Chapter 16: I Might be a Slut

Sunday July 10

Jet lag is a pain in the rear. It wasn’t this bad flying west. It had taken me a full day to get over the worst of it. When I went to Japan, it had lingered until about Wednesday before I’d reset my internal clock. When I got home, I felt exhausted and irritable. They call it circadian rhythm and it gets disrupted when you travel across multiple time zones. Your body clock, which is set by exposure to light, signals when it’s time to wake up and when it’s time to sleep. Saturday, I went to the Andersons’ and lay out to speed up getting back to normal. I couldn’t afford to have this mess me up for several more days.

This morning I forced myself to get up by nine and go to church with Mom. I was feeling the effects, but I felt much better than I did yesterday. I wanted to get some exercise in today. A good run always put me in a better mood. I’m sure if I asked Uncle John, he could give me a medical reason why that was.

Today we had a sermon from our youth pastor, Keith. It’s funny, sometimes, how a sermon will speak to you. Pastor Keith’s sermon was about finding the right person.

“I’m 22, and I want to talk to you today about dating. Being single, I’ve dated a few girls who just weren’t right for me. When I was sixteen, I was just happy a girl would go out with me. I had my heart broken a number of times during that time. One I even thought might be the one. I found out at Senior Prom that she was someone else’s one.

“It took me a year to get back into the game. My pastor encouraged me and told me that the right one was out there. He gave me some advice on dating that I would like to share with you today. What I would suggest is that you need to become more selective before you decide to date someone. If I’d done that with many of my girlfriends in high school, I could have avoided a lot of the pain I went through. I will warn you that being selective may limit the number of girls or boys you will want to date. Just because he or she makes your heart go pitter-pat does not mean they’re the one. What being selective does is give you a much better chance to find a quality person with whom you can build a relationship.

“I want to be clear to my teen audience, finding the one that will be your lifelong significant other is not going to happen. Dating should be about enjoying each other’s company and respecting them. I’m older and I still go on dates with young women with fun being the goal, but I am starting to transition into wanting a more meaningful relationship.

“How do you figure out if you should date someone? I’m going to give you some questions I think will help you increase your chances of finding someone who’s a fit. Please know that even if they pass all the initial tests, you still might get your heart broken.

“I can see some of the old married folk nodding off because they think this doesn’t pertain to them. What I want you to imagine is how, with God’s help, you might want to pass on this knowledge to your children or grandchildren. Don’t you want them to be happy? It’s easy to point out the mistakes our youth make. Wouldn’t it be better to help and/or guide them to a better way?

“Here are the questions I want you to ask yourself about someone you are thinking of dating.

1) How well do you know them? I would suggest that it’s easier to date someone that you know than someone you just met.

2) How do they treat others? Do they gossip? People, that serve them, like waitstaff, ticket takers, or anyone else in the service industry ... are they treated with respect? If they gossip, they will gossip about you. If they treat others badly, expect that they will treat you the same.

3) Do they drink? Do drugs? Swear? Whom do they hang out with? Knowing this information can give you insight into what you’re in for.

4) Do they like the same things you do? Movies, books, activities, and the like.

5) Do they believe in God? Don’t shy away from this question. It can save you a lot of heartaches later on.

6) When you are with them, is everything about them, or are they interested in you? A relationship has two sides.

7) Do you trust them? If you tell them something in confidence, will it stay that way? If you can’t expect to trust them, I wouldn’t advise going out with them.

8) Do they stand up for others? This tells you that they will stand up for you if the need ever arises. Or do they throw people to the wolves? Maybe they just stand back and watch events unfold.

9) They say opposites attract, but not on anything that matters.

10) Is there a physical attraction? If they don’t increase your heart rate, you might want to take a pass.

“Finally, I find it helps to ask for God’s help and pray about it. He will help guide you if you open your heart to him,” Pastor Keith said in summation.

I smiled because this reminded me a lot of what Uncle John had said about the Circles of Trust.

