Chapter 1
TITUS REYES
I felt like I was on top of the world. Everyday had felt like that for the past year. Ever since I dropped out of my junior year of college to play professional American football. The fact that I was doing it with one of my closest friends, Denzel Brown only made it all that much better. And that wasn’t even the best part about it.
The money and the comradery between my teammates were two of the best things that came from playing professional football, but it was the fame that I valued the most.
I had only been professional for a year but now, every room I walked into, everyone knew my name. It was materialistic, but I didn’t need to wait in queues for clubs, and I didn’t need to work hard to get women. They just flocked to me, hoping to become the girlfriend of the quarterback of the New York Eagles.
Coach had taken a gamble on me by making me quarterback my first season, but everything had fallen into place when the last quarterback retired after last season, opening up this spot for me. And I was proud to say that I didn’t disappoint in the least.
The New York Eagles may not have won the season, but we had made it further than we had in years, and I liked to think that had a little something to do with me.
“How long does it take you to get ready?” My older brother, Tiberius groaned as he joined me in my room. “I know you’re a bit shot now, but no matter how much you brush your hair or style your hair, I’m still going to be the better-looking brother.”
“You were never the better looking brother.” I snorted, sparing one more glance in the mirror to make sure I looked great before turning to face him. “Let’s leave before mum and dad start drunk dancing.”
He groaned and pulled a disgusted face. For dad’s birthday party a few months ago, our parents ended up getting shit-faced drunk and grinding against one another instead of dancing. The sight had been so horrific that we were both now scarred for life.
We were hoping to avoid a repeat of that at mum’s birthday party.
“Titus. Tiberius.” Mum called out to us from where she was dancing in the living in a circle of her friends, all of them very drunk and tipsy. “You boys be sure to be good tonight. I don’t want to get a call in the middle of the night saying that I need to pick either of you up from prison.”
“Don’t worry, mum. I’ll make sure your golden boys stay out of trouble.” Tiberius teased, slapping me on the back.
“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, boys!” Dad cheered as he walked into the living room with the biggest tray of shots I’d ever seen. “And Titus, don’t you hurt yourself. If anything happens to you, that Coach of yours is going to kill us.”
Tiberius and I chuckled before heading out the house before we got sucked in again.
Like the dutiful sons that we were, we had a great time celebrating mum’s birthday with all our friends and family but now the cake had been cut and it was time for us to have a party of our own at the hottest new nightclub in town.
It wasn’t hard to earn that title because there were only two other night clubs in town, and one of them wasn’t even open some evenings.
Tiberius was driving and on the way toward the outskirts of town where the nightclub was located, we picked up Sienna, my brother’s long-term girlfriend and from what I’d been hearing, his soon-to-be fiancé.
“Look who it is!” Adam, one of my old high school friends announced as soon as he set eyes on me. “It’s the best quarterback in all of New York!”
“I wouldn’t be able to say it myself without sounding full of myself, so thanks for saying.” I laughed and pulled him in for a hug.
“How is everyone?” I asked after moving around the table and greeting all my old high school friends.
Adam had joined me at NYU to study digital marketing but dropped out halfway through our freshman year because college just wasn’t for him. He moved back home to work in the construction business with his dad but last I heard, he had grown an ample presence online and was earning some decent money with some freelance work.
Jonah was the brains of our little group. Like me, he had bene offered a full ride to play football at college, and he leveraged his natural talent to earn himself a degree in accounting and finance and get himself a good job in the city. Like me, he was back for the weekend to see family.
Sydney had taken the less traditional route and had turned himself into somewhat of a social media star. He took a gap year between high school and college to figure out what he wanted to do with his life, and during that time, he turned into somewhat of a TikTok star. Actually, that would be downplaying his success online. Last I came across a video of his, he had a little short of five million followers, and getting more than a million views on every video he posted.
It was good to see people, my friends, do well for themselves, and it was even better feeling for everyone to be happy and supportive of each other.
“Tell us everything.” Jonah demanded as he slid me over a cold beer.
