Chapter 41

David
“There’s my fine-assed big boy. Come here and give me a hug.”

David found his nose buried between two giant aproned boobs as Doreen pulled his head into her chest. It felt like déjà vu as he smelled French roast and lilac body wash.

“Doreen, let David go,” Kat called from the back.

“You ran him off once. Good-looking men like this need to be in my shop, and I’m not letting him get away again.”

“Kat and I have made up. I promise to come in and say ‘hello.’ Besides, you’re the only one who knows how to make tea the way I like it,” David said, enjoying their banter.

“Strong?”

“You got it.”

“Kat, take a break while I make David’s tea,” Doreen ordered. “You want coffee?”

“Dear God, yes. Coffee before talkie,” Kat said around a yawn. She then found a table for them to sit at. “Since I started here, I’ve become convinced that Doreen’s coffee is actually liquid heroin. I’ve become a caffeine addict.”

“I heard that,” Doreen called from behind the counter.

“Thanks for coming back. I had to stop Doreen from going to your dorm yesterday to track you down,” Kat shared.

“I got in late Sunday night and skipped running to sleep in before going to class.”

David could see the relief on her face. Then she scrunched her nose.

“I need an escort to a fundraiser for Senator Hatley. If I don’t bring someone, they’ll make me sit with my ex,” she explained.

She told him that the event was next Thursday. David didn’t have a game, so technically, he could do it. He just wasn’t sure whether he wanted to encourage Kat. All the reasons they’d broken up were still valid. The only complication was they’d since had sex. David had assumed that it was a onetime event. His mom was fond of saying that ‘when you assume something, it makes an ass out of u and me.’

“Why don’t you just bail?” David asked.

“This is one of the few obligations I’m looking forward to. I like Daniel’s granddad. Probably more than I like my own family at the moment.”

“Why not take Yong?” David asked.

“The seats are fifteen hundred a plate.”

David was ready to pull out one of his life goals and use it, specifically, the ability to say ‘no.’ But in the back of his mind, he heard his grandmother’s voice advising him to get involved in politics. If he planned to live here, this would be an excellent way to get to know the local political players.

“Would I get a discount if I bought a table?” David asked.

He knew he could get his parents and grandmother to go. If he had extra seats, either his grandma or Lexi could find people to take them.

“I don’t know. I would have to ask my mom,” Kat said.

“Let me give you my PA’s number. I’ll let her know to expect someone to call.”

“Does that mean you’ll take me?” Kat asked.

“As friends,” David said to clarify.

He could almost read her mind as she added a silent ’for now.’

When David walked into his accounting class, he took a moment to thank the guy who’d videoed the class for him before he sat down next to Alyssa. It was her turn to bring coffee, and he found his tea already waiting for him. Professor Scarpa walked in and looked at the two of them.

“Mr. Dawson, Miss Timmons,” he greeted them. “In your honor, we’re having a pop quiz today.”

“Why, thank you, sir. It’s nice to know we were missed,” David said.

Alyssa had reached under their desk and clawed his thigh to make him stop. He pointedly looked where her hand was and wiggled his eyebrows. She jerked her hand back like it had been snakebit.

As the quizzes were being handed out, David whispered to Alyssa.

“Relax. If you watched the video, you’ll do fine.”

“You horse’s ass, you never sent it to me,” she hissed.

“I promise not to cover up my answers,” David teased her to pay her back for her making that accusation against him when they first met.

Professor Scarpa overheard them.

“I don’t think we should punish the whole class for Mr. Dawson forcing Miss Timmons to skip last week. Why don’t we have Mr. Dawson come up front and answer the questions for everyone’s benefit?”

It was as if David was back in high school. Most students would have been cowed by being called out. Instead, David gamely got up and walked up to the front of the class.

“What do I get if I answer them all correctly?” he asked.

There were a few nervous giggles from the peanut gallery. Professor Scarpa looked perplexed.

“What do you mean?”

“In my economics class, we are being taught that for every action, there is a reaction. It only makes sense that if I am taking the quiz for the class that I should be offered some kind of reward, like extra credit,” David negotiated.

“How about I don’t flunk you?” Professor Scarpa countered.

David rolled his eyes because it sounded like Professor Scarpa had gone to the same negotiating school that his mother did. What David recognized was that the door had been opened.

“That would end up being more work than it’s worth,” David said and gave him a big smile. “See, the action/reaction thing.”

