Someone screamed, “It’s blocked!”
Soon everyone was dancing around, and the sparse crowd was on their feet, celebrating. USC had just won 39–
36 in a wild game to get to 2 and 2 for the season.
When David made his way back to the locker room, Coach Merritt wore a grim expression. He came up and said, “Get ready. You’re starting next week against Arizona.”
“Yes, sir.”
He did a mental fist pump as he left to meet up with his charges. Karma was a bitch sometimes.
◊◊◊
“Okay, parents. Time to give me your boys for the night.
I plan to take them out and corrupt them,” David announced.
All the recruits for the weekend were gathered together, with Bryant acting like a mother hen.
“Uhm,” Bryant worried.
“Will there be alcohol and women?” Mrs. Macklin asked.
“How else will I corrupt them?” David asked with glee.
The way he said it made the guys’ moms and dads laugh and assume he was full of it. David had learned early on that if you told the truth, most times, parents couldn’t imagine their kids admitting they were going out to do anything they would disapprove of. Now, if he had said they
were going to a prayer circle, they would have stopped it immediately.
“Any advice we should give Colt before he heads off with you?” Mr. Macklin asked.
“To avoid the hard stuff and bring plenty of condoms,”
David said.
“Do you have condoms?” Mrs. Macklin asked her son.
Poor Colt was all but swallowed into the ground and taken to Hell. Everyone else roared with laughter. While the parents were having their fun, David grabbed Colt’s arm and pulled him toward Greek row. Bryant came trotting up.
“A word,” he said to David. “If there’s a scandal …”
“It’ll be fine. We’ll go have a few beers and give them a glimpse of college life. I’ll make sure they’re all ready for breakfast and the campus tour bright and early in the morning.”
Bryant still looked nervous.
“Trust me. They’ll all beg you to allow them to come to USC by tomorrow,” David promised.
“Okay,” Bryant said as they walked away.
◊◊◊
David had arranged for all the recruits to go to the Phi Sig house. Lars had promised that they would have a good time, but not too good of a time. The last thing David wanted was to babysit any of them while they puked.
David had also invited all the guys acting as ambassadors and all the freshmen from this year’s class.
All thirty-five of them gathered around before going into Phi Sigs.
“Here are the rules. You can have a couple of beers.
Some of you have games tomorrow afternoon, so don’t test me on this. If you meet a young lady who wants to spend some time with you, come to me, and I’ll find you a room.
“I was serious about the condoms. On one of my visits, I was asked, if a college girl would have sex with a high schooler … who else would she have sex with?” David shared.
The recruits all nodded.
“Finally … have fun. College will be the best time of your life,” David said and led them in.
Lars met them at the door and handed out special red cups to all the recruits. That would tell the pledges serving the alcohol that they were only to give them beer and not to overserve them.
They went to the basement and found Crystal and the Alpha Mu sorority girls waiting.
“Let’s dance!” David called out as he pulled Crystal onto the dance floor.
David noted that a smug-looking Big Cat was dancing with Wren. He was proud of his teammate for snagging the Alpha Mu pledge that everyone wanted to get with.
Crystal was right. The Phi Sigs were great guys. If David ever felt the need to join a frat, this would be the one.
David gathered his charges at midnight and walked them back to their hotel.
“I got laid,” Aidan announced.
Colt gave his teammate a high five. A few others admitted to getting lucky. When they got to the front of the hotel, David stopped them.
“Look. We want you to come and play for USC. We work our asses off, but we also have fun. As you saw tonight, we’re a family that looks out for each other. Tomorrow, when you talk to your position coaches again, tell them you want to commit.
“Trust me, you won’t find a better place to play ball and get an education. And when we win a national championship next year, I want you all there with me,”
David said.
The group cheered. He suspected that Bryant would be happy tomorrow.
◊◊◊
Chapter 12
Emily got up early Saturday morning because her pledge class was going to Venice Beach for the day. She came down to breakfast to find David eating by himself.
“May I join you?”
He smiled and nodded to the seat across from him.
“I can’t believe I would see a sorority girl up this early on a Saturday morning,” David teased.
His nearness made her heart skip as she caught his earthy male scent mixed with a hint of mint.
“Well, yeah. Usually, I would sleep in, but my pledge class is going to Venice Beach. Taylor has organized a scavenger hunt that sounds like fun.”
“Have you ever been?” David asked.
“No.”
“I have, and it makes for a nice day. I suggest walking the canals. There are some great restaurants hidden in that area. If you want to get a feel of the whole neighborhood, rent a bike and ride the bike path,” David suggested.
“I think I’ll do the bike tour first.”
“What is Taylor having you find?” David asked.
“Well, it’s … uhm … called ‘shoot your shot.’ The way she explained it is like when you go to a frat party and see a hot guy. Taylor said it doesn’t hurt to go and try to talk to him. It’s supposed to help us get more comfortable talking to guys,” Emily explained.
“Does Crystal know about this?” David asked.
“I don’t know, but Wren said she would help me.”
David’s look told her he didn’t think that was a good idea.
“What exactly do you have to do?”
“I have to get ten guys to take off their shirts and take a selfie with me,” Emily said.
“And?”
“Why does there have to be an ‘and’?” Emily asked.
“Because it’s Taylor.”
David must know Taylor better than she thought.
“A dick pic,” she mumbled.
“Do the guys all have to be at Venice Beach?” David asked.
“No. Taylor said that if we didn’t finish at the beach, we could get the rest at the party we’re going to tonight.”
“Want to get your list done before you go on your trip?
That way, you can just enjoy yourself,” David suggested.
“The first one done gets out of house duties for two weeks,” Emily said. “But the time stamp has to be today, and they have to have nice bods.”
“Finish your breakfast and come with me,” David said.
◊◊◊
David was meeting with Dr. Liao to get cleared for contact. He had Emily wait outside the locker room, and he went inside and came out with ten guys.
“Okay. This is my friend Emily, and I want you to treat her like you would your own sister,” David began.
“Willy’s from West Virginia, and I think sisters are fair game back there,” one of the linemen quipped.
“Settle down,” David said. “Emily needs you to take your shirts off and take a picture with her. One of you needs to let her take a dick pick.”
“I’ll do it so she can see what a real man looks like,”
Willy offered.
David chuckled when Emily blushed.