Chapter 43

David had gotten out of the shower and was pulling on his underwear when there was a light knock on his bedroom door.

“Enter!”

Galen, Alex’s security who lived in the single next door, stuck his head in. As far as security went, Galen was perfect. You never knew he was there, for the most part. But he kept an eye out; they hadn’t had anyone break in this semester to steal their booze or leave any stink bombs.

“There’s a woman who claims to know you waiting in the hall. She says you bought her coffee on move-in day.”

David wracked his brain for a moment, and then it came to him: Angelica Nance, Emily’s mom.

“I know her; you can let her in,” David said as he found a pair of USC shorts. Galen’s head disappeared.

David heard, “He’s in his bedroom.”

He expected Emily’s mom would take a seat on the couch or something. He hadn’t counted on her walking in.

“H-hello,” Angelica stammered.

David turned and gave her his winning smile as he flexed his chest muscles to add to her embarrassment.

“You just missed me getting out of the shower.”

When she blushed, he had to bite his bottom lip to keep from laughing.

“My husband and daughter went to the coffee shop to get some stuff. Emily said there was a nice spot on the roof where we could relax before we drove home,” Angelica said.

“Follow me,” David said.

“Don’t you want to put a shirt on first?”

“And deprive Emily of being able to tease your husband? I think not.”

Emily found her mom and David sitting in new teak loungers. Once the whole hall had found out about David and Alex’s secret roof hideaway, furniture began to appear. Many of the students in Sandoval Hall had more money than they knew what to do with, which accounted for the loungers and many other upgrades.

Since the party, it was rare to find the roof empty. But since it was the day before Thanksgiving, everyone was either finishing up classes or had already left Tuesday night to enjoy the holiday.

“Look! The food fairies have arrived!” David called out and waved.

Emily’s dad came up short when he took in that which was David. It was a reminder he wasn’t an ordinary boy. Suddenly, voilà, Emily could see a dozen comments start and die in her dad’s eyes.

“Doreen hooked us up because I said this was for you,” Emily said. She walked over to her mom and David and began handing out their drinks and food.

“I’m David,” he said, standing up and shaking her dad’s hand.

“Roger,” her dad managed to get out.

Her dad took in his surroundings.

“I don’t remember this being on the website.”

“My roommate is Alex Sandoval, as in the Sandoval for whom the hall is named,” David said. “This used to be his and a handful of our friends’ secret oasis. Alex decided to make some upgrades, and we had a party up here not too long ago. Now, the whole dorm uses it. It’s a great place to unwind or come to read.”

“Is this how everyone dresses up here?” Roger asked.

David chuckled.

“Your wife barged into my room after my shower,” David explained.

“Did she see...?” Roger asked, his eyes flying wide open.

And then her dad realized his misstep.

“I find that the reactions to a dick and a gun are very similar. If someone pulls out either one, people go, ‘Whoa, is that thing loaded?’ I try not to pull out either one unless needed,” David said with a straight face.

That was when Emily’s mom burst out laughing.

“He’s pulling your chain. I found him like this,” Angelica said.

They were lucky her dad was in a good mood and found the humor in it all. The four of them ate and had a pleasant conversation. David even took a picture with her parents. Emily worried that might be this year’s Christmas card.

When it was time to go, David gave her a hug and a chaste kiss on the cheek, and she and her parents were on their way to Palo Alto. She couldn’t wait for the Thanksgiving feast her mom made every year. Emily needed a break from college, and spending time with her mom and dad would be like heaven.

Coach Thomas was on the weekly USC football coach’s TV show with Chip Wagner, talking about the upcoming game with Notre Dame.

Chip: “You’ve got your hands full this week with number three Notre Dame coming to town. I think you can handle their offense, but wow ... their defense is special this year. What makes them so good?”

Coach Thomas: “Handsy zone coverage. Their zone might give up more receptions, but they get more interceptions because they’re reading the quarterback’s eyes. It also allows them to keep everything in front of them. They haven’t really given up many long plays, though both Vanderbilt and Virginia Tech had success passing against them. What it comes down to is you have to earn every yard against them.

“A passing game is all about timing, and when the offensive line can give their quarterback three and a half seconds as opposed to three seconds, that’s huge. I don’t care who the defense is; if the offensive line can hold them off that long, the defense will give up chunk plays. The plays that are ten or more yards keep drives going and lead to scores.

“What Notre Dame is so good at is shaving that time down by a half second. When that happens, it rushes the quarterback and wears him down because he’s constantly being hit.