That earned him some guffaws from the class. David was sure they were enjoying watching him stall before answering the quiz questions.

“How about we say that you’ll owe me one?” David suggested.

Professor Scarpa gave him a nod to get things moving, so he read the first question aloud.

David did well until the last question.

“A company receives payment for products or services to be performed in the future. How is it reported?” David read.

He thought about it for a moment before answering.

“This concept confused me. I think it should be reported as ‘deferred revenue.’ Which is a liability?’”

“Is that right?” Professor Scarpa asked the class.

Professor Scarpa saw that this was a topic he hadn’t explained thoroughly.

“David is right. Let me explain.”

It was this type of stuff that made David’s head hurt. How could revenue be a liability? He was about to find out.

After lunch, David met Ridge in The Palace’s weight room. He saw it was just the two of them.

“We’re early,” Ridge explained.

David took the opportunity to talk to his friend about his football situation.

“Sounds like your baseball coach is smarter than I am. I would’ve just marched in and started making demands,” Ridge said.

“Would that work with Coach Clayton?” David asked.

“Hell, no. He would kick me out if I ever pulled something like that.”

“What do you think I should do?”

“Let me think about it,” Ridge said.

Their conversation was cut short when the other NFL hopefuls, Cassidy, and the girls from the dorm showed up. Cassidy had wrangled this into a money-making venture for herself. Ridge had made the mistake of saying that his agent had offered to hire a trainer. Miss Cassidy had cornered him after she’d made him cry from working out so hard, and Ridge had caved.

Once that domino fell, David’s little entrepreneur had talked to the other guys. They all agreed to pony up because they were seeing the results. David had joked that she should share some of that money with his old trainer, Joey, since she taught Cassidy some of what she was using. The look Cassidy gave him discouraged any further comments about her sharing her newfound funds.

David was back in her good graces when he suggested to Lindsey, Jamie, and Lauren that his friend could help them tone up. They’d been complaining about bikini season coming up. David and Kirk had gotten tired of listening to them, so David offered Cassidy’s services.

Her business began to boom when the girls had shared that David, Ridge, and the other NFL guys worked out at the same time. If many more showed up, Cassidy would have to hire help.

David was spotting Ridge on the bench press when he heard Lauren complain. Cassidy had the girls stretching.

“I can’t do it. I hurt all over. Even my hair hurts.”

“Uh, oh,” Ridge said, predicting trouble.

If he, or any of the guys, had said that. Cassidy would have made them work harder.

“David! Get over here,” Cassidy demanded.

Ridge and David looked at each other like they’d been caught stealing candy at the quickie mart.

“David!” she repeated.

Ridge chuckled when David dutifully went to the scary ninja glaring at him. Then he got even more worried when she smiled at him.

“David has magic hands,” she told Lauren. “Have him take you over there, and he’ll give you a massage.”

David was torn between telling Cassidy ‘no’ and the idea of getting his hands on Lauren’s body. Mr. Happy began to swell to let his opinion be known.

“Will it help?” Lauren asked.

“Absolutely,” Cassidy assured her.

They’d thought of everything when designing this room. There was a massage table off to the side in a small nook; that would give Lauren and David some privacy.

“How do you want me?” Lauren asked when they were alone.

David bit back, ‘naked and under me.’

“Just get on and lie face down.”

Once Lauren was on the table, David quickly found out that Cassidy was indeed working the girls too hard. Lauren’s muscles were in knots. He would talk to Cassidy afterward. She was used to working with athletes and needed to ratchet it down several notches for novices.

“I hate to say this, but to really help you, I need you to take off your shirt. Just remove it and put it on the table like you would a beach towel when you’re sunning by the pool,” David said.

David turned around until Lauren told him she was ready. His brother, Greg, owned his own massage business, and he’d trained David to help out when he could. Greg had also taught him some sexy tricks that had gotten David lucky more than once. All that went out the window when he found that Lauren needed his help.

Deep tissue massages were not gentle. To help her, David had to dig in to loosen Lauren’s twisted muscles. When he found a particularly tough knot, she would add her commentary.

“Yes ... Right there ... Oh, my ... Yes, yes, yes, oh, dear God, YES! ... It hurts! ... Do it harder!”

When Lauren began to feel human again, David stepped out of the nook to give her privacy to put her shirt back on. He found Lindsey looking up at him expectantly.