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“Thanks, Dad. You always know the right thing to say.”

They spent a few minutes catching up. When they were done, Matt was in a better frame of mind. Even if David knew the plays, he would never get a chance to show his offensive skills if he spent all his time playing defense.

Then Matt’s mind switched to Crystal. She wanted him to go to a party tonight. She reasoned he should blow off some steam before practice started. He agreed with her.

David

It was Sunday night, and David had just gotten back to his townhouse after spending time with his family. Over the weekend, Cassidy’s varsity eight had won their race, and the baseball team had swept Arizona State to put them at the top of the Pac-12 standings. As a bonus, he’d received his gear and a locker for football.

While David was at the football facility, he’d met with Ridge, and they’d reviewed the game film from last year’s Notre Dame fiasco. It had been interesting to see how Ridge broke down game film compared to how David had been taught to do that by former NFL coach Bud Mason.

This turned out to be something that David was clearly better at than Ridge. David knew that once Ridge reached the NFL, he would quickly learn how to do it. He would have to if he were to become a success in the league.

Ridge used the film session to help himself learn the craft and teach David USC’s playbook. They’d previously practiced a few of the plays, but seeing them unfold against a real defense helped David see what each play was intended to do. The bonus was that he had Ridge’s live commentary as he ran them back and forth to point out everyone’s responsibility.

David could hardly wait for football practice to begin tomorrow.

While he was at the townhome, Cassidy had asked what he planned to do for spring break. She’d gone with David and her best friend Brook on a Caribbean cruise two years ago. Last year, David had traveled to Monte Carlo, Greece, and then New York City. She’d suggested that they go to his place in Canada this year that was close to a large ski resort.

He had a sizeable four-bedroom condo that he’d had decorated by his close friend Cindy Lewis. She’d also tackled his house in Malibu and the townhome where Cassidy, Tracy, and Pam lived. The condo in Whistler, British Columbia, had been designed to be a vacation spot for larger groups. David had initially thought about using it for whole-family vacations.

The rooms had been nicknamed ‘six-packs.’ There was a smaller bedroom that contained a queen-sized bed, and then the master where David had them put a California King to accommodate his height. Two bedrooms had two bunk beds with a trundle bed, making it possible to hold six adults in each. That meant it could comfortably sleep 16; more if you doubled up kids in the six-packs.

His mom had helped him turn the condo into a successful Airbnb. She’d had the foresight to block off Easter weekend and the following week in case David decided to use it.

His first call was to Lexi since he would need her to set everything up. He had to grin because he hadn’t even considered planning a vacation on his own. It was one of the many perks that money had made possible for him.

“What was Andres’ deal?” Lexi asked without a preamble.

She’d come to his Saturday game, and Andres had made it known that he knew what David had done with his sister. Lexi caught the tail end of it. She’d been curious, but somehow David had been able to distract her as other stuff had come up.

“His sister was waiting for him after Friday night’s game by the players’ entrance. The team got it into their heads that I had to lose my ‘Boy Scout’ moniker. I bet you can put it together,” David said, not wanting to have to spell it out.

Even though they weren’t exclusive, he didn’t like to throw other women in her face.

“You banged his sister?!” Lexi asked.

She’d figured it out.

“He was being unreasonable,” David tried.

“Because ... you banged his sister?!”

“It sounds worse when you say it that way.”

Lexi giggled at his discomfort.

“I didn’t know she was his sister,” David said. “Besides, she talked to him today, so he wasn’t as mad as he was last night.”

Andres had finally admitted that David hadn’t done it on purpose. His sister had explained sibling boundaries, which hadn’t made Andres happy, but he’d understood. She’d accepted that Andres was her big brother and would always be protective of her.

Andres had finally calmed down when his sister had pointed out that it could have been any of his other teammates. He decided that if it had to happen, at least he knew David would treat her right. While the other guys had been bragging about the jock bunnies they’d bagged, David hadn’t said a word. It wasn’t until Andres had cornered Allard, who knew his sister, that he’d discovered who David had taken back to Baseball House.

It might have come to fisticuffs, but David used a martial-arts move Cassidy had taught him, after which Andres decided that he needed the thumb on his throwing hand more than he needed to punch David. David understood completely. In fact, he felt sympathetic towards Andres because he’d been on the receiving end of that move more than once.

The pain had focused Andres’ thinking, so he’d grudgingly agreed not to try to kick David’s butt Saturday night. By Sunday, he’d talked to his sister. While Andres wasn’t happy it had happened, he’d come to terms with it.

“Yeah, right. You banged his sister,” Lexi teased.

“Not that I’m not enjoying this discussion, but Cassidy wants to organize a spring-break trip to my place in Whistler.”

“When are you ever going to grow a pair?” Lexi asked, sounding pissed.

“What do you mean?”

“Cassidy says she wants something, and you don’t even think about it; you just do it. If it were anyone else, you’d make up your own mind,” Lexi said.

David counted to ten, so he wouldn’t snap back, but he realized she had a point while doing so. So, he decided to own it.

“And ... your point is?”

She must have been stunned because she didn’t respond right away.

“I honestly expected you to try to deny it.”

“Why should I? It’s true, after all. That doesn’t mean that if she asked for something crazy, I wouldn’t tell her ‘no,’ though,” he said.

From the outside, Cassidy and David’s friendship probably confused people. They’d met in high school during their freshman year when her dad had taken the head football coaching position. David had first been attracted to her because she seemed to be a quirky, naïve girl. It hadn’t taken him long to find out she actually was this badass little ninja with a heart of gold.

Part of what he liked about her was that she wasn’t shy about making him the man in the friendship. She didn’t even think about picking up a dinner check or buying something when they were together. David had been brought up to treat any girl like a lady. Some girls didn’t like to go along with that.

With Cassidy, David never had to fight her when it came to that kind of stuff. That didn’t mean he didn’t joke about her never having her wallet with her. But beneath it all, he was glad that whenever he offered something to Cassidy, the little ninja would just graciously accept it. He wished more girls were like that.

Paying for everything when they were together didn’t trouble him because Cassidy never thought of taking advantage of him. She was a lot like Tracy in that regard, which was why David considered her to be one of his best friends.

Partly, it was because of all the time Cassidy and David had spent together. They’d reached the point in their relationship where they didn’t even think about holding back. She wasn’t afraid to tell him if he was making a bonehead move or treating someone in a manner he wouldn’t have if he were thinking clearly. Once his movies became successful, and he’d won his Academy Award, having someone in his life who would do that was invaluable.