After brunch, I finally drove the Demon. The Hellcat had been phenomenal. The Demon was the Hellcat on steroids. I found a country road where I knew I would be alone, so I could see what it could do. On launch—it was not just a start, but an actual launch—the front wheels came off the ground and it popped a wheelie. I understood why they’d installed racing seatbelts and not the regular across-the-chest-and-lap version. I felt I might have to buy a helmet to drive it.

When I reached 150 miles per hour, I shut it down. I could tell that I was nowhere near full speed, but I didn’t need to wreck it on the first day. Dad said that when the production version came out it would be fast, but they’d pulled out all the stops when creating the prototypes. He also said they normally never sold these kinds of cars, but someone thought the marketing buzz it would create was worth it. I personally thought that selling it to an eighteen-year-old was genius. It was even worth the lecture I received from my parents before they handed me the keys.

As much fun as driving the Demon was, I wanted to see Zoe. I’d left for guys’ week early and then went to Japan. I was afraid she would never talk to me again if I skipped out to Houston for USA Baseball without spending time with her.

I had a little fun driving the serpentine road through the park to get to their farm. The Demon must have made some noise because I found Roc and Phil in the drive when I pulled up.

“Can I drive it?” Roc asked.

“You don’t even have your driver’s license.”

“I’ve had it for almost a month.”

“Do I get your Jeep?” Phil asked once again.

“You need to talk to Dad about a car. I paid for the Jeep,” I said.

“You have three cars if you include that huge Ford,” Phil complained.

“I thought you were earning money this summer to buy a car,” I pointed out.

Zoe came out of the barn, having heard the last part of the conversation.

“I think if David was going to buy anyone a car, it would be for me.”

I pulled her into my arms and reminded her that I’d missed her.

“If I have to kiss you, I might be willing to do that,” Phil offered.

“Dude, you better think that one through,” Roc said, and then blushed.

“Uh ... never mind. I’ll talk to Dad,” Phil said, and he and Roc made themselves scarce.

“I have some candy in the car, Little Girl,” I said with my best leer.

“Mister, I’ll do anything for candy,” Zoe said in a little girl’s voice.

Zoe decided that she didn’t want to break the car in since the back seat was more than a little too small. She decided she wanted her candy in my apartment. I grabbed a couple of waters and we sat on my couch.

“I’ve barely gotten a chance to see you this summer,” Zoe complained.

“What have you been up to this summer?”

“We took on a couple of colts that I’m training. The plan is to get them to be good riding horses and then we’ll sell them. Dad says that the profits will go towards college. I’m also working for your grandma on the farm. Caryn wants to move me to the vegetable stand in town. She says I’m good with people.”

“I saw that my half brother was at your place.”

“He, Roc and Yuri are best friends. Yuri’s usually around when Jan’s working at the restaurant. Dad takes advantage of the free labor when they aren’t mowing lawns. He had them walking beans today.”

“I liked that better than detasseling,” I admitted.

“They started your bridge last week. They also finished the beach. Dad told me the State guy had said they were happy with how it’s turning out. The river is much healthier and they’re confident that unless we get a big flood, things will be much better in the spring.”

We got quiet for a minute and then Zoe gave me a serious look.

“I really have missed you. Not just the intimate stuff; I’ve missed you coming out on Sundays and helping me with the horses. Mom asked when you planned to come to dinner. It’s as if a part of me has been missing for the last two months.”

“I’ve missed you too,” I said, as I leaned in and gave her a sweet kiss.

“I know it’s not fair and that you’re off doing what you have to, but I don’t like you not being around. I hope you don’t think I’m pressuring you, but I want to spend more time with you,” she admitted.

“Once baseball’s over I’ll have more time. Right now, we just need to grab it when we can,” I suggested.

Zoe smiled at me and took control. She reached for my hand and led me to the bedroom. With her, it always seemed like we were doing it in a car, at school or outside. The only other times I could remember us having sex on a bed was our first time and when we had our date in April. In all those other places, there was the element of possibly getting caught to distract us. It was nice to be able to focus on her.

It turned out that sex with Zoe was better than I remembered. In her daily life, she was more grounded and family-oriented than Brook or Halle. In the sack, she was the adventurous one. Everything was new, and she wasn’t shy about experimenting. She had told me she had a sexual bucket list she wanted to check off. Mr. Happy wanted me to find that list and help her fulfill it. I tried to make it a policy not to let the little head control the big one, but sometimes he was full of good ideas.

