Chapter 32

After setting up Roc, Phil, and Bill, David began to work the party. Bryant had given him a list of the recruits at the top of USC’s wish list for that weekend. In the first slot was the third-rated running back in the country, Ashton Brown.

He was a local kid who went to Beverly Hills High School and had offers from all the big boys. It looked like it would come down to UCLA or USC since he wanted to stay close to home. What made Ashton a five-star athlete was that he had already shown he had a college-ready body at six feet and 200 pounds. He could run with both power and explosive speed. The year before, he’d run track and come in second at the state championships in the hundred-meter dash.

Ashton’s host was Chuy, who was hanging with the other freshman football players.

“Are you guys hungry? I’m hungry,” David announced as he walked up.

“I could eat,” Bear agreed.

David led them into the kitchen so they could load up their plates, and they went out onto the patio to eat. David introduced them to various celebrities. He had an irresistible, devastating grin when Isabel Alexandra, who’d been in the recent Baywatch movie as well as his James Bond film, appeared. Seeing Isabel always made him happy, but seeing her with her best friend was a treat.

“Package check!” Groper—the name David had given her—called out as she cupped Ashton’s crotch.

Everyone froze, and David’s smile got bigger when she did a two-handed check on both Chuy and Big Cat.

“Looks like we have three keepers,” Groper said, then turned to David. “Miss me?”

He let her fondle his junk for a moment before she turned on the other guys.

“Holy shit!” she exclaimed when she discovered that Bear was seriously packing. “You stay far away from me with that monster.”

“I’m going to change into a swimsuit. I’ll see you later,” Isabel said, dragging Groper off with her.

“What just happened?” Ashton asked.

“You had your package checked. Welcome to a Hollywood party,” David said.

“David Dawson!” said a distinctive female voice he instantly recognized.

He turned around and found Jett, the lead singer for Birthrite, grinning at him. He gave her a hug and introduced her to the guys. Crystal and her sorority sisters recognized her, so they were introduced as well. David was glad to see Jim and Cassidy had joined them.

“How is dating different in college from in high school?” Ashton asked the group.

For some reason, everyone turned to David for the answer. That question hung there like a deadly dare, so he took it.

“For a college athlete, it’s like becoming a sports fisherman. While all men like to fish, sport fishing differs from fishing for food. They catch one and take it around the party or bar to show their friends they can fish. They make sure to get a couple of selfies to share with any of their buddies who aren’t there because their friends need to know they have game. Then, unlike in high school, where they’re so happy to have actually caught one that they keep it, in college, they release it back into the wild,” David explained.

“Then how do college athletes get girlfriends?” Jim asked, playing the straight man.

Someone knew him too well and so chose to egg him on for more information. It reminded him of when they’d tell outlandish stories during lunch in high school.

“That’s a good question. Sometimes, the fish will jump back into the boat. They flop on the deck, then look up at you and ask, ‘I was wondering if you planned to go fishing here again next week?’ If you’re smart, you’ll say, ‘Yeah, for other fish; now get off my boat.’

“Then we fall for the ‘Is that how you treat all fish?’ line. We all know you can’t say what you want, which would be, ‘What the fuck, honey? You’re the last fish I would ever want to be with.’ So, like the dumbasses we are, we’re now stuck. Then six months later, your fish is like, ‘So, when are you going to sell your boat?’” David said.

’Note to self. Remember that Cassidy has but one good arm, and stand on her other side,’ David thought as pain exploded in his ribs.

One of those life lessons was you had to know your crowd when you told certain jokes. That point was hammered home when Crystal turned on her heels and disappeared into the crowd.

“Something you should all remember is that the fishing thing is a two-way street,” Taylor said to save him.

David excused himself to track down Crystal.

He found her in the living room, looking unhappy.

“Can we talk?” David asked.

Her expression was unreadable.

“I’ve been told I’m not always as funny as I think. I hope you know I was playing around out there,” David said.

She frowned before saying, “I know that, but it hit a bit too close to home.”

“I never said I wanted to break up with you.”

“You didn’t say you wanted to be with me either,” she fired back.

“I did say I wanted us to be friends and that, down the road, we might end up together.”

“That’s like you saying your two-and-a-half-year-old is sober. But we both know that might not be true in your case,” Crystal said.

Even though Coby had gotten his daycare class drunk, that didn’t give Crystal the right ... and he stopped himself from getting wound up. He must be growing up if he could see what she was doing because not too long ago, he wouldn’t have. Crystal was lashing out because she was hurting.

But that didn’t mean he had to take her back to make her feel better. Everything he’d told her was the truth, and, in the long run, she would be glad he didn’t make her false promises. That was so, even though, he recognized that Crystal almost precisely matched the kind of girl he was looking for. The problem was that while he liked her, there had never been a time when his chest ached with love like it had with Brook.

He might have let their relationship drag out were it not for Lisa’s funeral making him face reality. Besides, what was it his mom always told him? You have to be willing to walk away? That was something Crystal didn’t know about him. It might take him forever to decide something, but once he did, it was over.

That didn’t mean he wasn’t still interested in hooking up with Crystal. It was the same with Tracy and Pam; he’d had relationships with both of them. Those had been much deeper than what he had with Crystal, to be completely honest. The ball was now in Crystal’s court. She had to decide what she wanted.

“I’m going to leave before this gets ugly.”

“No, we need to talk this out. What are you really thinking?” Crystal asked.

“I mean, seriously, how many of your sorority sisters are dating anyone? They go out each weekend, meet a new hot guy, and fool around. Then they study, go to class, and hang out with the girls during the week.”