I tipped it at him in thanks and took a big sip.
“There’s nothing much to say.” I shook my head, downplaying it but the slow smirk that took over my face gave me away.
“Enough with the bullshit and tell us, what perks come with being the quarterback for the New York Eagles?” Sydney asked, not once for falling for my bullshit. “I bet it has the ladies flocking toward you.”
“You guys know it.” I grinned. “But that’s nothing new. I’ve always been somewhat of a chick magnet. I can’t help it if the females love me.”
“You haven’t always been great with the ladies.” Adam snorted, determined to out me. “I remember when you were a spotty teenager in freshman year. You were above six-foot already, but you were thin and scrawny. Your limbs were too long for you to know what to do with, and you always got food stuck in your braces. I remember clearly that the ladies were definitely not into that. Not that it stopped you from trying.”
My friends laughed as I groaned and cringed at the memory.
“But then I made it onto the football team and the rest was history.”
“You’ve done seriously well for yourself, T.” Jonah offered me a small smile, growing serious. “We’re all very proud of you.”
“You said you would make it in football, and you have. It’s truly admirable.” Sydney added.
“You played so well this season as well.” Adam praised me. All their kinds words were starting to boost my ego which didn’t need even more stroking than I already did. “Watching you play, you wouldn’t think that this is your first season and you’re the youngest player on the team.”
“Thanks, guys.” I smiled widely and before things could get sappy, I stood up. “Let me get the next round of drinks. What’s everyone having?”
With everyone’s drink order, I headed over to the bar to put it in. The bartender was in the year above me in high school, and recognition flashed in his eyes when he spotted me. My chest swelled with pride when he left his current customer to approach me and take my order. I didn’t know if the special treatment was because he recognised me from high school, or he knew I played for the New York Eagles, but I revelled in it nonetheless.
While waiting for the bartender to finish with my drinks, I turned around to lean against the bar, deciding to people watch to pass the time.
This was first time I had ever been to this nightclub and while it held nothing in comparison to all the flashy and expensive ones that I had frequented all over the country, it was pretty darn good for a small town like Mountbatten.
There were several groups of women that eyed me, none of whom I recognised but it was better that way. My golden rule was that I didn’t sleep with a woman more than once unless we were in a relationship, and since my last meaningful relationship was in my senior year of high school – it lasted only a measly three months before we split ways after a magical and lusty prom night together – I wouldn’t do that tonight.
Several women eyed my hungrily, no doubt recognising me from TV and my frequent appearances on the news, but none of them caught my attention for more than a few seconds at the very most.
All except one woman.
The first thing I noticed about this woman was her bright, beautiful smile, and the way it lit up the entire nightclub. It framed her face in the most beautiful of ways, both sensual and innocent at the same time. A deadly combination.
The dancing woman had a sweetheart face, plump nose, a thin-bridged nose with an adorable rounded tip which softened her face, and high cheekbones I imagined kissing my way up until I reached her decorated ears to whisper all the naughty things I would do to her. Her lips were deliciously plump, and framed her beautiful smile, just the way the little black dress framed her body and showed off her long, luscious legs. Her hair was dark brown, almost black, and long, falling to the middle of her back in loose waves, dancing along with her as she moved on the dancefloor, surrounded by her friends.
I had been with a lot of women before, mostly in the past year, but none of them held a candlelight to the sheer beautiful of this woman. She wasn’t my usual type, mostly because I liked my women with a little more meat on their bones, but she would do nicely.
Her friend twirled her around and with her back now facing me, my eyes dropped to her voluptuous ass which more than made up for what she was lacking in the curves department.
Yes, she would do quite nicely.
I tipped the bartender to deliver the drinks to my friends and ordered myself a shot. Throwing it back, I sauntered my way over to the dancefloor and presented myself in front of her, immediately falling into rhythm with her as she swayed her hips.
“Hi.” I grinned at her, my heart beating faster than it ever had before as I stared down at this woman.
“Hi.” She returned the greeting, her lips turning up at the corners ever so slightly as she stared up at me. I could faintly hear her friends giggling at my forward nature, and I’m sure some of them recognised me, but they were the least of my concern right now.