Zoe let me take control once we hit the bed. I did mostly the same I’d done with Brook a few nights ago when we had the most amazing sex of our lives. I’m not sure if Zoe was better, but definitely not worse. Different would best be how I would describe it.

The problem with slow sensual lovemaking was that it kills the whole afternoon. I would never describe Zoe as clingy, but she didn’t want to let go of me once we were done.

“Brook said you’d upped your game in Japan, but wow, just wow,” Zoe said.

I kept forgetting that Halle, Brook and Zoe talked about everything. They’d all become good friends. What they claimed was that the open communication kept them from clawing each other’s eyes out. While I wasn’t comfortable with them sharing what we did in bed, to keep harmony I was willing to let it slide. If I finally picked a girlfriend, that would have to stop. Right now, it was the whole ‘gift horse’ saying―you just accepted it.

“While we were in Japan, Brook woke me up each morning with a blowjob. Maybe while I’m home you could come over,” I suggested.

“You couldn’t get Halle to fall for that, and she’s the gullible one. Do what my brother does: he has Rosy and her five friends help him out.”

I got the giggles because it was obvious I’d corrupted Zoe. She would have died this time last year before she would have discussed the fact that her little brother masturbated. I would have to check his palms for hair at the next football practice. What was the other urban legend? Oh, yes, his eyesight needed to be checked, too.

I had a better idea: I’d have Phil do it. They were teasing him about being a virgin, to the point I was about to hire him a hooker. We Dawsons have a reputation to uphold, after all. Then again, the only hookers I knew were Flee’s ex Candy and her sister Raven. Phil wouldn’t survive either one of them. He needed to find some clueless girl and the two of them could figure it out. I had a bad feeling that if a girl ever did sleep with him, he’d be a goner. She would lead him around like a lovesick puppy.

I took Zoe home and begged off dinner. I wanted to have some quality time with the boys. Duke hadn’t gotten enough love, and I wanted to have time with Little David and Coby. Peggy took full advantage and went to hang out with Beth, Cindy and Suzanne tonight. There was some chick flick that they wanted to go see and then there would be coffee with talking afterward. I couldn’t figure out why they couldn’t get any boys to join them.

I’d just gotten comfortable with the Cubs game on, Duke on one leg getting an ear rub, and Coby on the other knee with Little David showing off his new mobility, when I heard the door to my apartment open. It was Tami and Tim. I’d neatly dodged them last time.

“I thought I’d go off my diet and order a pizza. You want in on it?” I asked Tim.

“Sausage and mushroom.”

“I see you’ve already got him trained. How about we get half meat lover’s and half sausage and mushroom?” I asked.

Tami always wanted sausage and mushroom, and I knew Tim liked meat without fungus. I could eat either without a problem.

I sent Duke to watch Little David and handed Coby to Tim. Tami took pity on him and took my son. He wasn’t too sure of her and I soon had him back after I’d called Monical’s. Little David went right to her, so she didn’t feel left out.

“What was going on with Yuri and Jan the last time we stopped by?” Tami asked.

I looked at Tim.

“You’re her boyfriend. You better explain it to her,” I suggested.

“Uh ... I don’t think so,” Tim said.

“Pussy,” I said under my breath.

“Bite me,” was his snappy comeback.

“I mean, I get that you’re friends with Yuri ... but Jan? I would’ve bet you wouldn’t touch her with a ten-foot pole.”

I looked down at my crotch.

“Wow, ten feet. I mean, I’ve been told I’m big, but I never measured,” I shot back.

“Bada boom,” Tim mimicked a drum for a bad joke.

“Tami, if you want the scoop, you know you need to talk to either Jan or Yuri. I’m not going to say what happened,” I reminded her.

“But Jan?” she asked, and scrunched her nose to let me know what she thought of it.

“Tim, what did you do with Tami this afternoon?” I asked.

Poor Tim. It wasn’t fair to him, but I wanted to press home the point to Tami to back off. I hoped to God he didn’t feel the need to tell me.

