Dave: Junior Year (Three Daves #2) (9 page)

“If D said he’d do something, he’ll do it,” Brett said. “He’s a good guy. One of the best.”

That kind of compliment from a “brother” impressed Jen. She wanted to know more about him, but stopped herself from asking. There was no point in getting her hopes up over some guy she’d just met, especially a guy like him. Such a kind, confident frat boy—who rocked the spandex with his toned glutes—surely had his pick of at least a hundred different girls around campus. By the time she climbed into bed, Jen had convinced herself she’d never hear from him again.

He called the very next day.

“Hey, this is Big D.” It sounded funny to hear him call himself by the nickname.

“Hi.”

“Did you have fun at the party?”

“It was fine. I didn’t really know anyone there, so…”

“Once you get to know them, you’ll have a lot more fun. And next time you go to the house, I promise you’ll have a more attentive date.”

Jen thought he was getting a bit ahead of himself, but she smiled, anyhow.

“Would you like to go out Saturday night?” he asked.

“This Saturday?”

“Yes. Sorry if I seem too eager, but I’ve been waiting since last spring for a chance to get to know you, and I don’t want to wait any longer.”

Who is this guy?
“No, it’s not too eager. It’s…nice.” As she said the word, she was flooded with the realization of exactly how nice it was.

“Is that a yes, then?”

“Yes, yes. It’s a yes.” She put her hand to her face to cool the burn of her blush and quiet her babbling.

“Great. I’ll pick you up at seven. Brett told me where you live.”

“Okay.” She sounded calm, but her insides flipped. It would be a real date, one in which the guy would pick her up rather than expect her to run out somewhere and wait for him to show. “So…Big D, huh?”

“Yep.”

“What’s the D for—Dennis, Daniel, Dulcimer?”

“It’s for Dave.”

Jen’s mouth twisted into an ironic smirk
. Here we go again
.

“Dulcimer?” D asked.

Acknowledgements

Unending gratitude to the powers that be at Omnific Publishing for giving this story a life beyond fanfiction and for not hesitating when I approached them about this reboot.

Thank you, thank you to everyone who read and loved the first version enough to make me know this rewrite would be a worthwhile endeavor.