Chapter 21: Cindy Happened

Friday January 6
“I can barely walk this morning. My insides are throbbing, and they ache. It feels like I’ve given birth to a twelve-pound bowling ball. Doing it with David is a mix of ‘hell, yes, it was worth it,’ and pleasurable pain. He hit the spot that made me shiver. My ass has his handprint on it, and it looked so hot I took a selfie of it in the bathroom mirror. I now know why Brook talks about him doing her until her toes can’t even wiggle. The boy is a beast in bed,” Lexi was sharing as I walked into the kitchen.

“Morning, David,” Tami said with a huge grin on her face.

I noticed that Lexi had made her announcement in front of all of my friends.

“Is that what Cindy’s going to teach us today?” Wolf asked.

“Bite me. I’m going surfing, and if I hear one word about last night, you’d better hope that Cassidy’s in a good mood and protects you,” I warned. “Lexi, that selfie is not to be shared with anyone, and if I ever see it anywhere...”

I left the threat unsaid. To put it mildly, I wasn’t happy that Lexi had shared what had happened behind closed doors. Lexi sensed that I wasn’t okay and rushed over.

“Can we talk?”

“Yeah,” I said and let her lead me outside.

“I’m sorry. That was a dumb thing to do, and I know better. I sounded like a schoolgirl who’d just gotten her first kiss and wanted to shout it from a mountaintop,” she explained. “I’ll delete the selfie if you want me to, but I hope you don’t. I want to remember last night. It was special.”

“I get it, but nothing good ever comes from sharing stuff like that. You have to know how dangerous that pic is to have around.”

“I really am sorry,” Lexi said.

I took a deep breath and let it out along with my anger. She’d just been excited. I pulled her into a hug.

“It’s all good. My friends have heard worse about me. But I’m serious about that selfie never getting out. I can see it being twisted when people see it out of context.”

“I think you have it all wrong about any of us thinking it was bad. It wasn’t bad, it was fantastic,” she said, and giggled.

I swear that sex makes girls crazy. Manaia stuck his head out the front door.

“We all good, Boss?”

“Yep. Let’s go have some fun.”

Once we got back, I pulled Brook aside and told her what Lexi had said and done. Of course, she’d heard from Cassidy.

“You want me to go talk to her?”

“No, I already did. I just wanted to warn you that people will be talking today. Wolf wanted to know if Cindy was teaching them that.”

“Afraid of a little competition?” Brook teased.

“You’re a brat sometimes.”

“They’re all nervous about today. Tami asked that you not be there,” Brook enlightened me.

I threw her a face. I really didn’t want anything to do with this. Cindy worried me; I wasn’t sure my friends were ready for her. Tim might have a stroke, and Wolf might never talk to me again. Then again, what did I know? I had to admit my times with Cindy and Suzanne had been fun, back in the day. I just didn’t really understand some of the group stuff Cindy was into these days. Still, I shouldn’t judge. What she did with Brook and Halle might be okay if I were actually allowed to participate.

I had a feeling that Ashley and Scarlet might be into that and more, after our time in Alabama. That might be something I should have a long talk with my uncle about. For some reason, I suspected he might know about it. And to be completely honest, I did like to dominate girls in bed. What I couldn’t wrap my head around was being tied up, like Scarlet had been. It would freak me out to lose that much control.

My first time with Scarlet and Ashley was right up there with Rita needing to be spanked to release her inner demons, and Lexi getting off on being overwhelmed. Those were other proclivities I was having difficulty wrapping my head around. While I saw that accommodating Rita’s need for release helped, it went against my upbringing. You didn’t hit girls unless they tried to kick you in the nuts. Then all bets were off.

“I didn’t plan to be,” I said and then looked at her. “Are you going?”

“Would that be a problem?” she asked.

I thought about that for a moment.

“If you want to go, then go.”

“Can we practice stuff I learn?” she asked in a sexy voice. I barked out a laugh.

“Hotness, anytime, anyplace,” I said as I waggled my eyebrows.

I had Manaia take me to a batting cage. I wanted to knock some rust off and hit a few balls because, after next week, I would start training for baseball season. He found a place called The Hitting Zone that wasn’t too far away. They rented batting cages and pitching lanes.

We were greeted by a young lady at the front desk.

“Welcome. How can we help you?” she asked.

“I want to get in some hitting if I can.”

“No problem. Let me get you set up,” she said.

When we went to the back, I saw what I assumed was a high school team working out. I found my cage, went through the steps I’d been taught, and began to hit. Man, I was terrible for the first half-hour. I took a deep breath because I knew exactly what I was doing wrong. Basically, everything.

I took a break and focused. I watched the other hitters and saw I was doing what they were. Chiefly, I was lunging instead of trusting my swing. It was probably the most common mistake that baseball players make at all levels. Your body instinctively tries to adjust your swing to hit the ball, and you end up in a poor hitting position.

