Chapter 6

The previous week, when the school year had first begun, Emily had bounced out of bed at the sound of her alarm, ready to start what had the potential to be a bright new day. But on this particular morning, she had a bit less bounce and a whole lot of crawl.

She’d barely sat up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes when there was a knock at her door. Thinking it was her roommate forgetting her keys again, Emily opened the door. She blinked twice before she recognized Taylor from Alpha Mu.

“Good morning. I brought you a bid to join our sorority,” Taylor said, handing her an envelope.

Emily was suddenly fully awake.

“Yes!” she squealed and began to dance around in excitement.

Taylor joined her in her squeals and dancing. She looked to be just as happy at her acceptance.

“We’re going to have so much fun!” Taylor babbled. “Come to the house after your last class. I want you to meet everyone and all the other new pledges.”

“I get done at three.”

“Perfect. Dress casual. We’re going to Phi Sig’s tonight for a party, so we’ll have dinner at the house, and ... this is going to be so much fun,” Taylor said again.

“I can’t wait,” Emily admitted.

“I have to go and hand out more bids. I’ll see you this afternoon,” Taylor said and left.

Emily opened the invitation and pinned it to her corkboard over her desk. Her mom was going to be happy for her. She’d been a Tri-Delt and had told Emily she could get in as a legacy, but everyone said Alpha Mu was the house to join.

Her first class was soon forgotten as she called her mom.

Coach Stackhouse had just told David he wasn’t traveling with the team to their game at Stanford this weekend. They were taking 74 players, which meant players who were injured or way down on the depth chart didn’t get to come along.

He decided to fly up, so he called an FAA-designated Aviation Medical Examiner so he could get cleared to fly. He made an appointment for that afternoon to get checked. After that, he went to the athletic director’s office, where he found Rachel acting as the gatekeeper.

“Did you get a promotion?” David asked.

“No, someone called in sick.”

“Well, I’m glad they left you in charge because I need a favor.”

She gave him a tight smile. David wondered if the Dawson charm might have just failed him.

“I need tickets to tomorrow’s football game,” he explained.

“Call the ticket office.”

“Come on. I know you guys get a block. Be a sport and grab me a handful.”

“Uh ... yeah ... that would be a ‘no,’” Rachel drawled.

“Tell you what. I’d even be willing to pay for them,” David countered.

“What’s in it for me?”

David smiled because Rachel was finally negotiating with him.

“I don’t know. How many tickets can you get me?” David asked.

Rachel left her desk to go into the athletic director’s office and returned with six tickets. The away team was given a block of tickets for each game so their fans could all sit together. They were usually situated on the lower deck near the goal line on the visitor side of the field. These were ten rows up, nearly perfect for seeing the field.

David reached for his wallet.

“Not so fast. We haven’t settled on what I get out of all this,” Rachel said.

“I see how it is. Okay, what do you want?”

“I have a few questions first. Where do you plan to stay, and how are you getting there?”

“I was going to have my PA call around to find a hotel, and I planned to fly up in a private jet.”

“Then here’s the deal. You buy me two tickets, pay for a hotel room, and fly me and my plus-one up for the game.”

“If your plus-one’s a girl, then the two of you could stay with me.”

“No way, perv. And for your information, my plus-one might be a guy.”

“Then I’d get you two rooms because your father would never approve of me helping corrupt you with an overnight male guest.”

“This isn’t the 1950s,” Rachel pushed back.

“So, do you need one or two rooms?”

Rachel blushed.

“Two.”

He kept his look neutral. He could tease her after she gave him the tickets.

“I was just about to call the hotel and release the rooms no one claimed. I can reserve some in your name if you give me your credit card,” Rachel offered.

David decided on five rooms because one of the people he was taking was Tami, and she would stay at her dorm. He knew Crystal wouldn’t be able to go; her sorority planned to use the weekend to get to know their new pledges. That meant that he would only need a room for himself.

Rachel sold him the tickets and reserved the hotel rooms. He said he’d send her a message to let her know when to be ready to leave.

After David visited the Aviation Medical Examiner, he realized that Dr. Liao could put a stop to his weekend plans, so he stopped by to get checked out. The doctor seemed reluctant to give him clearance, but David told him the examiner had cleared him. After reassurance from David that he wouldn’t do anything strenuous, Dr. Liao gave his begrudging approval for David to fly to Northern California.

David had Chloe and Jim—who couldn’t play for USC until the following year—in the car as he drove up to Rachel’s apartment building. She was waiting outside with her overnight bag. Standing beside her was a guy with well-worn blue jeans hanging low around his narrow hips. The band of his boxers peeked over the top. David guessed that Rachel’s boy thought the sight of his underwear was like a crooked finger beckoning to her. In his mind, he could hear his mom telling Rachel’s boy to pull his pants up.

The guy wore a black t-shirt, was sporting what looked like the start of a beard, and had black-rimmed glasses. David estimated him to be about five-eight and a hundred and forty pounds. He suspected that if the guy tried anything, Rachel could take him.

David jumped out of the car, jogged up, and took Rachel’s bag.

