Chapter 27

A terrified yelp escaped David’s clenched teeth as his arms and legs flailed, hoping to grab something—anything—that could stop his fall off the side of the cliff. He awoke just a moment before colliding with the floor, landing hard on his left arm.

“Fuck!” he hissed because he’d hit his funny bone.

He rolled over on his back and looked at the ceiling, trying to clear his head before attempting to stand up. Thankfully, Jim had gathered him up and taken him home before the offensive linemen could talk him into a shots contest. The combination of him being a lightweight drinker and the sixty-to-hundred-pound weight difference between him and his drinking opponents wouldn’t have turned out well.

That said, he hadn’t been too steady on his feet for his walk home.

He finally sat up, and the earth tilted on its axis. If his stomach hadn’t announced it was going to purge itself of any remaining poison he’d ingested last night, he would have simply lain back down. Instead, he half crawled and half ran to the bathroom. What he found disturbing was that all that was left was bile, and he began to dry heave when that was gone.

“I thought I swore off drinking the last time I did this,” David complained once he finally stood up and could talk to himself in the mirror. “You need to get your butt in the shower because Cassidy will make your life a living hell if she thinks you’re hungover.”

He stepped into the shower and let the hot water do its magic while contemplating how sad it was that he’d had to give himself a pep talk to get moving this morning.

When he finally got out, his phone made an irritating noise to let him know he had a message. David had to go full-on Sherlock to decrypt it. Suprz meant ‘Surprise.’ Gyadh took longer to decode, but he believed it meant ‘Get your ass down here.’

To be safe, he simply sent a smiley-face emoji back.

The surprise was that Cassidy was driving her new car. He knew she liked to drive, but it was usually his Demon she wanted to get behind the wheel of. David had to admit that the Mercedes was the superior car based on sheer comfort.

“We have to stop and get something to eat,” David said as he slid into the front seat.

“Doreen’s?”

“That works.”

Cassidy pulled up in front, and David was shocked to find so many people there on a Sunday morning. Cool air rushed over him as he pulled open the door, the smell of freshly brewed coffee wafting out. Customers were three deep at the counter, so he went behind and helped out through the mini-rush.

“You realize you’re to blame for this,” Doreen said as her smile broadened. “People want to see where The Young and The Wild is filmed.”

He noted that his wasn’t the only photo on the wall now. Doreen had gotten her picture taken with each of the rest of the cast.

“And next time you mention my place on your show, give me a heads-up. I ran out of coffee cake in about thirty minutes on Thursday,” she complained, though her smile never wavered.

He lounged comfortably against the counter.

“I need two coffees and coffee cakes to go,” David said.

“No tea?”

“No, I need the real stuff today; the stronger, the better. I drank too much last night,” David admitted. “In fact, I could really use some Cuban coffee; that stuff has a powerful jolt. It’s like drinking jet fuel. I can see students lined up before an all-nighter. You might want to add that to your menu.”

Doreen said she’d consider it and hooked him up with non-Cuban coffee. David was irritated when Cassidy refused to drive and eat her food because she only had one working arm. He thought the car could all but drive itself for what it would have cost him, had he paid for it. While they had their quick breakfast, Cassidy made him talk to her.

“Rough night? Have you been partying like a rock star? You look like shit. If I didn’t know better, I would say you’re hungover.”

David touched his nose to let her know she’d guessed right.

“What happened?” Cassidy asked, suddenly concerned.

She knew him too well. He reminded himself that it wouldn’t be worth not telling her.

“I had a fight with Crystal, and we broke up. I think she’s really mad because she didn’t even try to text me when I left Phi Sigs.”

“Don’t worry about her,” Cassidy counseled. “She’s just a small-minded girl who puts out for the jocks to be popular, and she’ll never amount to much more.”

He was too startled by her words to offer an objection.

Finally, he said, “Tell me what you really think.”

She gave him an unreadable look as she glanced over at him.

“That was probably harsh, but you can do better. What is it with you trying to see the good in raving bitches? Remember what you thought of her and Lexi when you first met them? Why do you always go for someone you know is wrong for you? Why not focus on girls who are a better fit?”

As she asked her questions, David brought one finger down for each. Cassidy glared back at him.

“Don’t do that. What are you doing?” Cassidy asked as she used her chin to indicate his closed fist with his thumb sticking out.

“Keeping track of your questions,” he answered quickly.

“Well?”

“That was harsh. I see the good in everyone. I don’t let first impressions guide me, I’m a guy, and I’m not looking to settle down just yet.”

The last two earned him an eye roll.

“I don’t feel like talking about it,” David said. “Let me take a nap, and we can talk more in Malibu.”