I went back and began to tag the ball. Like pitching, you can hear the difference when you do it right. In pitching, the sound of the ball hitting the catcher’s glove is distinctive. When hitting with an aluminum bat, you heard a ‘crack’ sound instead of a ‘ting’ when solid contact was made. All through the facility, you could hear ‘ting.’ When I started to hit with authority, I got noticed by the kids practicing. They began to wander over between turns in the cage.

When my hour was up, I took a break before buying tokens for another hour. Manaia pulled me aside.

“I thought you just played football.”

“Well, I play some baseball, too.”

I pulled out my phone and showed him an Internet story about me winning the MVP trophy for Team USA. Someone must have recognized me because one of the staff approached me. He turned out to be Fred Condit, a former big-league player. He’d played for the Pirates and Giants before retiring a couple of years ago. He was the big brother of Frank Condit, who was the National League MVP two years ago. Fred was part-owner and lead batting instructor for The Hitting Zone.

“One of the kids told me we had a VIP in the house. Do you plan to do any more hitting today?”

“I’m thinking of going for another hour or so. Why?”

“If you’d allow me to bring the kids over to watch you bat, and coach them, I’ll let you hit for free today.”

Manaia snorted his derision because an hour in the cage was very affordable. I almost said ‘no’ so I could have my privacy. But I relented when I saw the kids looking over expectantly. If I could concentrate with them watching, I would be good to go during a game.

“Okay. Let me grab a snack and rehydrate, and I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

I came back, got settled in, and started the machine. While live pitching was superior to using a pitching machine, the machine was a very useful tool. With the pitching machine, you could get a lot more swings in per session. Building muscle memory by doing something over and over again was essential to success in this type of physical endeavor. The goal was to not have to think about your swing.

The pitching machine also threw a more consistent pitch. This allowed you to practice things like ball placement because you didn’t have to worry about where the pitch was going to be. Once you mastered the skills in the cage, you could then translate them to the more unpredictable ‘live’ pitching.

Today wasn’t supposed to be anything fancy. I just wanted to get into a rhythm and make solid contact. The coaching was just a bonus. Coach Condit had a pocket full of tokens to run the machine. When he had to put another token in, he would give me tips. There were things you simply didn’t see when you were batting that someone outside the cage could pick up.

I’d honestly lost track of time when Manaia made his presence known.

“We need to get back to the house.”

He had a funny look on his face. I at first thought to question him about it, but remembered we were surrounded. I thanked Coach Condit, and he invited me back. Once we made it out the front door, I looked at Manaia.

“There’s been a security breach. A woman broke the master bedroom window and was found nude in your bed. Cassidy chased her into the master bath where she locked the door. Instead of calling the police, Brook suggested that you come home and deal with it.”

I was confused until he showed me a picture of the woman. We had video surveillance around the perimeter of the house, and it had caught her breaking in. Manaia had a still from the video on his phone. I had to look closely because it was a little grainy.

“Shit,” I said under my breath.

It was Gwen Larkin, the British actress that Brook and I had spent Christmas day with in Palm Springs. While we’d had a good time, I never expected to see her again. We hadn’t even exchanged contact information. What I really wanted to know was, how did she find us? Maybe I should be more concerned about why she felt the need to break into my house and get naked in my bed.

On the way home, we had to take a longer route because smoke from the wildfires had closed the road we used this morning. The wind had changed, and they were worried about some residential areas. They were diverting traffic so they could get firefighters in easier and also evacuate homeowners from threatened neighborhoods.

Brook met me at the front door.

“Cassidy has her in the master bath. I think something’s wrong with her. She’s talking shit.”

Manaia checked his phone.

“Fritz will be here in thirty minutes.”

“Let’s go see what we’re dealing with,” I said, and the three of us went to the master suite.

When we walked in, I saw that Cassidy had unlocked the door to the bathroom. She pointed inside.

“She’s in the shower.”

Brook followed me in. I saw Gwen huddled in the corner of the shower like a frightened animal. She looked so small and vulnerable. I grabbed a robe because she was, in fact, naked. When Gwen spotted me, she jumped up, rushed out of the shower, and wrapped me in a bear hug.

“They don’t understand. We’re in love, and nothing can keep us apart. I tried to tell that mean girl that you wanted me here, but she accused me of breaking in, and then I had to hide from her in here. Tell her. Tell her that we’re soul mates, and it’s okay for me to be here. Make them all go away so I can show you how much I love you,” Gwen said, all in rapid girl-speak.

“Oh, boy,” Cassidy said. “I warned you about the crazy ones.”

“That’s her. That’s the mean girl. Tell her. Tell her that it’s okay,” Gwen said, getting agitated.

“Let’s get you in a robe. I don’t want them all to see you,” I said.

