Chapter 23

David
David and Duke came downstairs to find Cassidy and Corvus eating doughnuts and drinking coffee. Cassidy had Precious in her lap. The stupid cat was eyeing Corvus like he was a midmorning snack.

“Veronica is jetpacking on Dare,” Cassidy shared.

“Jetpacking?”

“Spooning, but the smaller person on the outside,” she said, like that was something he should have known.

“Wait, what?” David asked, suddenly very confused. “Dare and Veronica...?”

“I had to sleep on the couch last night. I want to go take a shower and change, but I’m afraid I’ll walk in and see my roommate’s vinegar face,” Corvus said.

“Is that what I think it is?” David asked.

“If you mean the face a guy makes at the point of no return, then yes,” Cassidy explained.

Precious apparently decided to snack on a terrorized human another time and slunk off Cassidy’s lap. David smiled. He knew better.

“Pull your feet up!” David warned.

Corvus wasn’t yet wise to the evil Precious truly was and yelped when she drew blood from his calf.

“I have a first-aid kit in my bathroom. You can use my shower,” David offered Corvus.

“Is that cat always that mean?” Corvus asked.

Cassidy and David agreed that she was.

Once Corvus left, David had Cassidy alone.

“Young lady,” David said in his dad voice.

Her eye roll almost made him grin.

“You are going to be the one who deals with the mess when Veronica breaks his heart,” David warned.

He saw his friend start to get mad, and then it dawned on her who he was talking about. It was sometimes easy to forget that Dare was so much younger. Add in what a socially awkward introvert he’d been when they first met, and she realized what a disaster Veronica would be for the brilliant twerp.

“Your mom said he had to toughen up,” Cassidy finally managed.

Speak of the devil, Darius and Veronica—not David’s mother—came down the stairs all giggly and kissy-faced.

“I’m walking Veronica home,” Dare called out as they went out the front door.

“Fuck me sideways,” Cassidy moaned.

“Yep. You get to deal with it,” David said.

He bet they wouldn’t see Dare for the rest of the day.

His phone chirped. It was a text from Colleen saying she was back. She hadn’t wanted to go to David’s party; instead, she’d gone home to see her parents and do her laundry. David took that as code for her mom was washing her clothes. He hoped she hadn’t taken her sheets.

“Hey, Duke,” he said as his dog looked up at him. “A girl’s coming over.”

By his tail wag, Duke agreed that was a good idea.

“She’s not coming over here. I don’t want to listen to you two having sex all day,” Cassidy said.

David had an evil thought.

“What are you thinking?” she asked, suspicious.

“Matt lives next door to Colleen, and apparently, the walls are thin.”

“Boys really are stupid,” Cassidy said as she scooped up Precious and went upstairs.

David was making a grocery list when his phone rang. It was Alex Sandoval.

“Alex!”

“Squeak told me you messaged her.”

David had gotten in touch with Alex’s sister as soon as he read about Alex collapsing during a soccer game.

“How are you feeling?” David asked.

“Not great. I just learned that I’m done playing soccer.”

David knew how devastating that news was for his friend.

“I’m so sorry,” was all he could think to say.

“They say they found a heart abnormality, and since I almost died...” Alex trailed off.

“What does that mean?”

“I should be fine as long as I don’t try to run a marathon.”

David could hear in Alex’s voice that he was stressed out.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” David asked.

“There is something. Could you call Kirk and see if he’d be willing to take the single next to our room? I want to come back to USC and room with you,” Alex said.

Kirk would be a senior next year. David was sure he could talk the guy into the single. It wouldn’t be much different from living with David since he, Jamie, Lauren, and Lindsey pretty much lived in David’s dorm room anyway. And any concern Kirk would have would probably be mitigated by the return of the gaming system. It would be good to have Alex back.

“I’ll take care of it,” David promised.

“I also want you to fly down for Squeak’s and my birthday.”

“That’s perfect; I just got my jet type rating, and I’ve been wanting to plan a longer trip.”

“And David...”

“Yes.”

“Squeak may make a personal request of you for her birthday present.”

Red flags popped up. From what he knew, Alex and his dad would kill him if he touched Nat. They were devout Catholics, and premarital sex was supposed to be taboo.

“And you’re okay with this?”

Alex laughed.

“It would be best if I never hear what happens,” Alex said, then got serious. “Just make sure you treat her right.”

“I’m not making any promises.”

“What?!” Alex asked.

“Not about not treating her right; you know I would never do anything like that. I might not be able to help her.”

Alex laughed.

“I’m not going to try to convince you to sleep with my sister, but she has made it clear that she wants you to be her first.”

“Fuck. What about your dad?”

“Camilla will keep him occupied,” Alex swore.

“She’d better,” David worried. “I suppose I’m responsible for finding you a girl to relieve you of your V-card.”

“Wouldn’t my dad love that? He might call my uncle to have you taken care of,” Alex joked.

“I’m starting to have second thoughts,” David admitted.

“My uncle would tell my dad it was about time we got laid. You have nothing to worry about.”

“Tell Nat that we shall see. I want to make sure she understands I’m not looking to get married or anything.”

“She knows the score. But it wouldn’t be so bad having you as a brother-in-law,” Alex teased.

“You just got a downgrade on the quality of woman I’ll be bringing you,” David fired back.

“I’ve been cooped up in a hospital for so long that I don’t think it matters as long as she’s willing.”

“TMI, Dude.”

“I need to make some other calls before they take my cell away from me. When it gets closer to my birthday, I’ll get you the details,” Alex said.

He and David exchanged goodbyes and hung up.

David was relieved to hear Alex would be okay. He was also looking forward to flying to South America.

While David was talking to Alex, his mom tried to ring through, so he called her back.

“Who all do you want to come to your birthday party?” Carol asked without preamble.

David counted to ten before he made a smartass comment.

“I guess whoever wants to come.”

“What about your cousins?”

“That’s fine.”

“What if they can’t afford to fly?”

“Then, I guess, pay for it.”

“It sounds like you just want me to handle everything,” Carol said.

David found his forehead in his palm. His mom was just winding him up. Plus, giving her a blank check was a recipe for disaster. On the other hand, he didn’t want to deal with it.

“Mom, you have free rein. Do whatever you think is best. Invite anyone you want, and spend whatever you think is needed. Just keep in mind that both of my movies are premiering that weekend. You might want to talk to Paul Andon. He can probably arrange it so everyone can watch them.”

“I thought Love Letters was coming out the week before.”