Chapter 8 -- Game of Phones
Sunday September 25
I woke up because my bed moved. When we arrived at the hotel, Cindy Lewis was there with her boyfriend Kevin. He played defensive end for Ohio State and had taken to the training a little too seriously. If I had to guess, he was juicing. I shuddered to think of him looping around a tackle with me in his sights.
Cindy wanted to go to a party, but I begged off. The last time I'd seen Cindy, she'd talked me into a threesome with her and Kevin. I didn't want to do that to Brook. Plus, I was tired and had the thoughts and conversations of the last few days in mind.
Everyone else went with Cindy and Kevin while the dads and I stayed at the hotel. The dads planned to hit the hotel bar and relax. I went to my room and ended up doing homework and reading the next chapter in each of my classes. I chuckled when I thought about how everyone thought my life was so glamorous.
I checked to make sure it was Brook who'd climbed in beside me, and then fell back to sleep.
---
I woke later to her snoring loud enough to wake the dead. I chuckled and found my pants where my phone was in the front pocket. I made sure the sheets covered everything and then shot a quick video so there would be proof when she later denied her 'heavy breathing.' I put my phone on the nightstand so it would be handy when she woke up.
I took my shower, and when I came out, Brook was gone. The plan was to meet Cindy and Kevin at Buckeye Donuts for breakfast and then go to the football offices.
I met everyone downstairs where we checked our bags. We planned to pick them up on the way to the airport. We decided to walk since the restaurant was close by. Everyone had stopped at the doughnut shop after the party because they were open 24/7. When we arrived at Buckeye Donuts, they were packed. Kevin had waited outside.
"David, good to see you," he said in greeting and then gave me a fist bump.
"Do you think we can get a seat?" I asked as I tilted my head towards the donut shop.
"Sunday mornings are a zoo. I'd suggest we send someone in to buy a couple of dozen and eat elsewhere."
The dads went in and ordered the doughnuts and coffee for everyone. The ones that went out last night seemed a little hungover, so that seemed to be a good choice. While they did that, Kevin and I got reacquainted.
"Cindy's excited that you're here. She wants to meet with you after you're done with football to talk about the project she's working on for you."
It took me a moment to remember what he was talking about. Then it dawned on me that "the project" was renovating my California house. I'd had Caryn speak to Cindy about possibly doing the interior design. Cindy had good taste, and she was going to Ohio State to someday have a degree in Interior Decorating. Refurbishing the California house was something I'd left to Caryn and her team to figure out. I suspected my mom was also involved. She loved that sort of stuff. I just wanted the house to look updated and attractive. If we flipped it, the '60s-era look wouldn't cut it. At the very least we wanted to spruce it up.
"I can't wait to see what she's come up with," I said, warming to the conversation.
"Between us," he said conspiringly, "she sees this as a big opportunity. To be able to say she did the design on your home will mean a lot for her."
I sometimes forgot how people perceived actors. I could see it being a feather in her cap.
"I hope she knows that I'm giving her a shot with no guarantees," I said to give myself an out if her design ideas weren't something I liked.
"I know, but I'm just saying..." he trailed off.
... that she would be crushed if she didn't get the job. I would have to really hate her ideas to ruin her dreams.
Kevin took us to the center of campus to the oval. It was a quad that was huge, almost 11 acres. At one end was the Thompson Library, which had been recently renovated. We found a spot on the library steps where we could sit down and eat our doughnuts. They had one called the Buckeye that had chocolate frosting and peanut butter filling the center. It was better than I expected. They'd included a menu that said I could get an egg sandwich for $2.25. I could see why this place was packed with broke college kids. I put that information away in case we ended up coming here.
---
Tami and I were the only ones who had seen the campus before, so Kevin volunteered to show the others around. I wanted to spend some time with my friend. It was a beautiful early fall late morning, so we found a big oak tree on the quad to sit under. It allowed us to people-watch as we talked.
"How is Alan doing?" I asked, surprising her.
"Do you really want to know?"
"Of course, I do. I've known him since kindergarten, and we were friends for a lot of that time."
"I think he thought he could bully you and you wouldn't do anything about it," Tami said.
I just shook my head. Alan always thought he was the smartest guy in the room. The problem was he had almost no common sense. He was forever making some cutting comment and then wondering why Jeff and I had to protect him.
"Did you know he was talking smack to most of the football players? I didn't truly appreciate how many people he pissed off until we had our falling out. Most of them just sucked it up because they thought I would defend him. For a smart kid, turning on me was probably the dumbest thing he could've done. He had to go to Wesleyan, or he would've had to face some hard truths in the form of a butt-whipping. I know for a fact that Yuri was looking forward to seeing him.
"When everyone discovered that he would've actually let Lincoln lose a game just to screw Wolf, Tim, and me over, he really put his foot in it. Hell, he almost caused Coach Hope to go down in flames, too. It wasn't just the team after that. I don't think there's anyone left in school who wouldn't want to join Yuri in a little payback," I said.
Tami looked thoughtful for a second.
"Alan and I had a long talk. He thought that Mike would welcome him with open arms but soon found out that wasn't the case. I sat Mike down and told him that, even though you and Alan weren't currently talking, you wouldn't put up with something happening to Alan."
"I'm glad you stepped in," I mused. "Alan might not be my favorite person right now, but if history is any indication, the two of us will someday mend fences. I doubt we'll ever be good friends again because I no longer trust him. I can see us being civil, though, and I hope this change works out for him."
Tami bit her lip while looking at me.
"You know that when the whole Brandon nightmare happened last year, I thought Alan might really have done it. Now I feel guilty about that, but can't get that thought out of my head."
"I'm sorry about how I reacted," I apologized.
"David, I never blamed you for all that. We both know that Brandon staged it to maximize our pain. In the end, you were the one that got me some justice. I talked to your mom, and she told me how you reacted when you found out. I've long known that your feelings have always been honest.
"With that in mind, are you really okay with me dating Tim?" she asked.
I shook my head at the sudden change of topic and looked down.
"You know me too well. There's a part of me that can't stand seeing you with someone else. The good news is that part of me has gotten smaller over time. Deep down I'll always think of you as my one and only. I've known for a long time that I love you. When I was little, I think I recognized that we would always be best friends.
"I've had a lot of time to think since you told me that you weren't ready for a relationship with me. Since then I've learned some things about myself and, if I'm completely honest with myself, you did us a favor. If we'd been together, I would have tried to make everything perfect because you deserve that. You're too important to me for me not to. I think that if we'd been in that kind of relationship and I was dealing with all my drama, I might have cracked.
"I couldn't have been the perfect boyfriend, especially in light of what my life has become. I know you felt it too. I think if we had become each other's one and only, we would have destroyed each other. This last week has been a wake-up call for me.
"What I will say is I know Tim, and I know you. Of all the guys you could have picked, I couldn't have chosen a better one for you to be with. I see how happy you are with him and there's no way I can ever begrudge you that happiness," I said to ease her mind.
"What about you and Brook?"
