For such an approach to work, it was crucial to know that the person delivering the honest news really did have your back. You had to absolutely know that their only goal was to help.
She had heard David talk about circles of trust in passing before. Now she wanted to learn more about them. Lexi decided she would call David’s uncle to see if he would help her understand how they worked. Her most important takeaway from the evening’s discussion was that you shouldn’t treat everyone the same. She hadn’t consciously thought about it in those terms, but it made sense.
What Lexi wanted after that meeting was to figure out how she could help David achieve his goals of becoming the starting quarterback at USC and getting his football scholarship.
Lexi was brought out of her thoughts when Cassidy leaned around her so she could talk to the Alpha Mu sitting next to Lexi.
“Hey, Milena. What exactly happened last night?”
“After you left, David wanted to get in some batting practice; he let me come watch. We were interrupted when Crystal called. She said that her boyfriend was getting into a fight with the Deltas. If it had been any other house, I would have ignored her,” Milena shared.
“What’s wrong with the Deltas?” Lexi asked.
“It’s been taken over by the rugby team. They like to fight and have a bad reputation. Crystal has put the word out that they’re to be blackballed by all the sororities,” Milena explained.
“Did you see what happened?” Cassidy asked.
“No. David made me stay in the car. The Deltas were fighting with everyone, so I focused on getting our girls out of harm’s way.”
One of the other Alpha Mus chimed in.
“They were serving vodka shots after they ran out of tequila. My ex told me that whenever he drank vodka, he either got arrested or got into a fight. It looked like that was true last night. I heard the police had to come break up the party.”
“What happened to David?” Cassidy asked.
One of the other Alpha Mus leaned forward so she could talk.
“I heard that David jumped into the middle of it and saved Matt by taking on three guys who had ganged up on Matt. The problem was that when they got back to the car, the guy he saved made Crystal leave David behind.
“Crystal said she was amazed when he took down two of the biggest Deltas and then handled Silas Kemp, who’s the meanest one of the bunch, to save her boyfriend. I heard that David broke Silas’s nose. He’s put the word out that he’ll be looking David up, but Crystal said she doubted David has anything to worry about after watching his kung-fu-like moves.”
“What’s this guy look like?” Cassidy asked.
“I have a picture from when we went to their house for a party,” Milena said as she pulled out her phone and flipped through her pics. When she found it, she enlarged the picture and handed it to Cassidy. “He’s the one on the right.”
“Is it okay if I send this to my phone?” Cassidy asked.
“Sure. Why do you want it?” Milena asked.
“I plan to have a talk with him,” Cassidy said seriously. “Does he live in the house?”
“Yeah. Second floor, last door on the right,” the girl who leaned in shared.
“You slut! We were told not to go upstairs with them,” Milena scolded.
“It wasn’t like that. I cut my hand on a piece of glass, and he gave me a Band-Aid.”
“Yeah, right,” the other one chimed in.
Another Alpha Mu, who was sitting behind them eavesdropping, tapped Lexi on the shoulder.
“I’ve been trying to get David to pick me after a game. Is he worth the effort?”
Lexi blushed.
“You would think he was big all over,” Cassidy shared as she held up her hand and wiggled her pinky.
“Cassidy Hope,” David’s mother said. “Don’t lie to the girls. I remember his first girlfriend sharing that he’s hung like a horse.”
“I warned my son about marrying you. It’s comments like that that have made me prematurely gray,” Grandma Dawson said, and both women laughed at the stunned looks from the Alpha Mus.
David’s dad looked like he could use another beer. Lexi agreed with him.
USC lost its game. Washington never gave David anything to hit, and he ended up walking four times. The rest of the team couldn’t do anything at the plate.
After the game, David’s family all went home. He’d invited Tracy, Pam, and Cassidy to go to Alex’s going-away party. Lexi smirked when he came out of the stadium, pointed at the four of them, and announced, “You four.”
His three friends vamped it up to make the jock bunnies jealous. Apparently, Lexi didn’t act excited enough because David scooped her up in his arms and started to walk to his car. The girls all laughed at his antics as Lexi tried to wiggle free.
“Put me down, you bully. I can walk,” she grumped.
“If I do, will you be going with us?” he asked in mock seriousness.
“Just put me down.”
Instead, he leaned down and kissed her. She stopped trying to get away.
“Put her down before the two of you do it in the parking lot,” Pam complained.
He finally did.
“We should grab something to eat before we go to the party,” David suggested.
“I swear,” Lexi said, putting her hands on her hips and glaring at him, and then turning to his friends. “He thinks that if he feeds us, it entitles him to have sex with all of us.”
Lexi expected them to be indignant at her proclamation. She was mistaken.
“I could eat,” Tracy said.
“Do you think we could skip the party?” Pam asked.
David looked at Cassidy.
“I’ll do whatever you all decide,” she said and bit her bottom lip.
It took Lexi a moment to understand they were all putting her on. She suddenly realized that they had accepted her as one of their group, which made her day.
Lexi woke up to find David still asleep.
She began to think about her goal of helping him when he stirred. He got up, went to the bathroom, and brushed his teeth before rejoining her in the bed. He leaned down and kissed her.
“I had fun last night. I see why you like your girls,” Lexi said, referring to Tracy, Pam, and Cassidy.
“They’re a special bunch.”
“I’ve been thinking about what your uncle said yesterday, and I have a couple of ideas.”
“Look at you, being the best PA ever,” he teased.
“Is there a coach that you trust?”
“Coach Deneau,” he said, naming his baseball coach without hesitation.
“He would be someone you need to talk to, then. He knows how college athletics work and could probably give you insight into how to tackle your football issue,” she suggested.
David sat up and smiled at her.
“It couldn’t hurt,” he decided.
“I have one other idea right now. You have to start picking the Alpha Mus after games.”
He barked out a laugh and shook his head in disbelief.
“Listen to me before you dismiss it out of hand,” she said sternly, then stared at him until he gave her a nod. “Crystal tells them everything that’s going on with Matt.”
David waggled his eyebrows at Lexi.
“You evil little minx. You’re a genius,” he said, rubbing his hands together, and then suddenly froze. “Do you think it would be better if I try to bed them all? Or should I just make three or four of them my informants?”
“Dick! I’m trying to be serious.”
“Milena is her roommate. I think she’d be willing,” he ventured.
He suddenly got serious, which surprised Lexi.
“Hey, I try not to flaunt other women when I’m with you. If you’re uncomfortable at all talking about stuff like this...”
Damn him! It was stuff like this that made her want to use the forbidden ‘L’ word. Lexi strongly suspected that if she seriously pushed it, she could make him exclusive to her.
“I would hope that you could talk to me about anything,” she responded.
“I think I might like Milena, and it would feel wrong using her as an informant,” he admitted.