“We’re also expecting them to get physical with our receivers. Unlike in the NFL, the rules in college football say you can make contact with a receiver more than five yards down the field. The Irish take full advantage of that. They’re very handsy and physical when the receiver is in his breaks to mess up the play’s timing. The crucial factor is that they can only do that when the ball is not in the air.

“They’re very good at winning 50/50 balls because, in their zone coverage, they can see the ball coming. That doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll intercept the ball; usually, they break up the pass plays and force them to be incomplete.

“Finally, they mix up and disguise their coverage very well. What that does is cause the quarterback to either make wrong reads or second-guess himself. I attribute that to superior coaching on their part.”

Chip: “I hear you plan to start David Dawson this week. What made you make the change?”

Coach Thomas: “With Matt Long being a bit banged up and how well David has been playing in practice, David earned the start. Not that Matt did anything wrong; it was more that David agreed to redshirt, which means he can only play in four games. So we felt he’d earned his fourth start.

“I think the new coaching staff will have to make a heck of a decision next year as to who’ll start. Matt and David are a good problem to have.”

Chip: “Tell me something I don’t know. What has surprised you about Dawson’s play?”

Coach Thomas: “What I love about David is his accuracy. Everyone focuses on how he’s the prototypical quarterback at six-four, two hundred and thirty-five pounds and can run better than some of our running backs. What people forget is he can make all the throws, and he can throw the ball on a dime. Let me tell you, that’s hard for a college quarterback to do.

“I also love how smart he is on the field. He typically doesn’t throw the ball into the danger zone, where turnovers are created. That’s what makes him a winner.”

At practice, Coach Thomas changed how they ran one of their RPO plays. One of the reasons David liked the RPO was that it took protection out of the equation. That meant he wouldn’t get hit by a defender unless he decided to run the ball. In an RPO play, the quarterback either handed the ball off or threw it quickly. That gave him the confidence to step into the ball and throw accurate passes.

Coach Mason had called Coach Thomas and suggested the change. Now, instead of a quick slant, they were running a deep slant. That was where a receiver would run seven yards downfield before making his cut. David liked that this minor change turned the play into one where they would pick up a first down instead of the three or four yards they were gaining now.

The beauty of it was that he could come to the line and count the number of defenders in the box to stop the run. If they snuck in an extra guy, he would throw the ball and move the chains.

For the RPO to work, USC had to run the ball, which they were able to do with Chuy and Marcus. The passing portion of the play depended on precise timing. The ball was going to a spot and had to be on the money. Finally, the receiver had to be able to win contested balls, which hadn’t been a real strength of their team to this point, apart from Bill, who seemed to catch everything.

School was finally out for Thanksgiving break. David’s professors had either given them tests that day or assigned projects to do over the break. He felt they were evil because most of USC’s student body had bailed on Wednesday’s classes so they could get an extra day at home.

After football practice and the voluntary ‘special’ practice, everyone met at the football building to catch the bus to the hotel. They would stay until Sunday when they could move back into the dorms.

David and Alex had gotten permission to pay for an extra connecting room. While they were required to ‘sleep’ in the room the team provided, they could use the extra room to ‘study.’ The truth was, David didn’t care to watch Chloe and Alex have sex.

They’d gotten a ‘study’ room with two queens. That way, if David hooked up with someone by some random chance, he wouldn’t have to worry about a wet spot he might accidentally roll into that wasn’t from something he either did or caused.

The only condition that was put on them, besides ‘sleeping’ in their assigned room, was that Amy was to be given a key so she could check up on them.

David drove to the hotel. They’d been given the choice of riding the bus or driving because they would be there for so long. When he checked in, he deduced Alex was already there because the extra room had a credit card on file. There were two keys, one for him and the other for Coach Stackhouse.

David went to the ‘sex room,’ as he called it in his head. He had a baggie with condoms, lube, and extra toothbrushes that he tossed in the middle of ‘his’ bed.

He then went to the room he and Alex would sleep in.

When he got there, Alex was nowhere to be found, but there was a surprise guest: Yong, Chloe’s roommate and one of David’s favorite hookups.

Without saying a word, Yong crooked her finger at him to beckon him to follow her. David dropped his bags on his bed and followed her to the sex room.

As soon as the door was closed, Yong pushed him backward until his thighs hit the edge of the bed. She then lost all her clothes before pulling his shorts and underwear down to allow Mr. Happy to come out and play.

With a little shove, David sat on the bed, and Yong’s hand found the base of his shaft. David watched her lower her head over his waist. Yong’s long, silky black hair surrounded his hips and upper thighs, which made it so he couldn’t see the action. But when her warm lips wrapped around the head of his shaft, he was a happy boy.

“Oh, hell yes, Yong,” David said as he let out his breath.