Mom ended our fun when she called us to dinner. Grandma Dawson handed me Nate, and I gave her a one-armed hug. Mom had made mac and cheese—the homemade kind, not the stuff in the box. I liked it better when she baked it and put breadcrumbs on the top, but she didn’t have time to do it that way. I didn’t get it often on my diet, but I loved its creamy goodness. Mom had also made chicken nuggets and green beans. Looked like this meal was geared to the little ones.
◊◊◊
I drove the Jeep to State. Caryn had caught a shuttle bus at one of the hotels, and it took her to the airport. I would have to remember they did that twice a day. I would prefer not to leave my car at the airport. This time it was easy to find parking because most everyone had gone somewhere for the holiday.
The first person I saw when I entered Greg and Angie’s apartment was Luke Herndon.
“Hey, David. Congrats on being the Player of the Year.”
“Thanks, Luke,” I said as I looked around to see who else was here.
“I also wanted to thank you for making the call for my little brother. He was able to get accepted to Wesleyan for the spring. We had Damion Roth visit, and he’s a heck of a receiver. Mike said they’d picked up a running back and more linemen. It sounds like they’ll be good next year. You might have to watch out,” Luke said.
“How is everything for you, Magic, and Kevin?” I asked.
The three of them led our team my freshman year, and now all attended State on football scholarships.
“Magic got a lot of playing time at corner, and Kevin’s marked down as the starting middle linebacker. I’ll be in the mix at running back,” he said.
Their starting tailback was graduating. Magic’s opinion was that Luke hadn’t shown what he was capable of. He felt that Luke might simply be satisfied with the status of being on the football team and everything that entailed. My guess was he was chasing tail instead of focusing on football. I wondered if that was his little brother’s issue as well.
My brother rescued me.
“Some people want to talk to you,” he said.
“I’ll talk to you later,” I told Luke, not really meaning it.
Greg took me to the kitchen where we found Angie, Cindy, Suzanne, Beth, and some random dude. Beth had her back to me, so I snuck up, wrapped my arms around her, and kissed her neck.
“Hey … oh … David!” she cried out until she figured out it was me.
I spun her around and planted a serious kiss on her.
“Hey, that’s my girlfriend!” the random dude said.
“Dude, not cool,” Greg said.
I quickly let Beth go.
“David, this is Carl,” Beth said.
“This is the David you told me about?” Carl asked.
“Yes, this is the David I told you about,” Beth confirmed.
He gave me a hard look, and I just held up my hands. I’d only kissed her; it wasn’t like I’d bent her over the kitchen table and had my way with her. Everyone in the kitchen waited to see what would happen. Carl pushed past me and left the room.
“Carl,” Beth said with some concern in her voice, and then chased after him.
Everyone watched her leave and then turned to look at me.
“What did I do?” I asked.
“Nothing,” Suzanne said. “They did the whole ‘sexual history’ bit, which I believe is a major mistake.”
“How come he wasn’t mad about her and Greg?” I asked.
“What do you mean, ‘her and Greg’?” Cindy asked.
A big grin appeared on Angie’s face. Greg had helped me fulfill one of Beth’s fantasies. She wanted me to get a stranger off the street and let him do her while she was blindfolded. It turned into a threesome with me joining in. I was sure that none of us had talked about that night since then until I just opened my big mouth.
“I just assumed that Greg slept with her,” I blurted out.
“Nice one, dumbass,” Greg said.
“Soooo, how’s school?” I asked.
“He did sleep with her,” Cindy persisted.
Of course, Angie told them all about it. Both Greg and I were uncomfortable because of the Dawson rule about not sharing information about our sexual encounters. Both Suzanne and Cindy of course knew that and acted like it was a big deal that something slipped out.
As the night wore on, both Cindy and Suzanne started to do shots and flirt with me. The last I’d heard, Cindy dated a defensive end on the Ohio State football team, and Suzanne was seeing a guy she met in one of her study groups. I was happy to be their friend and dance with them, and might even kiss them like I’d done with Beth. But that would be it.
I had to use the restroom, and the one in the hall was occupied, so I used the master bath in Greg and Angie’s room. As I washed my hands, I heard girls giggling. I came out to find Cindy and Suzanne making out. They saw me as I came out of the bathroom and motioned for me to join them. What could a kiss or three hurt?