Chapter 22

Dare
About five minutes into Dare’s first football party, he realized they were not his scene. The ground was sticky, everything smelled like beer and sweat, and the DJ was playing the music too loud for his taste.

“Is this what we can expect the whole time we’re here?” Corvus asked in wonder.

Dare glanced over at his roommate, who looked more nervous than Dare felt. At MIT, a ‘party’ might top out at ten people. Nerdy engineer types weren’t exactly social. There had to be at least twenty times that number in the parking lot behind David’s townhome.

They’d come directly from the airport, and when they arrived at the townhouse, they’d had to go through tighter security than TSA had put them through in Boston. The security people had checked that they were on the list and then made them both eSign a nondisclosure document and a consent to be videotaped.

Dare now knew what David was talking about when he told stories about how Range Sports would make him sign those ‘death thingy’ documents. Those were the ones to hold the company harmless if he died testing one of their products. It made the whole event feel taboo and made them both want to attend even more.

Corvus nearly had a meltdown when the security people asked them to hand over their cell phones and car keys. Cassidy had saved the day when she found the two nerds. She’d escorted them to David’s townhouse, where Corvus almost died when Precious decided he wasn’t supposed to be there. Duke had body-checked the ‘cat from hell’ before she could take a chunk out of his friend.

Now, Cassidy found them in the crowd.

“Corvus wanted to know if we should expect this all the time,” Dare said.

“David rarely throws a party, but when he does, it’s a lot of fun,” she explained.

Corvus’s head was on a swivel as his mouth hung open.

“We aren’t used to seeing such attractive women at MIT,” Dare said to explain his friend’s pervy behavior.

“One of the girls in our study group has a beard,” Corvus shared.

“He’s kidding, right?” Cassidy asked.

“I wouldn’t call it an actual beard. More like peach fuzz,” Dare shared.

Cassidy looked aghast.

“No, no. It’s no big deal. We have a lot of international students who tell us that where they come from, women with facial hair are no big deal,” Dare explained.

“French women are hairy. They don’t shave their legs,” Corvus said.

“I’ve told you thirty-six times that’s a myth. But I do think they’re all slim and rude,” Darius admitted.

“Colette got a higher grade on a math test than Dare,” Corvus told Cassidy.

“Ow!” “Ow!”

Cassidy put them both into headlocks as she chuckled.

“I can’t wait to see David when you two start bickering. He’ll bleed out of his ears.”

Cassidy led the two boys through the party to find David. She seemed to know everybody and introduced Dare and Corvus around.

Dare was impressed with the variety of outstanding women. Cassidy’s rowing teammates were all extremely fit, which caused his dick to twitch. The Song Girls were gorgeous, with curves in all the right places. MIT’s cheerleaders all looked like the girl next door or a bit nerdy, but these were women who could easily have graced the cover and centerfold of men’s magazines. If all of them weren’t enough, the sorority girls were varied but all smoking hot in their own way.

When the three of them found David, he was talking to two girls. One was a curvy blond who looked like a movie star. The other was thin as a rail with black hair that hung straight down on the sides and bangs cut square across her forehead. She looked a bit like an old poster Dare had seen of Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction.

Cassidy stopped Dare and Corvus so she could tell them who David was talking to.

“Those are the Price sisters. Their mother stars in a sitcom. The blond is Veronica and not one of David’s favorite people, but he’s making an effort because I asked him to. She’s one of those who does the bare minimum in what counts but loves to party and be seen. You’ll run into many of those kinds of people in LA,” Cassidy said.

Corvus just froze at seeing such a good-looking girl. Dare wasn’t surprised when his roommate mumbled something and went back to the townhouse. He bet that the blond had caused him to get a stiffy.

“She might be better looking than Brook,” Dare said.

Cassidy looked shocked that he would consider anyone better looking than his high school crush.

“I’ll give you credit for reaching for the stars, but I’m warning you, Veronica would eat you alive.”

Dare simply nodded, thinking that might not be a bad way to go. Cassidy made an exasperated sound, knowing nothing could break his focus if her nerd friend fixated on something. Just saying the word ‘drones’ around him would get you a half-hour lecture.

“The dark-haired one is Chloe, and she’s a lesbian,” Cassidy shared and then leaned in close. “David doesn’t know that.”

“So, if he lets me pick first, I grab Veronica?” Dare asked.

Cassidy laughed so hard she had to hold her side. Dare looked confused, but she waved him off.

“Sorry, it’s just that you say the funniest things sometimes and don’t even mean to.”

“Did I say something wrong?” he worried.

“No. It was perfect. I think you should take David aside and tell him that you get first dibs since you’re his guest,” she suggested.

Dare’s eyes got big.

“You think he would let me?”

“Oh, yeah,” Cassidy said, nodding enthusiastically. “Maybe you can offer to get the girls a drink and take David with you to help carry everything back. I would suggest getting them the punch.”

Dare wasn’t sure whether to believe her, but David’s brother Greg had taught him how to talk to women. Greg was responsible for David’s success with women. So, when Dare was able to get a girlfriend in high school, he strung the data points together and concluded that he was all-in with everything Greg taught him. He could do this!

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Cassidy do a little happy dance when he walked toward David and the girls. That had to mean she wished him luck.

“Darius Rossetti, how the heck are you?” David asked as he pulled Dare into a hug.

“Good. Help me get these ladies another drink,” Dare announced.

All three of them gave a confused look, but David smoothed it over.

“That’s a great idea. We’ll be right back.”

As they walked to the bar, Dare gave David a sober look.

“I get the blond.”

David actually stumbled before coming to a stop.

“Come again?”

Dare suddenly became unsure of himself.

“Cassidy said that since I was a guest, I got first dibs.”

“Did she?” David asked as he looked around for her.

Dare spotted her trying to hide behind some giant man, but he didn’t think he should point her out to David.

“She also told me that Chloe’s a lesbian, and you didn’t know.”

“Nice. I get the girl that plays for the other team, and you get the hot blond,” David quipped.

Dare realized he probably shouldn’t have shared that, but you told friends the truth even if it meant you lost out on the girl. Then Dare had a thought. David was super competitive.

“Maybe you could turn Chloe bi.”

David laughed.

“God, I’ve missed you,” he said and began walking to the bar. “So, you like Veronica?”

“Yes. I think she might be lovelier than Brook.”

“Dude. Guys don’t call girls ‘lovelier.’ You say she’s hot,” David coached.

Dare felt his face get warm. David cocked his head and gave his friend a reassuring look.

“Cassidy’s right. You’re my guest, so I’ll give you dibs on Veronica, but you’ll owe me.”

Dare shook his head ‘no.’

“Nice try. Cassidy told me that you were only being nice to Veronica because she asked you to.”

“Cassidy is a little blabbermouth. Remind me to spank her later.”

Dare made a mental note to do just that.

When they returned, Veronica only had eyes for David. Dare was pleased when his friend began to talk him up.