“Yes, you’re right. I’m for you only. I should never let anyone see me but you,” she said. Then she broke down in tears. “I’m so stupid. I should have thought of that. Damn! I wanted everything to be perfect. It took me a while to find you, or I would have been here sooner. I’m so tired. Maybe I could lie down.”

“Gwen, you know that I’m with Brook. What happened at Christmas was just a hookup. Nothing more,” I tried.

“That’s complete bullshit, and you know it. You and me, we’re perfect together. We’re both in the business and would be the perfect couple. You’re not like the rest, I can tell. I know that you love me. Only someone who loved me could make me feel the way you did.”

I led her to the bed, tucked her in, and then ushered everyone out. Gwen had fallen asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

“She’s batshit crazy,” Brook said, and then had another thought. “I hate to call the police on her.”

Cassidy had a stupid grin on her face.

“What’s so funny?” I asked.

“Nothing. It’s just that you make my life interesting. You’re the only person I know who would ever have a crazy stalker.”

“What are we going to do about her?” I asked.

“Fritz will be here soon,” Manaia said, being of no help.

“It’s a good thing he can get rid of dead hookers. I’m sure crazy-town in there will be no problem at all,” Cassidy said, enjoying herself a little too much.

All my security must have heard my joke about Fritz and dead hookers because Manaia nodded in agreement.

“Where is everyone?” I asked.

“Cindy,” Brook said.

OMG! She had hung out with me for too long. Brook had just given me a one-word answer, and I completely understood. She might have to turn in her sisterhood card that said girls had to talk everything to death. She wasn’t impressed when I high-fived her.

“You two are weird,” Cassidy opined.

Fritz showed up and sent Manaia and Cassidy to find Gwen’s car. They found it down the street. She had taken her clothes off by the window. That was where he discovered her phone. I was sent in to wake her up and get her pin number for the phone. Fritz needed her contact list to get her help.

“Guess who her manager is?” Fritz asked. “Kent.”

“Well, get him over here so he can ‘manage’ this,” Brook said.

Fritz called Kent and explained the situation. I was impressed Kent made it from his office to here in under thirty minutes.

“Where is she?” he asked as he walked in the door.

Fritz pointed, and Kent went to do his thing. If anyone could handle out-of-control Hollywood types, it was him. He’d dealt with Craig and had kept him out of trouble for years. I was sure that one small crazy girl was something he could handle.

Kent came out with a frown on his face.

“I think she’s really nuts. What should we do?” he asked, proving me wrong.

“Go get Tracy,” I suggested.

“She and Pam aren’t here,” Brook said.

I called her and filled her in. Why did everyone think that having a crazy stalker was funny? It wasn’t all that funny when you had to deal with it.

“You need to get her somewhere and have her evaluated. It doesn’t sound like she’ll go willingly. I would call the local Community Mental Health Team. I think they have them everywhere,” she suggested.

A quick Internet search showed there was a facility like the one Tracy had been in for her depression, not too far away. Kent called them and made discreet arrangements for them to do a check. Of course, Gwen didn’t want to go without me, so I rode with Kent. I felt like a complete ass when I left her. She was here, all alone in the US, and not right in her head. When I got back to the house, I had Kent call her parents. They said they would be out on the next flight.

I could see the concerned look on Brook’s face. Seeing Gwen come unhinged had bothered her. I acted on impulse. Before Brook could say anything, I touched the side of her face and lowered my mouth to hers, placing a gentle kiss on her lips. I wanted to send her a message about how I honestly felt about her. I didn’t want her to mistake this for any other time I’d kissed her.

My tongue swept across her soft lips, and she opened her mouth slightly, allowing my tongue to slip inside. I ran my hand from her cheek to the back of her neck. Our lips moved together as our kiss deepened into well-practiced bliss. Everything seemed to fade around us, leaving me feeling she was the only person in my world. She pulled back, breaking the spell as she looked me in the eyes.

“What was that for?” she asked.

“Just a reminder that I love you.”

The tension in Brook’s body left her.

“I love you, too.”

Brook and I were getting the house ready for the party when everyone who’d spent the day with Cindy appeared. They were giddy, and I saw that Sarah and Wolf couldn’t seem to keep their hands off each other. Tami and Tim weren’t much better.

“What happened to them?” I asked with a straight face.

“Cindy happened.”

“You think she did her magic?”

“Don’t know. I’ll find out,” Brook said.

I just bet she would. There would be a girl confab in the near future where all the details would be discussed. I went back to setting up.

“Dude, you rock,” Wolf announced as he put me in a bear hug from behind.

He put me down, and Tim did the same.

“Get off me,” I grumped. “I take it Cindy was helpful.”

“I’m not embarrassed to admit it. I was clueless,” Wolf said. “All I know is that Sarah’s happy.”

I looked at Tim, and he just grinned.

“Cool. Help me finish getting ready for this party,” I said.

