smiling.
“It might make me rethink my priorities,” he admitted.
“The athletic director is aware of what Coach Clayton is up to and wanted you to know that he hoped to get your situation sorted by the fall. I’ll need both your and Andres’ scholarships for next year, so this would only be temporary.”
“Do me a favor and hint to Coach Clayton that I might make baseball a priority since they didn’t come through on their promise. That may force their hand, and it could let you use this one on someone else,” David suggested.
Coach Deneau looked thoughtful for a few seconds and then nodded.
“I don’t know how to thank you,” David said and then smiled. “Then again, I might, after all. There were three guys on my Under-18 team who were high school underclassmen. I would be willing to call them and see if they wanted to come to play with me. That is, if they don’t decide to bypass college ball.”
Coach Deneau smiled.
“Get with Coach Homer and coordinate with him,” he said, referring David to their recruiting coordinator.
“Also, have you ever thought of getting players from Cuba? When I was there filming my movie, I worked out with one of their national team coaches. He would know who had talent and might want to come to the US for college. Heck, you might want to hire him,” David suggested.
Coach Deneau began to laugh.
“If Coach Clayton would get his head out of his ass, I bet you have more contacts in football.”
David gave him a sheepish grin.
“Maybe. Then again, I might just wait until he gets replaced.”
Coach Deneau kicked him out after that parting shot.