“That might be the case, but I never thought you were casual about stuff like that,” Crystal shot back.

“You’re right; I never have been.”

“Then what changed?”

“Lisa’s funeral,” David said. “When you’re at something like that, it makes you think.”

“And you thought you wanted to break up with me?”

David could tell he wasn’t going to make any progress, and he was already halfway mad at the drunken toddler comment, so it was time to walk away.

“I’m not going to start repeating myself. It’s probably best we both take a deep breath and cool down. I’ll talk to you later.”

David left her to her own thoughts. He gave their being friends after this about a ten percent chance.

David returned to the party and found his brother wearing a big smile. Someone had gotten lucky.

Phil was flirting with Emily and Wren. His brother had good taste in women.

“Why, hello, ladies! And Phil,” David greeted them. “You holding my brother for ransom? I’ll go, hmm, five dollars, tops.”

“If you weren’t currently my favorite brother, I’d tell you to F-off,” Phil quipped.

“Rumor has it you’re single,” Emily said, the lie flowing from her sweet, pouty lips with well-practiced ease.

“I’m not sure that’s true,” Wren said.

“You have got to be kidding me. You dumped Crystal?” Phil asked, the shock written all over his face.

“There was no dumping. We’re talking about what we both want. So, you can stop the rumors,” David said to Emily.

He could see she wasn’t fazed. It gave him a hint as to what he’d be facing if that story grew legs and spread. It was bad enough when women knew he was in a relationship.

They all stared at him.

“Welp, I have places to go and people to see,” David said and walked away.

David put on his swimsuit and went to the pool, where he found Zak and Bec. He shook his head because Zak was leaning back in a lounge chair, enjoying a little honey blowing him.

David sat down on Bec’s lounger and looked at Zak.

“She wants to set a record for the number of blow jobs given. I’m number 833. You should help her out because she’s quite good.”

David had to remind himself where he was. That statement would never be uttered back home. Before Mr. Happy could put his two cents’ worth in, David turned to Bec.

“Well, missy, we aren’t on set anymore. I’ve come for some payback,” David teased.

“Dude, thanks for sending her home horny as shit. It made for an interesting week for me,” Zak said.

“I felt a bit bad about that, but you’re a big boy,” Bec said. At least she looked embarrassed.

“She means that literally. She teased me about how big you are ... you know. I say you do her so her infatuation with your man parts gets out of her system,” Zak said.

“I thought you liked her getting horny because of me,” David teased.

“To a point, Dude. Help me out and go bone her.”

Bec gave Zak a disbelieving look, so he came clean.

“I was hoping we could swap,” Zak admitted.

“I might not have anything to swap,” David shared.

“Now you have to do him,” Zak said.

“What, so you can go hook up with some porn star? I’ll pass,” Bec said. “Besides, David doesn’t want to have sex with an old lady.”

“You can quit right there,” David said. “You know what you did to me, and I don’t get that hard if I’m not interested.”

That made her day, but he could tell they weren’t hooking up, even with Zak’s encouragement. In all honesty, David probably wouldn’t have gone through with it. He’d hate to ruin her for other men, or that was the story he would tell if pressed. His backup argument was the bro code that said you didn’t bone your friend’s girl.

As these parties tended to do, people began to drink and do other stuff, which turned into bad decisions by all involved participants. The pool area was evolving into a full-blown orgy. Two porn stars had decided to give Bear a double blow job to kick the festivities off.

It reminded him of his recruiting trip to Michigan. He’d slipped off with a gymnast to a swinger’s party, where some people were having casual conversations while a couple boned three feet from them. This was a weird mix of actors, porn stars, football players, and sorority girls.

He did see Cassidy sitting in Jim’s lap. They had dated in high school, so he hoped they might get back together. Jim was a good guy, which he felt Cassidy needed.

David quickly scanned the crowd and saw that Phil and Roc were missing, as were Crystal and Taylor. He assumed they were off somewhere, talking.

“Hey, David. Want to join in?” Isabel asked.

As much as he wanted to, because she was rocking her bikini, Isabel probably was the last person he should hook up with. He had a feeling Lexi wouldn’t react well when she found out, and he was smart enough to know that she would find out.

“No, I probably shouldn’t.”

She nodded her understanding.

“I figured I’d give you the first shot. Maybe we can talk again after some time passes,” Isabel suggested.

“Maybe.”

That was when he spotted Zak, who had Crystal’s friend Taylor pinned to the pool house wall as his hips pounded her from behind. That made him think he should track down Crystal.

He went into the house and found a threesome of his acting friends getting busy. It was Taylor Lautner, Sasha Inman, and Nolan Gould. While he’d guessed that Nolan secretly had a thing for Sasha, he would’ve bet big money she never realized it.

While she kissed Taylor, Nolan was giving Sasha head.

“Oh fuck, Taylor, I can’t wait. I’ve wanted this for so long,” she moaned. “Please, fuck me. Claim me.”

Nolan’s head snapped up with a desperate look in his eyes.

“Wait ... I ... uh,” he stuttered, then exclaimed, “Let me get you wet first!”

David blinked as Nolan went down on Taylor. He would never unsee that, so he went to look in the downstairs guest room for Crystal.

The door was partially open, so he assumed it was empty. When he opened it, he found Crystal lying on her stomach on the bed as a porn actor he recognized took her from behind. His stage name was Little Timmy because his body looked like that of a twelve-year-old boy with a man-sized cock attached to it. He mostly did MILF scenes with older women.