◊◊◊
The plan hadn’t worked. Rachel ordered the most expensive item on the menu and a $300 bottle of wine and proceeded to drink it all.
She was willing to go home with him, but his stupid rules kicked in. The one that said to take a drunk girl home was killing him in college. Coach Farrow was unhappy with his date when David brought her to his doorstep. Rachel said, “Hello, Daddy,” and promptly threw up wine and surf-and-turf all over his entry.
David gagged and threw his hands up when he saw she’d barfed on her dad’s shoes. He had visions of that happening at some point with his little princess, Carol. For her, he would clean it up. Rachel wasn’t his kid.
“I’m out,” David announced as he backed up.
He received one of those ‘we’ll talk later’ looks from her dad as he made good his escape.
◊◊◊
David came back to his dorm to find Alex looking anxious.
“What’s your problem?” David asked.
“Wren’s in your bedroom. She said you’d come back from your date sexually frustrated, and she’s here to help you with that.”
Karma was kicking in, and for once, it was in his favor.
“Please, please, please,” Alex begged.
He was convinced that if David got Wren started, he could join in. Alex had an enormous crush on Wren.
“Dude, she specifically told me that when we’re together, she only wants it to be me,” David reminded him for the tenth time.
“What if I just come in naked and let her decide?” Alex suggested.
“How about I just ask her?” David suggested.
David went to his bedroom and opened the door. There was mood music playing and candles all around the room.
It reminded him of when he tried to woo Tami in high school. His mistake had been using scented candles, and the two of them nearly suffocated.
Wren was lying on his bed in a risqué bra and panty set that woke Mr. Happy up. Alex about swallowed his tongue.
“Alex wanted to know if you’d allow him to join us,”
David said.
“No.”
“Fuck me!” Alex cried out and flopped on the floor like one of his two-year-olds when they didn’t get their way.
David closed and locked the door.
“So, how was your day?” David asked to make small talk.
“Shut up and come here,” Wren said.
David did just that.
◊◊◊
David met Greg and Cassidy at the coffee shop. He grabbed a tea and a slice of carrot cake and joined them at the back table.
He looked Cassidy in the eye. As he spoke, she scooted down in the chair, crossed her arms over her chest, and glared at him. Her body language screamed that she knew exactly what he was going to ask.
“You happy?”
She looked out the window and then back.
“Paddy didn’t hurt him,” Cassidy pouted.
“He fucked up everyone else, though. If you ever use him again, don’t ask me to be involved,” Greg said.
David gave his brother a nod to acknowledge his wishes and then turned back to Cassidy.
“Can we put a bow on it? Did you get the closure you were looking for?” David asked.
“He heard me, and I got it off my chest. It just wasn’t as satisfying as I thought it would be.”
“Revenge never is, but I’m not necessarily a ‘turn the other cheek’ kind of guy. With that said, I’m relieved to hear Knackers didn’t get his arm broken. He sort of started to grow on me toward the end,” David admitted.
“I call bullshit. You take more shit than I would,” Greg said.
“What
are
you
talking
about?”
David
asked
incredulously.
Cassidy snorted out a laugh and then covered her mouth.
“Dude?! Do I have to list everything? Let’s start with Tracy back in high school. Then, more recently, Lexi.
Somehow, you take their shit, and the next thing everyone knows, you’ve forgiven them, and they’re back to being your best friend. I tell you a fact … if Angie came crawling back, I would kick her to the curb without a second thought,” Greg said.
David rocked back into his chair to think about what his brother was saying.
“I guess I just try to see it from their point of view. Tracy was just a kid, and all my fame scared her, and we found out later that she’d been abused …” David trailed off and then looked his brother in the eye. “Lexi and I are through.
I can’t really see how her position was defensible.”
“Then why set her up in Monaco and have her work for you?” Greg asked.
“That came down to a risk-mitigation strategy. If anyone ever wanted to take me down, Lexi is in a position to do it.
She and I slept together for nearly two years, the whole time she worked for me. So, from the outside, people could look at that and say that she was forced somehow, even though it wasn’t the case.
“If I were mercenary, I would hire her back just so I could point out that if she wasn’t happy, then why would she come back to work for me? The truth came down to the fact that we had history, much of it good, and Lexi was the best PA I ever had. I knew her unique skill set would be valuable at some point,” David said.
“That’s a bit disappointing, jockstrap. I grew up with you, and if you have to work that hard to explain something, you’re full of it,” Greg said.
“Listen, ballet boy …” David began. “Ow!”
“Focus,” Cassidy said. “This is about me, not your messed-up sex life.”
David gave his brother a dirty look and then turned to Cassidy.
“As I asked before, are we done with this?”
“I can put it behind me now. I have to start thinking about what’s next if I can’t row or join the Marines. It’s been a lot to come to grips with,” Cassidy admitted, and David saw her start to tear up.
“You can still be a kick-ass trainer. You could also take the necessary classes to get into vet school; I assume you
know they have one here at USC. You could become my pilot. What about becoming my entourage and hanging with me?” David asked.
“Or you could just marry her,” Greg suggested.
Cassidy perked up.
“We could go ring shopping. I want to pick it out because you have terrible taste. Do you have J. Lo or Kim Kardashian’s number? They did it up right.”
David knew Cassidy would wear it for about a week and then complain that the giant diamond got in the way of workouts or something silly. But seeing her finally smile made him decide that Greg might not die later today.
“I’ve got class,” David said as he purposefully looked at his phone.
“I’m taking Greg shopping,” Cassidy said.
David smirked when his brother’s mouth fell open. His evil little ninja would probably really make Greg go.
◊◊◊
David walked into the coach’s offices and found Rachel with her head on the desk.
“You did it up last night,” David said.
“Wine headaches are the worst,” Rachel moaned.
“Why didn’t you take the day off?”
“My dad made me.”
He would have to remember that ‘dad’ move. His bet was on Coby being the first one he’d get to try it out on.
“When do you want to go out again?” David asked.
Rachel lifted her head from the desk and looked surprised.
“You’re serious?”
“Why not? We got the jitters of the first date out of the way. It can’t be worse than what happened last night,”