“Okay, okay, you win. I’m just saying,” Tami said as she threw up her hands.

“Next you’ll be giving me advice about Lisa Felton,” I teased.

“I heard your cousin caught an STD,” Tami said with a straight face.

“You slept with your cousin?” Tim asked in disbelief.

“We figured out we weren’t related after the deed, but it’s kind of sexy sleeping with relatives,” I said in my best Tennessee accent.

“I’m not sure I am ready to hang out with you two,” Tim admitted.

“David’s just being bad. Normally he does whatever I tell him to,” she said with a smirk.

“I’m not getting naked for Tim. It was bad enough you made me do it for everyone in your dorm so that they’d like you,” I shot back.

“I’m not sure I want to know what that’s about,” Tim said.

He wasn’t sure about a lot, it seemed.

“You know David. He’ll take his clothes off anywhere. He invented the naked dance party and did it on video chat. It was a great icebreaker to get to know the girls in my dorm. Now that we’re dating, you’ll have to take his place in the fall.”

Tami was evil. I could tell Tim half-believed her.

“I’ll teach you some of my better moves,” I offered.

“Oh, teach him to twerk and to do that helicopter bit,” Tami said.

We both about fell off the couch laughing as Tim went white and looked like he might throw up. He was saved from further harassment when the pizza came.

When they were ready to leave, I hugged Tami.

“Thanks for forcing the issue. I’m okay with this now,” I whispered in her ear.

She could tell that I really was okay. It helped that she was with Tim, a guy I trusted and liked. It also helped that they’d both come to me and told me before it happened. I knew he would treat her right and she would do the same.

Monday July 11

I tried to talk Mom and Dad into letting me drive my car to Houston. I figured if I went at the speed limit it would only take me 14 hours, so I could probably get there in 10. They were so unfair sometimes.

I had a talk with my parents about people coming to Houston. It was decided that if I made the team, they would all come to Monterrey, Mexico instead. Mom said that Caryn had already looked into it and people had been calling to put their names on the list. It might end up being cheaper to charter a flight and fly from here than it would to get airline tickets for everyone.

Moose, Coach Hastings and Coach Herndon decided not to go either. Moose explained that he was confident in the coaching I was getting, so they wouldn’t add much. The biggest contribution they had made was to scout the other teams for us. This would be head-to-head, so I would see the other team play each day. I left the offer open for Mexico, and he told me they would think about it.

I was getting Fritz as my security person. Paul would rotate back to LA for a while.

Camp opened in Houston tomorrow. The plan was to fly in today and get a good night’s sleep. Bo Harrington was in Houston tonight, so I planned to go out to dinner with him and his new wife. He’d married the woman I introduced him to at the Elite Camp. He’d been shocked when I told him I’d gotten us dates and it was with a mother-daughter team. It turned out I couldn’t stand the daughter, but he’d hit it off with the mom. They’d gotten married when I was in Cuba, or I would’ve been there.

I heard a knock at the back door and went to let Fritz in.

“Hey, stranger,” I said as I hugged him.

We hadn’t really gotten to talk since the Orlando terror attack. He’d gone back to LA to take care of Rita, Trip and Halle. He’d also lost a friend who he’d just hired. Paul said Fritz had needed some time to get his head back in the game. I was glad to see him.

“Paul said you have pictures from your fishing trip,” Fritz said.

I could tell he wasn’t ready to talk about Orlando and the aftermath, so I got my iPad out and showed him the pictures. I told him that Paul had been the key to our success as his family had taken similar trips when he was growing up. I also had some pictures of the wildlife we’d seen. One day there had been a moose swimming across the lake. We’d also spotted a couple of black bears another day.

Dad filled him in on all the pranks. I think Fritz was jealous when he heard about the mojitos and Cuban cigars. He could’ve used a week in Canada as much as I had, and I’d needed it.

I convinced Fritz that we should take the Demon to the airport. Dad went with us so he could drive it back home. There was no way I would leave it in an airport parking garage while we were gone.

“We’ll see you in LA,” Dad said.

