“Four,” Corvus jumped in.
“… six or eight weeks,” Dare settled on.
“What if I invited Brook out at the same time?” David asked.
“One day,” Dare decided.
“No way, man. For that, you would need a year,” Corvus pointed out.
Dare thought about it for a moment, then nodded.
“For my side, I want to be able to see and use the results and to share them with teammates and coaches. And, of course, I want any product that results from this to be developed and sold under an arrangement like what we have with the drones. My only other condition is that the system won’t be marketed or sold to anyone that I might play against until I am out of college,” David added.
“We could sell this?” Corvus asked Dare.
“He would help us with that,” Dare explained.
David nodded his agreement.
“That’s our cue. When David agrees, it’s best to leave so he doesn’t change his mind,” Dare said.
“We have time to go to the National Museum of Mathematics,” Corvus said excitedly.
David had no words for that. On the list of things to see in New York City, that was one he would never have thought of.
Dare got up and surprised David when he hugged him.
“I miss you,” the little dumbass shared.
“Me too. School starts in a couple of weeks. Would that work for you?”
Dare and Corvus both nodded.
“You know the drill. Call Megan, and she’ll book your flights and give you any money you need. You can stay at my townhouse, which is just a couple of blocks from the practice fields. And we have two cars that you can use if you need to go somewhere.
“Just tell me that you don’t need any cryptocurrencies. Megan yells at me when you do that,” David shared.
“I won’t have to buy anything off the darknet. Everything we need is readably available,” Dare shared.
“Darknet?” Corvus asked.
Dare glared at him and then smiled at David. The little shit was too smart for his own good.
Once done, they left to learn more about the history of math.
◊◊◊
The shoot turned out to be for a spinoff of a men’s magazine. This one was called Latest Obsession. It was a women’s magazine focused on hot guys. Their tagline was ‘The Best Way to Get Over Your Latest Obsession is to Get Under Him.’
David should have been clued in to what kind of shoot it would be when ALL of Adrienne’s models showed up to ‘see a professional at work.’ His first hint was when they used the same exact wording when he asked why they were there.
While it turned out to not be quite full-on nudity, it was damned close.
Halfway through the shoot, Adrienne pulled him off the set.
“Feel free to say no …”
“No!” David said without even needing to hear what she had to say.
“But …?”
“You’re about to bring in a male model, aren’t you?” he asked.
“I just learned that fifty percent of their readership is gay,” she admitted.
David gave his friend a shark smile—or maybe it was the smile prey wore when they got away from the shark.
“I can sympathize, but Frank has worked hard to make my image what it is. I also have my movies to consider,” David explained.
“Bi guys are sexy,” Adrienne teased.
“As are bi girls.”
Then David got to the point.
“I don’t sit around at night worrying about who’s looking at my pictures. What I don’t want to be is dishonest. I’m not that guy.”
“I’ll let them know,” Adrienne said. “And so that you know, you are raising a lot of money for charity with this shoot.”
‘I better be,’ David thought as he went back to work.
◊◊◊
They went to the airport to fly home. David planned to spend time with his kids during his remaining time off. He also had a few odds and ends to handle before school started.
He hated boarding first, especially now that people recognized him. They all wanted to stop and say hello, which only served to make the boarding process take three times longer than usual. Even if David got on last, the flight crew all met him at the door and wanted to take pictures and have him sign autographs.
When he was finally seated, the airplane began to back away from the gate. David put in his earbuds and tried to relax. His goal was to get some sleep before they reached LA.
They finally worked their way to the front of the line for takeoff. The engines wound up before the pilot released the brakes. David was pushed back into his seat and suddenly found a hand clasped to his. When they started to level off, the acceleration reduced. The girl next to him jerked her hand away.
“Not a fan of flying?” he asked, offering a smile to the pretty blond.
“What gave it away?” she asked, forcing a fake chuckle.
“Just a feeling.”
“I’ve never flown alone,” she said, her eyes still fixed on the seat in front of her.
“Well, you aren’t alone. I mean, aren’t you sitting here with me?” David said.
The girl looked at him, and something changed.
“I know you,” she said.
David tried not to look disappointed. Recently, everybody knew him. The last thing he wanted to do was spend the next five hours hearing how he had a new biggest fan. Maybe he could convince his mom to change seats with him. Better yet, he could make his worthless PA do it.
“My dad is your coach.”
“Who’s your dad?” David asked as he tried to wrap his brain around the odds of this happening.
“Coach Farrow. I’m Rachel.”
Coach Farrow was USC’s defensive coordinator and the man responsible for David playing ball there. When he showed David around campus, the coach had mentioned he had a daughter who went there. David was surprised their paths had never crossed.
“What were you doing in New York?”
“That’s where my mom and younger brother live. He’s a junior in high school, and my parents promised him that he wouldn’t have to change schools again, so we kept the house there.”
“Why aren’t you spending your summer in New York?” David asked.
“That was the plan, but my dad offered me a job for the summer.”
“In the football offices?”
Rachel and David talked the whole flight. It was the quickest five hours of his life. Happily, during that window of time he’d forgotten both Brook and Lexi.
They’d talked about everything. It reminded him of the way he and Tami had been when they were growing up. So, when the pilot announced that they would be landing, David wanted to be sure to keep in touch.
“I’m having a get-together the Friday before summer school starts for all the new football players and their families. You and your dad should come.”
For the first time, he saw something in her eyes he hadn’t expected: regret.
“I’m dating someone.”
Why was it when you found a girl who might be perfect for you, you discovered that they were with someone?
“Bring him,” David was able to choke out.
“Yeah?” Rachel asked hesitantly.
“Yeah. Why not? My whole family will be there. I planned to ask your dad anyway, so I’m hoping he’ll be there. It would be a great way for you to meet all the new guys,” David said with more confidence.
“Give me your number. I’ll call you and let you know.”
“Can I have yours?”
“Sorry, but it’s against athletic department rules to give out staff numbers to athletes,” Rachel said.
He barked out a laugh.
“I call bullshit. I bet it was your dad who told you that.”
David showed her his contact list to prove he wasn’t pulling one over on her. Lexi had gathered all the numbers and put them into his phone.
“Why, that sneaky … yes, he did,” Rachel confirmed.
Without saying anything more, she entered her number.
“Be sure to put mine on speed dial,” David said.
“Why?”
“So when you break up with your boyfriend, you can call me, and I can set you up.”
He could see that she didn’t know what to say to that.