I told them about going to the batting cage.

“Normally, I’d be jealous you got to hit some balls,” Tim said.

I had a couple of smart comments leap to mind about ‘balls’ but decided to let them sit for now. I could see they were dying to tell me about their afternoon, but wanted me to ask. The more I thought about it, the more I didn’t need to hear the details. I was confident Cindy handled everything well.

“Da-vid,” Cindy said with a singsong voice.

Cindy always has had one of the top five butts I’d ever seen. Damn, she was in short-shorts that highlighted her best asset. She saw where I was looking and smiled.

“You still into older women?”

“I’m pretty sure I’m not allowed to play today. I’ve already had a stalker, and I don’t think Brook will let me off the leash,” I said to slow her roll.

“Stalker?” Wolf asked.

I told them about Gwen, leaving out what we’d done over Christmas and being sketchy about all the details. At first, they found it amusing that a Hollywood actress was ‘stalking’ me. Then they had sober expressions when I told them that we had to take her somewhere to get evaluated because she was ‘batshit crazy,’ as Brook had put it.

“That sucks,” Tim said to sum up.

“How were Wolf and Tim as students?” I asked and then smirked. “Did they give you a hard time?”

Cindy rolled her eyes, and both Tim and Wolf moaned at my attempt at humor.

“He’s big on not sharing details. I think we should make him suffer and not tell him,” Wolf said.

Honestly, I was happy he said that.

“I’m a little on edge,” Cindy said to let me know she was horny.

That told me she had left everyone alone and watched.

“Like I said, I’m not your guy. Hang around for the party. I have every confidence you can find someone to help you,” I suggested.

“I’ll go talk to Brook,” Cindy said and left us.

“Wow. I’d cut off important body parts to be with her, and you turned her down?” Wolf asked.

“She has a boyfriend back at school,” I explained.

What I didn’t tell them was Cindy and Kevin had an open relationship. I figured it was a good enough excuse for the guys.

“I’m just saying, though,” Wolf said.

We all agreed, including Mr. Happy, that I was ‘batshit crazy’ for passing. He liked Cindy a lot, as did I.

The party started off a little slow. My friends, being from the Midwest, couldn’t understand why no one showed up on time. I had to explain that in LA, people liked to be fashionably late. You had to make an entrance, after all. By ten o’clock, our house began to fill up.

I went out back and watched everyone. Music was thumping, and everyone was either talking or dancing with smiles on their faces. It was satisfying to see them all having a good time.

I was off in my own world when Isabel Alexandra approached me with her best friend, whom I called ‘Groper’ because I couldn’t remember her name. Isabel got into my personal space, rubbed her breasts against my chest, and kissed my cheek.

“It’s my birthday,” she announced.

“Aye, uh ... well ... uh ... happy birthday,” I finally managed to get out.

No offense to Halle James, but Isabel had a body made for sin. Ben was a complete idiot to risk losing her. What had me stammering was that I’d assumed that her magnificent breasts were fake. Rubbing up against me made me painfully aware that they were spectacularly natural.

It was the dilemma I faced in Hollywood. Actors and actresses played younger roles. Isabel had to be ten years older than me. There was also the minor roadblock of her dating my friend Ben Cowley and me forgetting who I was dating. Oh, yeah, Brook’s name finally came to me. If she kept rubbing those traffic-stoppers against my arm, I might forget my own name.

Groper picked that moment to grab my crotch. Her eyes got big when she found that Mr. Happy had noticed Isabel, even if the big brain had been scrambled. I looked Groper in the eyes and then looked down. She hadn’t let go.

“You know that you do that to the wrong guy and you might be sorry,” I warned her.

“Somehow, I don’t think you’re the wrong guy,” she challenged me.

“I wouldn’t push it,” Cindy said as she sauntered up.

My brain almost locked up when I thought that if I combined all three girls, I might have the future Mrs. Dawson. Cindy had a killer butt, while Isabel had a rack that made boys like me drool, and Groper seemed like just the right amount of slutty fun.

“Really?” Groper said as she ran her palm along my length, causing me to suck in my breath.

“David’s not the tame boy you think he is. He comes across as the All-American boy next door. In reality, he could drag the three of us to his bedroom, and we would be happy girls come morning,” Cindy shared.

“Sounds like you know,” Isabel said, and Cindy gave a mysterious smile to confirm. “He might be what I need as my birthday present.”

“Back off, Bitch!” Brook said as she stormed up. “He might be too polite to say anything about you rubbing his dick, but I’ll kick your ass.”

Groper jerked her hand back. I pulled Brook to me before she decided to do any physical harm.

“You know my girlfriend, Brook?” I asked.

“We met on the yacht,” Isabel said.

“We should all talk,” Cindy said.

I groaned when I thought of all four of them in my bed at the same time. Brook leaned in and kissed my neck.