“That’s what I expected. The NCAA is hard to figure out at times,” David said.
“I think we should sue them,” Kendrick announced.
“I thought we agreed that my eligibility was paramount.”
“Hear me out. There are a number of ways you get paid when you have a following like yours. First is simply the number of clicks you generate, but the numbers go way up if you start to promote a product.
“I just hired someone who has helped some Internet influencers make a living. He told us that people in the industry use a rule of thumb that you earn a dollar for each
follower on an annual basis. That’s upwards of 10 million dollars for someone like you,” Kendrick explained.
David had his doubts about those numbers.
“I never made anywhere near that.”
“That’s because you didn’t have all your income streams maximized. My guy tells me that it’s more reasonable that it would be $5,000 to $10,000 per post per million followers to an influencer, depending on quite a few factors like niche, engagement rate, etc. For you, that’s $50 to $100 thousand for each time you mention the right things when you post. You’re leaving a lot of money on the table right now,” Kendrick pointed out.
David knew that his followers had exploded over the summer with the release of his movies. He’d also seen how sending out one message had flooded the Alpha Mu rush.
He had no doubt that drinking a particular beverage or mentioning a restaurant could be valuable.
His publicist had his high school friend Lily posting for him for the most part. She’d had to be careful in sharing things David liked, such as Cookie Butter, because fans would send him cases of the stuff, which he would end up having to donate.
Not for the first time, he wished that the court cases involving Name, Image, and Likeness would get settled in the athletes’ favor. Kendrick was right; he was leaving a lot of money on the table.
“The NCAA already has their eye on me. For now, I’ll have to say no to suing them,” David decided.
Kendrick seemed to expect that, so he told David why he was really there.
“I’ve been approached by the soap opera The Young and The Wild. They would love for you to be a recurring character. The NCAA said it would be okay if you received no compensation since it would be for learning your craft.
It would be treated as an internship, and you would even get credits toward your film minor.”
Kendrick had covered all his bases on that one.
“You have all that in writing?”
“If you agree, I will.”
“Email me the character and a sample script. They also need to know that I can’t dedicate a lot of time to this,”
David said and then had a thought. “They are local, right?”
“They’ve agreed to film here on campus for most of your scenes. USC will also be involved in filming, so their students will get practical experience,” Kendrick said.
David knew that Kendrick was getting paid, but he was right about one thing: acting was like anything you wanted to be good at. You had to do it regularly, or your skills would erode. If it helped USC, that was a bonus.
◊◊◊
At the end of his day, David found Chloe and Crystal relaxing, waiting for David and Alex. The guys had just sat through a team film session for the Stanford game. Coach Merritt spent about half the session on the interception that resulted in a Stanford touchdown. David had watched as Matt absorbed his coach’s criticism. It was clear that Matt and Coach Merritt hadn’t yet built the trust necessary because, by the end, Matt had clearly tuned out.
“I’m going to change,” David told the girls.
“Where’s Alex?”
“He said to tell you to go to dinner with Crystal and me.
He’ll be home later,” David said.
David strongly suspected that Alex was meeting either a jock bunny or one of the sorority girls he’d met at rush. He was thankful his friend hadn’t told him what he was up to because David wouldn’t lie to Chloe. Alex understood that, so he just said he would be late.
When they went downstairs, David made it through the line first and sat down at one of the large round tables.
“Mind if we join you?” Emily asked with Wren beside her.
“Please,” David answered and then said to Wren, “I didn’t realize you lived in our dorm.”
“I don’t, but Emily was going on about the food, so I asked her to invite me.”
Lindsey and Jamie were soon followed by Crystal and Chloe.
Kirk chuckled when he arrived.
“I feel like I’m imposing on you and your harem.”
“How did your rush go?” Jamie asked Crystal, ignoring her boyfriend’s comment.
David zoned out as the girls talked about sorority life.
After dinner, David and Crystal went to his room to do homework. She claimed his computer so she could write a paper. He got out his management book to read about change management.
When they finished, he walked out to the main room and popped popcorn. They were watching a series on streaming video, and it was starting to get good. Chloe came out of Alex’s room, looking upset.
“What’s up? Alex not back yet?”
“I think he went out with someone tonight.”
“Didn’t you guys talk about that?” David asked.
“We did; I just didn’t think it through. I thought we were just casual, and I wouldn’t care.”
“Want to watch a show with Crystal and me?”
“I don’t want to interrupt anything.”
“It’s just a show. We can come out here and watch it,”
David suggested.
“If Crystal doesn’t mind,” Chloe agreed.
David got Crystal and quickly explained to her what was going on. He ended up on the couch between the girls with his arms around them. Chloe snuggled up under his arm with her legs curled under herself. Crystal looked at David
and raised an eyebrow, but he just shook his head and smiled.
Crystal shrugged as if to say it was his loss. Unlike Alex, David had experience with casual relationships. The key was talking to each other. Alex should have been honest and told Chloe what was going on tonight. David had allowed Mr. Happy to do his thinking the last time he was with Chloe, and Alex had admitted he was upset when it happened.
That made it easy to tell Crystal that he wasn’t up for a threesome, even though Alex had basically given him the green light. He planned to have a long chat with Alex when he got the chance because he liked Chloe and didn’t want to see her or Alex hurt.
When the show was over, David kissed Chloe’s forehead.
“My best advice is for you to go home tonight and have a talk with Alex tomorrow. If he comes in with the smell of another woman on him, you might say something you’ll regret.”
“You’re right. I have to think about this and figure out what I really want,” Chloe said.
“I should be going, too,” Crystal said.
“Uhm, no, you shouldn’t,” David said.
Chloe chuckled as she left. David held out his hand and led Crystal to the bedroom.
◊◊◊
Crystal beat him to his bed. David gave her a predatory look as he wrapped his hands around her ankles, yanked her to the edge of the bed, shoved her legs open, and dove in. Wanting better access, David jerked her panties down in one rough yank, baring her sex.
She squealed, but the squeal ended in a whimper as he brushed his lips across her folds, breathing out as he did so. She smelled amazing, like good, clean, innocent pussy.