“I’m not going anywhere until you give me some details.”
I took in a deep breath and let out an exasperated sigh. I could see Bo enjoyed messing with me.
“What’s to know? I got us dates with two very attractive women. Now get off your butt and into the shower. We’re meeting them in twenty minutes.”
“What are they like? Are they local, or from somewhere else?” Bo started on me.
“That’s what the date’s for. You do remember dating, right?”
He threw a pillow at me and I went to shower. When I was done, I heard Bo’s shower, so I knew I wasn’t going to have to drag him out of the apartment. I was glad I’d brought some decent clothes. I had on Dockers and a short-sleeve Oxford dress shirt. Bo came out in jeans and a polo shirt. I wasn’t going to argue because at least he was dressed. If we were going to hang out, I would have to take him shopping.
I listened to what I had just been thinking. Dear Lord! Did I just say that? I needed to turn in my ‘man card’!
I refused to answer any of his questions as we walked down the stairs. Then he came up short when he saw them in short summer dresses. He leaned in close to me.
“What are their names?”
I just shrugged. He gave me a dirty look and stepped forward.
“Hi, I’m Bo Harrington and this is David Dawson.”
“Tanya Masters, and this is my daughter Jordan. Where do you want to go?” the mom asked.
I had forgotten Bo had worked in Houston and knew the area. He suggested a steak house. As we walked to the car, I whispered to find out which one he wanted. I thought the dirty look was unnecessary.
WHEN WE GOT TO BO’S rental car, Jordan opened the back door and pushed me in. I could see the amused look on her mom’s face. Jordan wasn’t taking any chances her mom would make her sit with her on the ride to the restaurant.
By the time we were done eating, it was apparent that Bo and Tanya hit it off. Jordan was a manipulative little shit whom I couldn’t stand. I was never so ready for a date to end. Luckily Tanya figured it out, and when we got back to the apartment, she sent Jordan home.
I think that was what my baseball coach had tried to tell me: keep dating them until you found the one and then keep her. I was keeping Tami.
Chapter 16 – Houston Elite Camp
Thursday July 16
It was amazing what a difference a year made. Elite Camp had vaulted me from number 8 to number 1 in the freshman class. Since then, I had won a State Championship, been named All-State, held onto my number 1 ranking, and been named Co-MVP of the Elite 11 Camp. Kendal had tracked me down before I left this morning to figure out what I’d done with the recruiting phone. I had left it on my nightstand, turned off. Mom offered to take it to Kendal’s office. Kendal was put in charge of the calls until Tom figured out who would become my initial recruiting contact.
Mom told me mail had started to come in from colleges. I was getting my first taste of what big-time recruiting would be like this year.
I walked into the training facilities and saw the Houston Texans Cheerleaders were signing people in again. I smiled when I saw Kaitlyn, the cheerleader I had flirted with last year.
“David! Come on over here and get signed in,” Kaitlyn said when she saw me.
“You’ve been sorting through the packets again, haven’t you?” I teased her.
Last year I had accused her of flipping through the packets to find the cute boys. My packet had been on top. Ridge and Hunter had stood back to watch the train wreck but had joined in once Kaitlyn had invited her friends over to take pictures with me.
“You caught me, Sugar,” she said with her sweet Texas drawl.
“Are you going to introduce me to your friends?” I asked.
“Sure,” she said and called over the other cheerleaders.
I was getting my picture taken with all of them when I heard a familiar voice.
“You get named MVP and look what happens,” Ben Luck said. Ben was the quarterback from Springfield, Missouri, who I’d met at Elite 11 Regional Camp in Columbus.
I finished up with my pictures and thanked Kaitlyn. I went over and shook Ben’s hand.
“Good to see you. I was sorry you didn’t make the finals,” I said.
“Don’t sweat it. It was great to hear how well you did. Congrats, man.”
“Thanks. Who do you have as a coach at camp?” I asked.
“Bud Mason.”
“Me, too. I had Bud last year. You’ll learn a lot,” I said.
Someone covered my eyes.
“Guess who,” said the sexy voice.
I thought about whom else could be here.
“Candy?” I asked tentatively.
She gave me a giggle and then turned me around so I could confirm my guess. She gave me a kiss on the cheek. I saw Flee walking up out of the corner of my eye, so I slipped my arm around her waist.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Flee grumbled.
“I’m stealing your girlfriend,” I said, but I let her go as I hugged my friend.
“Good to see you, David. Congrats on being named MVP. You deserved it,” Flee said.
“Any offers yet?” I asked.
“I got a preferred walk-on offer from Ohio State after Elite 11 camp. Coach Trent gave them a call on my behalf. I also got offers from State, Central Florida, and Rutgers. You live near State, don’t you?”
“Yeah, and three of my former teammates are all on the team. They keep telling me the missing piece for their team is a quarterback. I watched some of their games, and they could use you. Plus, I’d get to see you.”
“Who did you get as a coach?” Flee asked.
“Bud Mason. Ben is one of the other quarterbacks in my group.”
“I got Bo Harrington, your coach. I had to fight to get him after what you did at Elite 11.”
“I might have to make him start paying me,” I said.
We wished each other well and I went to start the morning session.
THEY SENT US TO THE locker room where we each had a nameplate above our locker. Inside our locker we each found a jersey with our name on it. I had number eleven on mine. We also had everything we would need. We were told to just get into shorts and our jersey. This morning was about measurements.
I knew the drill as they sent us all to get a physical. Part of it was to test for drugs or illegal substances like steroids. They sprung it on us so we couldn’t try and mask the test. One guy opted to go home.
They then sent us to our teams for the week. Ben was in my group, along with two other guys I’d never met before. Kyle Drexler hailed from Ocala, Florida and was committed to Florida State. The last quarterback in my group was Chuck Tess from Greenville, South Carolina and who planned to play college ball at Clemson. I was pleased to see Bud’s college assistant was Florida’s Quaid Rudd. Quaid had helped Coach Mason last year, too.
We all had three goals at this camp. The first was the training. Getting the chance to work with a legendary quarterback coach like Bud Mason was something you just didn’t pass up. I’d learned so much from him last year that there was no way I wouldn’t come back.
The next two goals went hand-in-hand. The second goal was that you were being compared by the scouting services. They would all be here. You could try and say your rating doesn’t matter, but you’d be crazy! Colleges, their boosters, alumni, and fan bases all kept score. If a coaching staff couldn’t land enough blue-chip recruits, they’d better be winning some games, otherwise they’d be done.
The third goal was to get seen by the top programs. You couldn’t have any direct contact with them at the camp, but they were all watching.
I had established myself as one of the top recruits in the country. This camp was the first opportunity this year for many of the recruiting services and college programs to see me in action. It was one thing to read about my exploits, it was another to be able to see if I really was as good as the Elite 11 camp results indicated.