“A girl needs to know what to wear,” she gently nudged.
“How about a short skirt with no panties?” Yuri suggested.
I liked the way the boy thought, but making that suggestion aloud was just stupid. I might have been able to get away with it, but Piper was still hurting from what he’d said before. Yuri found himself lying on the floor with Piper getting ready to pound him. I jumped up and pulled her off before she could do any damage. She turned into my arms and started to cry.
Yuri, to his credit, mumbled he was sorry, gathered his stuff and left. Emma came storming over and wanted to know what had happened to her sister.
“Yuri made an inappropriate comment, and Piper was just showing him the error of his ways. I stopped her before she got into trouble. I don’t think your parents would appreciate her following in your badass footsteps,” I explained.
I also realized Piper was putting on a little bit of an act when she sent her sister back to her table so I could continue to comfort her. I think Maggie figured it out too because she was not amused. The bad part was, I never got to eat my lunch. The good part was, I had a date with Suzanne.
COACH HOPE GAVE US the night off but told us we had to go to Cassidy’s conditioning class. About half way through the routine, I thought back to when I first started doing this workout and Cassidy had nearly killed me. Now, although I was working hard, I wasn’t going to die, either. The Marine Corps program we were following had made a difference.
When we finished, Cassidy made an announcement.
“It’s Friday, so if there’s anyone who wants to challenge me, now’s the time.”
I looked around. What was she talking about? I raised my hand.
“Oh goody, I was thinking I wouldn’t make anyone cry this week.”
“Uh, I’m hoping you don’t make me cry, but what’s the challenge?” I asked.
“Some of the boys thought they were tougher than Yuri and wanted their turn at getting their head handed to them. We haven’t played in a while. Come join me on the mat,” she suggested.
I looked around at all the smirks. I’d been working at the dojo to improve my skills. I knew if Cassidy got serious, I was toast. I thought I might be able to surprise her, though.
“Let’s,” I answered her challenge.
I was shocked when everyone started cheering for Cassidy to beat me senseless. We were getting ready to do just that when Coach Hope came running out.
“Hang on. I am not risking my starting quarterback to something stupid,” he told everyone.
“I promise not to hurt him too bad,” Cassidy told him.
“I can take her, Coach,” I said to egg her on.
That got his attention. He gave me a hard look and must have figured Mike was ready to go if I was killed.
“All right, but I expect you both to pull your punches.”
We got back on the mat. I did my drunken-bear charge. Cassidy knew if I got her in a bear hug, it was over. She also knew what I was doing was crazy. She had a confused look on her face, wondering what I was up to when she tossed me. I inwardly chuckled as I flew through the air. This was something I was getting good at, being thrown. I tucked and did a roll, and then sprung back at her and did a leg sweep, putting Miss Cassidy Hope on her backside.
The gym went dead silent. I don’t think any of them had seen Cassidy laid out before. I bounced back, refusing to be baited into taking advantage of her being down. I knew it really wasn’t an advantage. Cassidy was soon on me like a terrier on a rat. I just kept protecting myself and giving ground. She eventually overreached. I tossed her, and she popped back up. The look she gave me had Coach Hope stepping in, but I just waved him off.
I should have let him stop it. Cassidy somehow slid between my legs, popped up, and had me in a chokehold. I’d had Dylan show me a counter to it, so I tossed Cassidy over my shoulder. She did a somersault and then leaped back at me. I found her wrapped around me as she kissed my nose. I realized she was playing with me.
“I think we will call this a draw,” Coach Hope said.
Cassidy gave her dad a serious look that made me blanch.
“Daddy, I think he’s ready to learn,” she told him.
This all had started last spring with Cassidy offering to teach me self-defense. Coach Hope had told her she couldn’t teach me until I was in shape. He looked at her.
“Are you sure?” Coach asked.
“Yes, Daddy, I want to teach him.”
“Okay, but you can’t hurt him,” he ordered.
“I would never hurt David. I like him,” she said, as if that explained everything. She turned to me. “David, do you still want to learn self-defense?”
I didn’t know what to say, so I just nodded. I hoped I hadn’t just gotten myself into something I’d regret. I looked around, and everyone looked at me differently. I got a big grin on my face. I had just survived Cassidy Hope.
I PICKED SUZANNE UP, and she had on a long coat over a short skirt and button-up blouse. I had a quick flash of Yuri suggesting my date not wear panties, and wondered if she might be going commando. I don’t think she wanted to tease Jim, because she didn’t invite me in.
“You look lovely as usual. I also like your outfit,” I complimented her.
She blushed. I gave her a warm smile.
“I thought we could go to one of my favorite places to eat, and then go bowling,” I said.
I was teasing her to see if she would say anything about bowling. I was surprised when she just nodded. I thought I would tease her some more. I took her to the Dog House. It was a hot dog stand with picnic tables outside. She didn’t even hesitate to get out of the car. I was giving her high marks for going along with my plan.
“What’s good here?” she asked.
“You can’t go wrong with their hot dogs, but I like their Italian beef. My favorite is the beef and sausage combo, but it’s a big sandwich. Don’t get it unless you’re hungry.”
We ended up ordering two combos, an order of fries and one of onion rings. It was too cold to eat outside, so I suggested we go back to my place. I didn’t do it to get into her panties, I just didn’t feel like eating in the car. Okay, I lied.
When we got back to my place, I turned the coffee table into a dining table and got some paper plates and napkins. Suzanne was giving me looks that told me I was in for a fun evening.
“I have Coke, Diet Coke and Mountain Dew,” I offered her.
“Diet Coke.”
“Did you bring me here because you expected something?” she finally asked.
“No. I just didn’t want to freeze my butt off,” I said and then decided to come clean. “I need to apologize to you. I do hope something happens. If you’d rather do something else, we could do that.”
“What are my choices?” she asked between bites.
“We could go dancing. I hear there’s a good band at the Thunderbird tonight.”
“What else?”
“There’s a movie I want to see.”
“Next,” she said, dismissing that idea out of hand.
“We could check to see if you have any panties on,” I said with a straight face.
“How would you do that?”
“I thought I might start with a foot massage and then kiss my way up your thighs,” I suggested.
She kicked her shoes off and wiggled her toes. I guess we had a plan for tonight.
Saturday November 22
THIS WEEK WE HAD A one o’clock kickoff, so when I went to the hospitality tent, there was hardly anyone there yet. I did see Mr. and Mrs. Sullivan, and they had a couple of burgers on the grill waiting for me. Jeff Delahey showed up and tried to get me to say bad things about Mt. Carmel.
I went and got taped and was listening to music when I became aware of Tim and Bill staring at me. I pulled out my earbuds to see what they wanted.
“I think we have a problem,” Tim said.