“Then tell her.”
David shook his head at Lexi’s simple solution.
“What is it you always tell me?” Lexi asked.
“To be honest. You might be surprised at how they respond,” he admitted.
“Why is this any different?”
“I get it, but I’m not sure if I trust her yet. If I did, it would be different,” he explained.
“Is this part of the circle-of-trust stuff your uncle was talking about?”
He gave her a curious look.
“Now that you mention it, yes, it is. Think about it. Crystal is Milena’s sorority sister. If I told Milena that I was looking for dirt on Crystal’s boyfriend, how long do you think it would take for Milena to share that with Crystal?” David asked.
Lexi understood.
“So, how are you going to get the information you need?”
“If Crystal and Matt come up in conversation...” David said with a shrug. “But I’m not planning on going out with Milena just to dig up dirt.”
This was one of those times when the old Lexi was conflicted with what she was trying to become. In Hollywood, using sex to reach your goal was almost second nature. David’s world view sometimes surprised her. Instead of facing that right now, she changed the topic of conversation.
“I talked to Fiona the other day,” she said.
He bounced on the bed like an excited six-year-old.
“Did she ask about me?!”
“She wanted to know why you hadn’t called her,” Lexi teased.
“Because neither of you would give me her phone number!”
“I heard all about how you stalked Kate Upton. Kendal told me it would be a mistake to give you Fiona’s digits.”
Kendal Miller had been his first PA and worked at the management company that Lexi worked for. Lexi had spent a lot of time with her to learn what it took to be a good PA. During those conversations, Kendal had shared stuff for Lexi to be cautious of. Part of her job was to rein David in at times.
“I wonder if I can still fire her,” David contemplated.
“Don’t even think about it,” Lexi said, which earned her an eye roll.
“Quit toying with me and tell me what Fiona wanted.”
“She wants to meet you for dinner. I made reservations for you at Soho House in West Hollywood since you haven’t been using your membership there. She’ll meet you there at eight.”
David thanked Lexi for being a great PA. Then they got busy being friends with benefits ... three times.
Chapter 39
David
Lexi left to do laundry at her condo, so David grabbed a quick bite and then went to the baseball stadium. He found Coach Deneau in his office.
“You have a minute?” David asked.
“Sure. I wanted to talk to you anyway.”
“Yeah? What about?”
“I talked to Coach Conde yesterday,” Coach Deneau said.
“Really? How is Mario doing?”
Coach Conde coached the baseball team David had worked out with in Cuba while shooting his movie. He was also an assistant coach for the Cuban Pan Am team David faced.
“We had a long talk about you,” Coach Deneau said with a smile. “You made quite the impression.”
“Did he have any players we could recruit?”
“He did, but said that most kids good enough to play college ball want to play professionally. I didn’t realize how poor they were there.”
“It’s a whole different culture. The government provides basic handouts, and salaries are low. Most Cubans have to have some form of side income to make ends meet. I ran into a one who had been a doctor who was bartending so he could earn American dollars.
“I can see them being focused on the money. Even the lowest minor league contract would make them kings back home. It doesn’t take much each month to make a real difference in their family’s lives,” David shared.
“Do you think these kids are worth pursuing?”
“I do because you can sell them on both an education and exposure to scouts. You would have to give them a full ride or help them with some other form of financial aid, but these kids will work their butts off. My impression was that many of them would benefit from a good training program. The majority of them don’t have access to anything like what we have in our weight room, the specialized conditioning, or the other training aids we have,” David said.
“That’s what Coach Conde told me. He also said he would be interested in coming to America.”
“I only worked with him for a few weeks, so I don’t really know if he’s a great coach or not. I would guess he is since he was on the coaching staff for the Cuban team at the Pan Am games. He did impress me in our interactions in Cuba. I do know that he has contacts all over Cuba. I’m sure you can figure it out from here,” David said.
“Why are you early?”
“I wanted to talk to you. I need advice on how to handle a situation,” David said.
He then spent thirty minutes talking about what was going on with him and football. David shared his decision that he wanted to play quarterback.
“I guess I’m asking what you think would be the best way to approach Coach Clayton and not have him shut me down,” David said to finish.
“I have a bit of inside information that might help you out. Word in the athletic department is that Matt Long may be held out from practice because of his ribs. He’s getting a CT scan today so they can see the extent of the damage. For now, Travis Barry will be taking Matt’s snaps in practice,” Coach Deneau shared.
Travis was a senior, and David was sure he was excited to get his shot.
“How should I play it?” David asked.
“If you came in on Monday morning, and I were Coach Clayton, I would kick you out of my office. Now, if you came in on Wednesday, and Matt isn’t back, and Travis isn’t doing the job, I would begin to look down the depth chart. Not so much as a replacement for Matt, but because I would worry about the season if he gets hurt.
“If I were you, I would approach him with a ‘for the good of the team’ pitch. Tell him that you would like to get some reps at quarterback in case of an emergency. If you don’t come across as trying to change what Coach Clayton has planned, he would be more likely to let you on the offensive side of the ball,” Coach Deneau said.
“That sounds a bit thin, if you ask me,” David complained.
“Well, anything short of a coaching change is going to leave you behind the eight ball. You said you planned to redshirt this fall. Show him what you can do in practice and, while you’re at it, show the fans who come out to watch practices; they’re open to public viewing. I’ve come to recognize that when you have David Dawson on your team, the alumni and fans know about it.
“Coach Clayton knows that if he gets on the wrong side of certain alumni, his days at USC are numbered. And the fans always think the guy on the bench is the answer. Especially if your team starts losing this coming season. You just need to be the guy they’re all looking at as the savior,” Coach Deneau advised.
“Is that why you play me?” David asked with a little smile.
“I won’t be if you go oh-for-four like you did yesterday,” Coach Deneau shot back.
“They walked me,” David said to defend himself, then added, “You need to either move me down in the lineup or once I’m on the base path, cut me loose so I can make them pay for walking me.”
“You trying to tell me how to do my job?” Coach Deneau asked, giving David a disapproving look.
“Of course I am. Have you ever met a teenager that didn’t know what was best? If you old folks would just get out of the way and let us run things...” David teased.
Coach Deneau kicked David out of his office with the instructions to go learn how to hit. David was starting to really like him.
Coach Deneau moved David into the third spot in the lineup. It worked like a charm. With players in front of him that got on base, Washington was hesitant to walk him. They also didn’t want to have multiple base runners when the Trojans’ cleanup hitter, Andres, was up right after David.