ESPN was having their annual awards show Saturday. I was one of six athletes up for the Gatorade Male Athlete of the Year. I’d already been named as one of their twelve National Players of the Year. They named one of each in six male and six female sports. My category was football. I was also up for the Joe Montana Award for the best high school quarterback.

I’d received five tickets to the show and I’d given two to my parents and one to Greg. I’d also invited Halle to be my date. I wanted my family to be there because this was a big deal. In the past, some Hall of Fame-type athletes had been named as the Male Athlete of the Year. Frank, my PR person, loved it and planned a campaign to promote my achievements that would go out if I won.

I made sure he’d run it by Mr. Morris before he finalized it. I didn’t want any more trouble with the NCAA than I absolutely had to have.

The studios wanted Halle and me to be seen together. We’d avoided that until now. Paul Andon, the executive who had signed me for the two additional Star Academy movies, wanted me to be out front, now that Craig was no longer with us. Halle had been in both Star Academy and The Secret Circle. Paul wanted us to be seen together more. That was why she’d shown up at the Under-18 baseball Gold Medal Game to sing the national anthem.

My thought was that if Halle was okay with it, I would be more than happy to be seen with her.

On the three-hour flight to Houston, Fritz finally opened up.

“Trip had microsurgery on his shoulder to repair the nerve damage. He has about 95% of his motion back and they think he’ll get more with therapy. The doctors said that if the bullet had been just a little higher, it would have destroyed the nerve bundle and he might not have any use of his arm.

“Of course, Rita has been a mess. I think that if it hadn’t been for the movie’s launch, she would have fallen into depression. She threw herself into her work and it helped her keep her mind off almost losing her son.

“Halle has been a trouper. She has stepped up and helped both Trip and her mother. I’m not sure if she’s happy in LA, though. She misses her friends,” Fritz said.

“I thought she had lots of friends there. I remember she took me to a party on one of the first nights we were there.”

“What did you think of them?”

“That they thought they were in an episode of 90210. They were a bunch of posers.”

“And you wonder why she would rather be back here?” he asked with a tight smile.

“I guess.”

“I know she loves LA and the movie business, but she likes going to school at Lincoln High. There isn’t the gamesmanship and the one-upmanship she had to contend with at her old high school. I do know she’s excited about seeing you on Saturday.”

“How are you doing?” I asked.

I could see Fritz was struggling. He finally gave me a sad look.

“I’ve been lucky. I’ve never lost anyone until the attack on Pulse. I’ve never had a primary injured before,” he said, and then blushed. “You don’t count. You tried to get eaten by sharks and faced off a gang.”

“No, I get it. If you do your job right, it’s boring. I hope, for my family’s sake, that it stays that way. Your guy died doing his job. He made sure Trip was safe and called for help.”

“I just wish he’d been carrying. It might not have mattered, facing an assault rifle, but I’ll never have my team protecting someone again without at least access to a gun. It was a hard lesson to learn, and frankly, I knew better. I blame myself for not having him armed. We’re also going to start wearing vests.”

“You know it wasn’t your fault. Trip and Craig just by happenstance found themselves in the middle of all that. There was no way to predict they would be facing someone bent on gunning down a dance club.”

“It only takes one,” Fritz said.

He had me there. I agreed that he needed to reevaluate his security measures. I would suggest a review anytime something went wrong; take a step back and look at what happened. This was a lesson I needed to learn.

We arrived at the Houston airport, gathered our bags, and found a man with a sign with my last name on it. He led us to the curb where a Bentley Continental Flying Spur was waiting.

“Get in the back,” Fritz ordered.

Fritz signed the man’s tablet and then loaded our bags into the back. I guess he was making other changes in how he handled security and driving duties for me. This car rivaled any I’d ever been in for luxury. I’d found the seat massager and was playing with the different settings when Fritz finally finished loading.

“I take it I don’t get to drive.”

Fritz just ignored me as he put the address for the hotel into the GPS. The team was staying at the Hampton Inn because we could walk to Minute Maid Park if need be. Fritz had arranged to have me in the same room I’d been assigned for the tryouts, so I wouldn’t have to change tomorrow. He’d booked the adjoining room which had a pass-through door for security.

