Chapter 26

David
At first, David had been somewhat amused to walk in on Alex getting head in the living room of their dorm suite. It had been okay the first few times. But the new had worn off, and last night had made him more annoyed than amused. For cripes’ sake, Alex had a bedroom. He could have the decency not to do it on the couch, with his phone in his hand as some random girl gave him head.

When David returned from Cassidy’s race, he found Alex cleaning pecker tracks off the couch with David’s favorite blanket. He made a mental note to never leave something like that in their living area again.

“Come on, man. That’s my blanket you’re using. Can’t you take it to your bedroom when you get busy? We actually live here,” David complained.

Alex didn’t seem bothered by David’s growing annoyance. He tossed the blanket in the corner when he was satisfied that he’d gotten the worst of it.

“Sorry, Boy Scout. I’ll have the cleaning lady wash your blankie.”

“It’s not even about that. It’s about boundaries.”

“Are we pretending you never get head? It sounded like you and Lexi were getting it on last night,” Alex said.

“Not in the living room. Not where people sit.”

“I bet you can only do it behind closed doors with the lights off.”

“Are you done?”

“ ... in the missionary position.”

“Fuck you, Alex.”

“I said I was sorry, okay? I forgot you were such a prude.”

David scowled.

“I’m not a ‘prude.’ I’m just not an exhibitionist.”

Alex burst out laughing.

“Whatever you say, dude. I remember you running around naked in Greece. Allard told me all about your exploits when he roomed with you for Team USA,” Alex pointed out.

“That was different,” David tried.

That just made Alex laugh harder. David made a mental note to kick Allard’s ass the next time he saw him. Not just for sharing about the road trip, but for telling Alex how Mason had taken to calling him a Boy Scout.

“Asshole,” David mumbled.

“Settle down. It wasn’t all my fault this time.”

“I’m not sure I want to know.”

“If you’d been here earlier, it would have been you getting head. She was here for you,” Alex said.

“What are you talking about?”

“Some of the girls on the third floor were playing Truth or Dare. She took a dare to give you head. I was just kind enough to stand in for you,” Alex said with a big grin.

“For fuck’s sake.”

“Actually, I think you owe me,” Alex said, acting like he was contemplating something.

“Why’s that?”

“I had to make out with two of them, and then the third gave me head. They were just working themselves up to the good stuff. When what’s-her-name left, she wasn’t happy to have heard you and Lexi getting busy.”

David just went to his room, leaving Alex in the living room, laughing at him.

Holy Cross had finally beaten the Trojans Saturday, 6–2. The coaches were still working to find the right lineup and had sat most of the younger guys, including David. Sunday morning, David was back in the lineup, and the Trojans prevailed 9–1. He’d had a good game as he reached base all but once, stole two bases, and scored twice. Allard had picked up his second win.

Paul Andon must have been determined to get David to his party because he’d sent a car to pick up David, Alex, Kirk, and Jamie.

“I can’t wait to see their faces,” Kirk said once they’d all gotten in the back of the large SUV.

Veronica and her gang, plus Lindsey, had left for the weekend yesterday morning. Alex’s dad had helped with the prank by providing a couple of the guys that had renovated the dorm when it was converted. David had initially planned to have the deadbolts replaced on their doors so they couldn’t get in. Over the week, the plan had morphed into removing the door and door frame so they could drywall the opening closed.

Alex, Kirk, and Jamie had brought the rest of the floor in on the prank since they didn’t want anyone shooting the townies a text to warn them. They soon discovered that the whole floor was sick of the BS the four of them had been pulling. If the crickets hadn’t been bad enough, the stink bombs had turned the tide.

When David had returned from his baseball game Saturday, he’d found the floor all helping move Veronica, Lindsey, Christian, and Peter into the common room. The construction guys had found some partitions to make it look like a temporary living situation.

Once they were moved, the carpenters had taken the doors and doorframes out and covered the doorways with drywall. This morning they were back to sand the seams and paint the drywall to match the hall. The final touch was the installation of baseboards.

When David had come back from Sunday’s game, he had to look closely to figure out where the doors had been before.

They hadn’t touched Lauren’s room because her roommate wasn’t involved in any of the shenanigans. The roommate was a quiet girl who was serious about school, so David had rejected the idea of doing their room. He’d convinced the others by explaining it could potentially drive a wedge into Veronica’s group, possibly breaking it up.

David had compared it to the thought processes of a cheating spouse. Because they were cheating, it was easy for them to assume their spouse was, too. In this case, Veronica and company had talked Lindsey into becoming a rat by promising invitations to parties like the one Lexi’s dad was throwing. They would think Lauren was somehow a part of David’s prank because her room was left alone.