I couldn’t possibly give my attention to someone else when I had such a beautiful woman in front of me.
“I’m Titus, but my friends call me T.” I introduced myself, hoping she would return the favour. Something in me was desperate and screaming to find out as much as possible about this woman.
“I’m Sal.”
“Sal?” I questioned with a raised brow at the unusual name.
A gorgeous smile graced her sinful lips, and my cock stirred in my jeans at the sight of it.
“It’s short for Salvadora.”
“That’s a beautiful name.” I grinned.
“Mind if I dance with you?”
Sal bit back a scoff and sent me a pointed look. “It’s a bit late to ask now, isn’t it?”
A sheepish look took over my face. “I hope you can forgive me for that.”
Her lips turned up at the corners. “I think I can try.”
“What’s your full name, Salvadora?” I asked, her beautiful name rolling off the tip of my tongue. “I want to know if it’s just as beautiful as your first name.”
“That’s a bit personal, don’t you think?”
“Titus Reyes.”
“I didn’t ask.”
“But now you know.”
Sal giggled but shook her head. “I’m not going to tell you my full name. I don’t know you well enough for that yet.”
“Well, let’s get to know each other then. What college do you go to?” I asked, refusing to give up.
“What makes you think I attend college?”
“You look like the college type.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You look intelligent. Really intelligent. The kind of person who probably got a 4.0 GPA in high school. It would be a waste for you not to go to college.”
“4.6.”
My eyes widened as understanding dawned on me. “Christ! How did you manage to score such a high GPA?”
“I took a lot of AP classes.” Sal giggled at the stupefied expression on my face, and I couldn’t help but chuckle at how stupid I must look right now.
“So, I ask again. What college do you go to?”
“I don’t attend college.”
“Why not?”
“I can’t afford it.” She shrugged, as if it was obvious and honestly, it should have. All the signs were there. The way she avoided my question. The way she looked a little uncomfortable when I mentioned college. I should have picked up on the signs and realised it sooner. Now I looked like a right dumbass!
“I’m sorry.”
“You don’t have anything to apologise for.” Sal was quick to shake her head, waving a dismissive hand in the air as a warm flush of pink adorned her cheeks, making her look even more radiant than she already did. “I found myself an apprenticeship instead of going to college. I’ll earn myself some qualifications, be able to earn a little money and earn on the job.”
“I knew you were intelligent.” I praised with a bright grin, feeling proud of this woman that I had just met. It appeared that she had been through some tough times but was working to make the best out of it. “What is your apprenticeship in?”
“Construction.”
My eyebrows must have rose in surprise because she threw her head back and laughed at the silly expression on my face.
“Don’t look so surprise. I’m good with my hands, I’ll have now.”
“You are? How so?” I asked in a low, gravelly tone, sounding more like an undecipherable hum than actual words.
Her voice dropped several octaves as she stepped closer to me, her fingertips brushing down my chest, teasing me. Killing me.
“I’m good at building things up, and then breaking them down. Again, and again.”
My heart hammered in my chest at her words, and my cock strained in my jeans, pressing up against the zipper in a desperate attempt to escape. I groaned lowly in pain and couldn’t resist dropping a hand on her hip, giving it a gentle squeeze as I pulled her closer to me. When Sal didn’t push me away and instead, rested the palms of her hands against my chest, closing the distance between us, I groaned loudly and wrapped my arms around her waist, finally pulling her flush against me like I had so desperately wanted this whole time.
Since the very first moment I spotted her dancing sensually on the dancefloor with her friends, all the way over from the crowded floor. Even then, she commanded my attention from all the way across the floor.
“This is bold of me to ask, and it might earn me a slap, but do you want to get a hotel room with me for the night?”
When something sparked in her eyes as she stared up at me, I braced myself for the slap, but it never came. Instead, she leaned up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to the corner of my mouth, teasing me as she answered me.
“I’d love to.”
-
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Layla Knight
17.09.2022