David didn’t usually have the luxury of taking naps.

“It’s time to get up, sleepyhead,” Cassidy teased.

“Shhh, sleeping,” David shot back as he gave her his irresistible, devastating grin.

“Your sexy smile won’t work on me. Wake your butt up. We’re here,” Cassidy said as the gate slid open to let them into the Dawson compound.

He noted that a drone circled the car as they drove to the back side of the garage. One of the garage doors opened, and Cassidy pulled into it. Before David could open his car door, the back door opened, and his kids piled in. He quickly got his phone out and sent Cassidy a text.

“Welcome, little ninjas. Please go with Master Cassidy to start your training while I rest. It was hard work making sure your dad was safe with Master Cassidy driving,” S said.

“Ow,” David exclaimed as he received a jab under the arm.

“S is right. She’s tired from driving. Before we warm up, you can tell me about your week,” Cassidy said.

David gave her a grateful look as he went to the house.

He was sweating now, trying hard to fight the waves of nausea that had suddenly reappeared. He felt like he should eat something. When he got to the kitchen, there was a ton of food, but nothing looked appetizing. David stared into the fridge until he started to feel woozy from standing.

’Never again,’ he promised himself.

He decided on toast. He was eating that and drinking another coffee when his mom found him.

“Your brother and his family will be here for lunch. He wants to talk to you, so make time for him.”

“What does he want?”

“You’ll have to let him tell you,” his mom said, then her eyes narrowed. “Are you hungover?”

“Crystal and I had a fight,” David said and told her everything that happened. “Do me a favor and fill everyone in so I don’t have to talk about it.”

“You might learn something from their perspectives.”

“I really won’t,” David said emphatically.

He knew he would never win this one from the look she gave him, so he got up to find Cassidy and her little ninjas.

“Hold up for a second,” his mom said. “This doesn’t feel like the kind of disagreement that leads to everything blowing up. In a relationship, there will be disagreements, some of them very hurtful and public. What you have to decide is whether Crystal is worth forgiving. I think you’ll discover that if she can forgive you, she is.”

“But I didn’t do anything wrong,” David complained.

“Didn’t you? Turn it on its head and look at her point of view. Why was she mad at you?” Carol said. “Your Grandpa Davey used to say there are three sides to an argument. Yours, theirs, and somewhere in the middle is the truth. What you have to do is find the middle ground.”

He didn’t need this at the moment, so he fled to hang out with his children.

Cassidy was amazed someone was dumb enough to get David’s kids a trampoline. The only smart thing they’d done was ring the outside with foam for when they fell off it. She and David acted as human shields to prevent them from flying too far and missing the foam.

It didn’t take long to figure out why it was purchased when it quickly wore out the munchkins. They were scattered around the backyard resting when David challenged her.

“Give it a try, or are you chicken?”

She stepped onto the trampoline and began jumping.

’Not so bad, right?’ Cassidy thought.

She jumped several times, flying higher with each bounce. She braced herself and then made a final jump off the rounded edge of the trampoline to wow David with her skills.

“Oh, shit,” slipped through her lips.

Somewhere between the final jump and takeoff, she miscalculated the angle. Instead of going for the foam in the perfect cannonball form she’d planned, she hurtled through the air face first. Her legs and arms flailed as her body shot toward the dirt beyond the foam.

David’s grin faded as he realized what was about to happen. Boy Wonder shot in front of her to prevent the inevitable. She felt helpless as she saw the munchkins scrambling to get out of the way when she overshot the foam. David caught her, but her momentum caused him to fall backward, just missing Allen as they crashed to the ground. She felt her cast smack him right between the legs, sending a jolt through her arm, which hurt like crazy.

They were both rolling around on the ground in pain when Rob came running out of the house. When he saw the children were okay, he said, “I read a parenting magazine and figured it would be one of the boys who died. I had no idea you two would be the ones who got hurt.”

“You read a parenting magazine?” David asked.

With that, Rob gathered the kids and left the two of them lying in the dirt.

David went with Greg to let his niece and nephews try out the trampoline. Kyle and Mac were naturals, but Nate had a death wish. It wasn’t long before he was relegated to sitting on his uncle’s lap while he watched his older siblings.

“What did you want to talk about?” David asked.

“I’ve been thinking about what I want to do when I grow up and have decided I want to work with you.”

“How do you envision that working?” David asked.

Before he suggested anything, he wanted to find out what Greg was thinking.

“I thought I’d return to school and get my MBA while working for you part-time. Then, after I graduate, I would have to work a certain number of years to have my MBA fees forgiven.”

“So, I would pay for you to go to school?” David asked.