Knot So Lucky (Destination Love, #1)(9)

Nate: I’m enough. I love me.





TJ: Five inches is average.





Nate: Nobody chokes, but they like it.





TJ: They aren’t faking. Women are just silent when they come.





Nate: We’ll do this all night.





TJ: Don’t make us use our powers for evil.





Nate: Get. Down. Here.





I can’t help but fucking laugh. Barrett chimes in.

“I’m going to assume you’re laughing at messages from Tweedle-Dumbass and Tweedle-Dipshit. You know they owe you for what you’re doing.”

I shake my head.

“They don’t owe me anything. If one of us succeeds, we all do. Plus, there’s no better defensive end or wide receiver in this league.”

“Yeah, but they aren’t you, Crew. And you know that.”

I shrug off her compliment.

“Let me know when the contracts are ready. And maybe try to have some fun this weekend?”

“Contracts and money are my good time, silly. You have fun…just not too much.”

I laugh as I hang up before finally answering TJ and Nate.

Me: Be there in fifteen. And that wild girl you’re talking about…I call dibs.





I don’t even have to look to know they’re texting back an array of fuck you’s and eat a dick’s.

There’s nothing better than a little competition to make shit interesting.





Even in the dim lighting, I can see them—my friends and the horde of women surrounding the table. Jesus.

Fuck it.

We’re young and about to seal the biggest trade deal in the league. The three of us are on our way to winning a Super Bowl. Life doesn’t get any better.

“Crew” is bellowed above the music as TJ waves me over, smacking Nate’s shoulder, who looks over and points at me with a grin.

As expected, they’re both already plastered.

I smile as I walk past bouncers who nod their heads and even more people who stare and pretend not to notice me. Until some girl pushes through the crowd and grabs my arm. She’s giggling and drunk, staring at me like I’m about to change her life.

Hard pass, sweetheart.

“Oh my god. You’re Crew Matthews,” is slurred in my direction. “I told my friends if I saw you here, I would totally leave with you tonight.”

She’s biting her lip, trying for sexy. But I’m not interested. I gently peel her hand off my forearm and flex my jaw before I speak.

“Thanks for the offer, but I just got here. Another time.”

She licks her lips and winks, but thankfully, security steps in, ushering her away. My head turns back to Nate and TJ, who are cheering and holding up liquor bottles, making me laugh again.

Jackasses.

The minute I reach the red velvet ropes quartering off the table, a drink is shoved into my hand.

“Took you long enough,” TJ yells.

Music thumps, making us have to lean in to speak. But Nate slaps my shoulder, pointing toward the half wall lined against the back of the booth.

“Bro…”

As I look, some girl with a smile that could stop traffic is lifted by security over the back, her feet landing on the shiny black seat of the booth.

Her eyes are bright and her hair a little wild. She looks like she’s been dancing all night. She’s got a bottle in her hand with a sparkler stuffed inside, spraying bright crackling streams of light into the air, creating a spotlight on her.

“Happy Fourth of July, bitches!” she screams, making everyone around her go wild.

Nate beelines for her as TJ hollers, and the DJ starts spinning more bass, calling everyone’s eyes to the sky.

TJ leans in, saying something I don’t hear, but I nod anyway because I can’t take my eyes off her. She’s winding her hips, her head thrashing back and forth as sparks shoot up into the sky behind her, exploding in the air.

Fuck.

“Who is that?” I thunder to TJ.

Bright pink rains down, crackling as it decorates the sky, but this chick doesn’t even look up. Why would she? She’s the main attraction. But whoever she is, she’s singing at the top of her lungs while holding the bottle in the air as more people cheer in celebration.

She’s in her own world. But I’m mesmerized.

I’m going to eat her the fuck up.

TJ taps my arm, and I make a considerate effort to look away. But she’s fucking something. When I finally do look, it’s directly into TJ’s smirking face.

“That’s your dibs… Her name is—”

“Mine.” I grin. “Her name is mine.”

TJ laughs, then nods. “It’s also Eleanor.”

I watch Eleanor climb onto Nate’s shoulders, high above the crowd. Rightfully so, because this girl is fucking hot.

She’s holding Nate’s hand, her other in the air holding the sparkler bottle toward the sky as more fireworks explode and the crowd cheers. TJ whistles toward the sky just as the beat drops, and everyone starts jumping, like a massive wave dipping in slow motion.

My brows pull together, not liking what I’m seeing because even though Nate grips her thigh as he joins the motion, bouncing with her on his shoulders, she lets go of his hand.