“Wait! I’m not pregnant and Greg and I have not had sex!” she clarified.
“Oh thank God. Who then, Cindy?”
“No, Angie Connor.”
“You mean the girl he was dating last spring? I thought she moved away.”
“Yes, he loves her. She’s going to have his baby.”
“So Cindy’s just a cover for him?”
“Yes and no. Cindy went through a bad breakup last year. She’s convinced that she’s done dating high school boys. She wants to wait until she goes to college. She’s not completely dead, so she likes to have a little fun on the side. Greg does that for her. In return she’s his cover for Angie.”
I was stunned. I didn’t know what to think. I think I surprised Tami when I stepped out of the car and went straight for Greg. For once, she had no idea what I was thinking. She jumped out the other door.
“Greg!” she yelled to warn him.
He spun around.
“I’m so sorry,” he said before I reached him.
I put him in a bear hug. It took him a moment, but I felt him give a big sigh of relief and he hugged me back.
“I can’t wait to be an uncle,” I whispered in his ear.
He burst out laughing.
“When Cindy finds out I told you, she’ll be all over you. She thinks you’re hot and wants to hook up with you. I think Suzanne has been talking to her.”
I looked at Tami.
“Okay, no more of this bullshit. I thought we had this worked out last Sunday. We’re friends, and we’re going to start acting like it. We have to make up for lost time and you’re leaving me in a few weeks.”
My phone dinged. I had a text message from Tracy.
‘Got car–where r u?’
I sent her a text back.
‘My house in 20’
I spent the next fifteen minutes listening to them tell me about their summer.
“Guys, I’m glad we cleared the air. But I need to get home so my girlfriend can take me for a ride in her new car.”
Greg’s eyebrows went up.
“Who’s your girlfriend?”
“Tracy Dole.”
I saw Tami give me a look. I wasn’t sure what it meant, but I was sure I would find out later. I thought I’d better clarify Tracy’s status.
“To be honest, we’re not officially going out. We’re just getting to know each other. Hey, Greg, can you give me a ride home? Tracy will be there in about five minutes.”
“Yeah, no problem,” Greg said.
When we got into the car, I turned to Tami.
“I hear you’ve been talking to Tracy about me.”
“She just wanted to make sure you were for real.”
“Thanks for putting in a good word for me. I know you, though. Give me your take on her.”
If I ever needed the scoop on something, Tami always filled me in, so I knew she had the lowdown on Tracy. I wanted to see her perspective. She always had insights I would never even think of.
“She really is a sweet girl. She’s the perfect one for you right now, because she’s in no hurry to jump into a serious relationship. You dating her takes a lot of pressure off her also. You’re the right guy for her in a lot of ways. She needs someone high enough on the social ladder to make a good match. I know that sounds shallow, but she is the head JV cheerleader, and everyone has expectations of who she can and cannot date.
“She needs someone who’s confident and isn’t going to be a jealous idiot. If you haven’t noticed, she’s drop-dead gorgeous, and you’re the best-looking guy in the freshman class,” Tami said.
“Hang on. I am not the best-looking guy in the freshman class.”
Tami looked to the front seat.
“Greg, back me up on this one.”
“David, I hate to tell you this, but you are.”
“Great, my brother thinks I’m hot. Okay, let’s agree to disagree on that one. Tell me more about Tracy.”
“I’m sure she told you we talked for several hours. I like her. I was expecting her to be stuck-up. She’s surprisingly grounded, and she’ll be very good for you. There was one thing that shocked me, though.”
“Do tell,” I said, but wasn’t sure if she was nervous about telling me in front of Greg or not.
“She thinks you’re out of her league. She’s afraid you’re not the kind of guy to have a fling with; she thinks you might be the one, and she knows it’s too soon to meet that guy. Tracy’s right. You’re that rare hot guy who doesn’t even know it and who’s caring. You’re not motivated by just what’s good for you, if that makes sense?”
“Yeah, you’re the one everyone’s talking about,” Greg added. “If they didn’t think you and Tracy were going out, they’d be lining up. Cindy has a huge crush on you. She wants to take you for a spin after what she saw you do with Suzanne.”
Tami’s head snapped to look at me. I was a little pissed.
“Greg, you dumbass.”
“Sorry man, I just broke the Dawson Code. Unfortunately, this genie’s out of the bottle. David had a threesome with Cindy and Suzanne.”
“Greg, you are so going to hell for that.”
We pulled up to our house and everyone piled out. I pulled Tami into a hug and kissed her cheek.
“Are you okay with me going out with Tracy?”
She gave me one of her heart-stopping smiles.
“To be honest, now I’m the one that feels like I missed out, but you were right earlier. Now is not our time. When we do it, it will be forever. I want you to go out and experience everything. When you come back to me, I don’t want you to have any regrets.”
TRACY PULLED UP IN her new Mustang GT Premium Coupe, black with a white racing stripe running down the center of the hood, roof and trunk. It had black leather interior with white trim. It was such a cool car, and Tracy rocked the look driving it. She jumped out of the car with a huge smile on her face. Tracy ignored me and went straight to Tami.
If she was going to ignore me, that was fine, we guys wanted to look at the car. I popped the hood and we were looking at the engine when I felt arms come around me, and I got a kiss on the back of my neck.
“To be honest, I didn’t even look under the hood when we bought it.”
Greg gave her a look of surprise. I just laughed at him.
“Dude, she’s 100% girl.”
“She is that. Tracy, can I have a ride?” Greg begged.
“Are you horning in on my girlfriend?” I asked, and gave him a mock glare.
Tracy tightened her hug on me. She felt wonderful pressed into my back.
“Who said I was your girlfriend? Come to think of it, you’ve made that claim twice now. Is there something I need to know?”
I quickly scanned my memory and realized that I’d said it during the fight with Bill Rogers.
“Well I, uhmmm, I guess.”
“Give the ‘stupid boy’ a break. He doesn’t know what he’s saying half the time,” Tami said.
I turned in Tracy’s embrace so that she faced me and I could tell she was giving me a hard time. I gave her a quick kiss.
“Give my brother a ride, or I’ll never hear the end of it.”
Tracy smiled while Greg raced around to the passenger seat. Tracy must have gotten over her fear of driving because she zipped down our street. I grabbed Tami’s hand and led her to what I now called ‘my bachelor pad.’
“Come on. I want to take a shower and change before they get back.”
She followed me up the stairs and crawled up on my bed just like she’d been doing all her life. I took my shirt off and threw it at her. She caught it in one hand and whizzed it by my ear. The girl still had an arm. I stuck my tongue out at her and I ducked into the bathroom before she could find anything else to throw at me.
“Could you pick out something for me to wear?” I asked.
I knew she secretly wanted me to be her Ken doll. I wanted her to see the clothes Cindy had bought me. I stepped into the shower and turned the water all the way to hot. It stung at first, but I needed it to relax my back and neck. I switched the showerhead to massage and let it beat on my stiff muscles. Once I was relaxed, I turned the heat down and lathered up. I reflected on what a great day I’d had. I loved to play football and felt like I contributed to the team. I also started to make some new friends.