During the week, he’d laid the groundwork to set Lauren up by stopping her in the cafeteria as she went to her usual table. He’d asked her what was good today and then jumped in line to get his food. He’d glanced back and found Veronica quizzing Lauren as to what he’d asked. The clincher had been that when David got to his usual table, Lindsey had asked him, too. He’d simply replied that Lauren had helped him with something, thus placing the seed of doubt.

“I can’t wait to see Lindsey’s face when we walk in,” Jamie said.

“It’s been hard acting like we’re still friends,” Kirk admitted.

“Why? Isn’t she?” David asked.

The three of them all looked at him like he’d just announced he’d planned a trip to Alaska to club baby seals.

“Oh, come on, guys, she’s still Linds,” David said.

It looked like they would have to agree to disagree on that one.

Lexi’s parents’ house was just what you would expect a studio executive to live in if he wanted to entertain and impress. When they arrived, Alex, Kirk, and Jamie immediately went to the bar, leaving David to check out the crowd. He spotted Lexi and her dad talking to some studio types, so he decided not to say ‘hi’ yet. He did see Rachel, Lexi’s mom, talking to a group of women at a table. There was an empty seat next to her.

David walked up behind her. He put his hands on her shoulders, leaned down, and stage-whispered, “I know you said we had to be discreet, but I had to come over and say ‘hello.’”

That brought their conversation to a screeching halt. Rachel finally realized it was him, and she stood up and gave him a hug. She turned back to the women with her arm still around his waist.

“This jokester is Lexi’s boyfriend, David A. Dawson.”

“Boyfriend?” David asked as his eyebrows rose.

Rachel turned and looked at him as if to dare him to deny it.

“I was holding off because of us,” David said to play it off.

“Are you hitting on my mom?” Lexi asked as she walked up.

“Why shouldn’t he be hitting on me?” Rachel teased her daughter.

“Come on, before you give her ideas,” Lexi said as she pulled David away. “My dad wants you to meet some people.”

“Ohh-kay, sure. Whatever you say, honey.”

David heaped sarcasm into the words as he winked at Rachel to let her know he was kidding.

He dutifully followed his new ‘girlfriend’ to network with her dad’s business associates.

Paul finally let David go but made Lexi stay at his side when the head of a rival studio showed up, and they started negotiating a deal. David was glad he could finally enjoy himself.

He thought he might need a map when he discovered the estate was sprawling. He stumbled upon a small secret garden that he could see being used as a place to get away and contemplate the day’s events. Before he stepped into it, he heard Veronica talking, and as he peeked in, David saw she was with Lauren and Lindsey. He decided to eavesdrop.

“What? You never said anything about that!” Lauren shrieked. “You boned the provost and the first mate on that trip?”

David blinked in surprise and assumed Lauren had to be kidding.

Veronica shrugged like it was no big deal.

“It’s not like I’ve told you about every single man I’ve messed around with. Only most of them.”

Lindsey was looking shell-shocked at what Lauren and Veronica were talking about. David understood why.

“But the provost? That’s kinda major news to keep to yourself,” Lauren complained.

“Not if you’d seen him. He wasn’t bad for an old guy. He had a nice package, but for technique, I’d only rate him a four. And he didn’t last very long. That was why I tracked down the first mate. Now he had a nice cock on him. He was probably a six out of ten,” Veronica overshared.

Poor Lindsey looked like she was about to faint.

“I can’t believe you sometimes,” Lauren said.

“Someday, you’ll give up your V-card and understand. Plus, a six is a decent score for something like that. I’ve been with worse,” Veronica said.

“Why would you do that?” Lindsey asked.

“If you want to keep getting invited to stuff like this, you have to pay the toll. That’s why I said you probably want to get with either Christian or Peter. They’re both solid eights,” Veronica assured her.

“Overshare much?” Lauren asked and then turned to Lindsey. “Don’t let her bully you.”

“I couldn’t. I have a boyfriend back home,” Lindsey said weakly.

“Who you said was terrible in the sack. Peter will at least go down on you,” Veronica said.

David had heard enough. He walked into the little clearing and smiled at Lauren.

“Hey, Lauren,” he said in greeting, ignoring Lindsey and Veronica.

Lindsey went white as a ghost at being discovered. Then David turned his gaze on Veronica.

“I was just with Lexi. She’s with her dad and Harvey Resnick. She said you and Christian were trying to get in touch with her and that if I saw either of you, I was to send you to her.”

“Mr. Resnick runs the studio where my mom’s show is filmed,” Veronica worried.