He went into the room first and checked it before he would let me in to unpack.

“I’m installing a couple of cameras in your room. I’ll have a live feed in my room and it will record everything in case there’s a he said/she said type of incident.”

“Can we do that? Does Allard need to be told?” I asked.

I’d read about issues with people being secretly taped, especially if anything sexual happened.

“That’s why there’ll be a sign posted on the door and you’ll need to get anyone that enters to sign this,” Fritz informed me.

I read it and it informed the signer that both sound and video were being taken and they agreed to it. It also had a nondisclosure agreement included.

“What’s this all about?” I asked.

“There has been a rash of lawsuits and stories sold to the media involving people with money recently. I talked to Ms. Dixon and we came up with this as the best plan. She has talked to both the hotel and Baseball USA and they are aware. I also want you wearing a body cam at all times when you’re out in public from now on,” Fritz said.

Hmmm. This sounded an awful lot like the ‘in potentially hostile territory’ part of Uncle John’s talks about circles of trust. In that sense, I understood what Fritz was talking about, but still...

“Don’t you think this is a bit much? I mean, I do things in private that I don’t really want anyone to know about,” I grudgingly admitted.

No teenage boy wants anyone to know what they do alone in their bedroom with access to the Internet.

“I already know what happens. You were at Halle’s long enough that I don’t think you can shock me.”

I felt my face get so hot I thought it might melt. I think on some level I knew there were cameras in their home, but I’d made some assumptions that were obviously wrong.

“Don’t worry about it,” Fritz said. “As you might guess, we’re discreet about anything we see or hear. Plus, we’ve all signed nondisclosure agreements. I would never be able to work personal security again if I released information about you.”

“Will I get to see the videos?” I asked, as my mind went in a different direction.

I might want some videos for my personal collection.

“Nope. Not a chance in hell.”

I needed to work on that.

I took advantage of the pool. The Hampton Inn had a pool set up on the fourth-floor rooftop. I think it was set up that way so people on the higher floors could perv on you. I’d slacked off on exercising for the past two weeks with my trip to Japan and guys’ week. I decided a nice long swim was just what was needed. When I was finished, I looked around and smiled. M.E., Dave’s little sister from the first round of tryouts in North Carolina, was sitting poolside with her best friend, Kelly.

“What brings you ladies to town?” I asked, like I was trying to pick them up.

There were a couple of other young women sitting around the pool now. I think they were confused about why I would be trying to pick up high school girls in one-piece swimsuits when they had on bikinis to show off their assets.

“You’re the actor,” one of the other women stated.

M.E. rolled her eyes and Kelly wouldn’t look at me.

I just nodded to acknowledge the woman’s statement and then sat down next to M.E. without drying off. From my modeling, I knew what the water did for my body and wanted to tease the two girls. I could see Kelly checking me out from the corner of her eye.

“We were thinking about going out tonight and wondered if you might want to go,” the woman that was chatting me up suggested.

“I’m sorry, but I’m meeting friends for dinner. I missed their wedding while on a film location. When that’s done, I need to get to bed, because there’s a baseball tryout tomorrow that I really want to nail,” I politely explained.

“Why don’t you give me your room number so I can tuck you in?” she tried one last time.

Mr. Happy wanted the big brain to reevaluate my plans. On a trip like this, this girl was just my type: willing. I chuckled at my own bad joke.

“What’s so funny?” she asked, getting upset.

“I was just thinking I don’t even know your name. I suddenly realized how crazy my life has become,” I said, and then sighed. “Look, you seem like a great girl that I’d really enjoy getting to know. How long are you here for?”

“We’re leaving tomorrow,” she said, not looking happy.

“Meet me for breakfast. We’ll spend some time to get to know each other,” I offered.

“Mercedes.”

“Come again?” I asked.

“That’s my name,” she explained.

M.E. and Kelly decided they’d heard enough and laughed as they walked away. I had to bite my tongue not to laugh with them. Of course, she would have a stripper’s name.

“I’ll meet you in the restaurant at eight, Mercedes. I look forward to getting to know you,” I said, and made my own hasty retreat.