Senior Year Box Set

The Alpha Male in me peeked out and dismissed Oliver as a threat. I chose to believe Brook had given him her number just to get rid of him last night. Of course, the devil on my shoulder was whispering evil things in my ear. I suspect he was trying to provoke the Alpha Male.

I looked up as Brook, Tami, and Sarah rushed into the lobby.

“Hey, Brook,” Oliver called and waved.

My eyebrows rose when Sarah waved back and then flushed. Brook marched up to me with her hand out.

“Give me my phone,” she demanded.

“Not so fast, Hotness,” I said, trying to hide my grin.

“This is just like Game of Thrones, except we should call it Game of Phones, because someone always seems to die in each episode,” Tami observed.

Brook and Tami grabbed my arms and pulled me outside.

“Cassidy actually bought me an iced tea,” Dad said as he and Cassidy joined us.

“I have to call bullshit on that one. Cassidy never spends her own money,” I said, doubting the veracity of my dad’s claim.

“I was shocked too.”

Cassidy gave us both looks that made us stop teasing her. I then turned on Brook and Tami.

“You might want to start explaining who Oliver is,” I suggested.

Tami was the most experienced at talking to me, so Brook deferred to her.

“Last night, the guys all took off to meet football players and do male-bonding stuff. We soon found out that Cindy’s a bad influence. She plied us with Jäger Bombs,” Tami said as if that explained everything, and then she paused. “Are you aware that she and Kevin have an open relationship?”

I wasn’t about to let her steer this conversation towards me.

“Back on topic,” I prodded.

Tami gave Brook a look, and Brook glared at me.

“Anyway …” Tami said to draw Brook away from having words with me. “She suggested that we switch names and give guys each other’s phone numbers. Whoever got the most, won.”

“Won what?” Dad asked, suddenly throwing cold water onto the conversation.

Tami seemed to suddenly comprehend that a parental unit was present. One who knew her mother.

“Yeah, what he said,” I added with raised eyebrows.

“Nothing. It was just in fun,” Tami explained, and then shut up.

Sarah came out of the building without Oliver. She gave me a funny look.

“I explained to them that what happens on recruiting trips … stays on recruiting trips,” Cassidy said and dared me to contradict her.

“So, I take it that Wolf is to never know about Oliver,” I guessed.

“I would be in your debt,” Sarah admitted.

Tami whacked Sarah on the forehead like she used to do to Alan.

“Ow!”

“You never want to owe David a debt. He collects,” she explained.

They all looked at her, and I just shrugged. I swear, women never forget anything.

“When we were in third grade, we watched The Godfather. David was goofing around and said he would make me an offer I couldn’t refuse. I don’t even remember what it was.”

“I got you a Coke,” I interjected.

“That’s right,” Tami said, remembering. “I made the mistake of telling him I was forever in his debt and made a big show of kissing his imaginary ring. This ‘stupid boy’ would remind me of this debt every time he wanted something. I played along until he asked me to buy him an ice cream cone. It wasn’t that I didn’t have the money, but I knew if I did it, he would badger me about buying him more stuff in the future. I explained to him if we were going to be friends, he was the boy and had to pay for everything.”

“Really?” Dad asked incredulously.

“I asked Mom about it, and she confirmed that was the rule. She added a bunch more rules about opening doors, letting the girl pick the movie, and other things a ‘young man’ should do,” I shared, using air quotes.

Brook hugged Tami.

“I wondered who trained him.”

I was glad when Tim and Wolf joined us.

◊◊◊

Everyone wanted to go with me to my meeting with Cindy. She’d sent me a text with the location and directions to Hayes Hall, the oldest standing building on the Ohio State campus. It was located on the oval. We found her with what looked like a mixture of students and professors. I’d thought this was supposed to be a one-on-one meeting. Come to think of it, strike that, I’d received an email from Caryn that held no details. It looked like my rants about her being in charge and not to bother me with details had just bit me in the butt—not that I would change that.

I noticed that Cindy and everyone else was dressed professionally. I felt a little out of place in an Ohio State t-shirt and jeans. Cindy motioned for me and my dad to join her talking to the three professors: Dean Lloyd, College of Engineering; Professor Donaldson, Knowlton School of Architecture; and Professor Katz, Interior Design.

“I didn’t expect so many people,” I said, looking around.

“When Cindy came to us and said she had a project for your house in LA, I assumed it was just a remodel. Then as she started to uncover all the additional requirements, it sort of snowballed,” Professor Katz said.

“Snowballed?” I asked.