“David, I’d like you to meet Cormac.”

“Seriously? Cormac, the son of defilement? Your dad will kill me,” David said, shaking his head.

Cormac barked out a laugh. “I’ll have to tell my dad. In high school, he always pegged me as being gay. He’ll be so proud.”

“If you two are done male bonding, let’s get this party on the road,” Rachel said.

Once they were seated in the car, David introduced everyone. Chloe pulled her phone out and made a recording about the fantastic trip she was taking with Academy Award-winning actor David A. Dawson. Alex was right; she was using them to kick-start her new career as an Internet influencer.

When they arrived at the airport, his plane was ready. David made a quick walk-around, and they were soon in the air. Chloe joined him in the cockpit. She must be determined to milk her time with him for all it was worth because she chatted with her followers about how great it was to have him piloting them.

Emily’s mom had been happy about her joining a sorority, but she’d been more interested in learning that her daughter had met David Dawson. Emily decided that her dad might be justified in worrying about her mom and David.

When she arrived at the sorority, Emily discovered she had forty-nine new friends. She noted that almost all of them would have been the prom queen or head cheerleader at her old high school. Emily had a hard time wrapping her head around the fact that she’d been picked. What kept her insecurities in check was that everyone was friendly to her.

They’d taken an Uber to the hotel. Jim and David got unpacked and called another Uber to get to Tami’s dorm. When Tami saw David, she looked at him with concern.

“Sit!” she ordered. “I know about your concussion, and I don’t want you taking any chances.”

David gave in to the inevitable and took a seat on her bed as she greeted Jim.

“It’s been a while,” Tami said as she hugged him. “How’s your sister?”

“Suzanne’s busy finishing up her bachelor’s. She’s planning on staying there and getting her master’s. I talked to her yesterday, and she asked me to tell you hello.”

Jim’s sister had been a senior when David and Tami were freshmen. David suspected she was becoming a professional student because it looked like it would take her five years to get her bachelor’s. Going to school was way better than having to get a real job.

“My roommate turned eighteen today. We planned to grab dinner in Palo Alto, and then she’ll hit some parties. She went over to get us a table when you called.”

“Maybe I could make her day,” David said.

“Here we go again. I miss David doing weird stuff,” Jim said.

“I don’t,” Tami said.

David stuck his tongue out at her.

Each pledge class had someone who rose to the top. Emily could already tell that it was Wren, with her stunning looks and infectious personality. She had shoulder-length brown hair and wore tight black pants and a beaded pink tank top. Wren’s smile lit up her entire face. She was currently flirting with some blond-haired Norse god named Lars.

Crystal came to Emily’s side, shaking her head.

“I’ve been warned to stay away from Lars,” Emily giggled.

“Please tell me you’re joking.”

“Nope. Apparently, they are ‘equals,’ and I’m to keep my distance.”

“That’s rather ironic.”

“Well, he seems to have the one thing she wants.”

“What? A pulse?”

“A pedigree. Like a puppy.”

Crystal cocked her head in amusement.

“Lars’ family are fishermen, not royalty,” Crystal shared.

“We should go save Wren before he soils her,” Emily said.

“I don’t know. Lars has his uses.”

They both laughed at that.

David borrowed Jim’s baseball cap and slouched as he slid into the booth across from Tami’s roommate, Nia, and handed her a bouquet he’d bought at the convenience store down the street. She looked startled, confused, then suspicious—all perfectly natural and expected emotions under the circumstances.

“For you,” David said graciously, bowing just a hint.

“For ... me? Who are you?” she asked brusquely.

Trace of a Southern accent—Georgia or South Carolina.

“I am a representative of the rest of the universe, which has directed me to bring a bit of sunshine into your life.”

“Uh ... why?”

“Because it’s your birthday,” David said, as if that explained it.

Instead, it made her more suspicious, but he detected the seed of a smile. Women loved flowers, so he hadn’t been told to leave ... yet.

“And how did you know it was my birthday?”

“Hey, I just work here,” David said in mock protest. “I get the work order and go and dispense sunshine and happiness. I don’t ask why.”

The smile started to blossom. Time to strike.

“Hi, I’m Ian, Ian Bond,” David said, removing his hat and giving her his best panty-dropping smile.

“Tami! Get your butt in here!” Nia called out.

In the process, the whole restaurant figured out who David was. Welp, this might have just gone south.

The Phi Sig party was starting to wind down. Crystal found Taylor.

“Are all the pledges accounted for?”

“We’re missing Wren,” Taylor admitted.

“She was with Lars.”

“We’d better go get her,” Taylor decided.

Crystal asked the Phi Sig president which room was Lars’ and warned him that she and Taylor were going up. They came to Lars’ door and heard what sounded like sex inside. Before Crystal could knock, Taylor threw the door open.

Crystal could see that her friend was pleased with herself because on display was Lars’ muscular back and butt as he pounded Wren.

That was until Lars’s head snapped around, and they could see that the girl being pounded was Lucy Springs. Crystal knew her through the Panhellenic Council; she was the Tri-Delts’ representative.