Love In the Red Zone (Connecticut Kings Book 1)

by Love Belvin

  JJ: meet me on the back balcony in ten

  I checked the time. It was almost five in the morning. My eyes shifted down to Jade stretched out completely over me. Her thigh covered my stomach, knee on my chest. Her right leg stretched out, running alongside my left. Her right arm folded over my heart, underneath her face. In the low lit room, I could see the top of her long lashes. She was spent, mouth open and all. After laying her little ass out with three orgasms, I carried her into the tub and washed her while she basically slept on me. She complained when I made her wash her makeup off. I’d rather heard it a few hours ago than feeling her wrath when she awakened in a few hours, bitching about skin care.

  My phone vibrated again.

  JJ: fuck that. meet me in five minutes. I’m tired as hell

  I rolled my eyes. How did he even know I was up?

  JJ: I know your ass is up because you never turn off your phone in case Shank called. I know that’s still the same because your ass is a creature of habit bruh. Come the hell on

  I sighed, salty as all hell about having to get out of bed. I didn’t want to leave Jade. We reached a milestone last night. She saw me dancing on another girl and didn’t flex. She actually got turned on. I hoped it was because she knew she didn’t have to worry about me wanting anybody but her. It didn’t help that MeMe, the girl I asked to participate, was gay. She was an aspiring actor who was best friends with a baseball player that came tonight. I’d known her for years. But Jade didn’t need to know that. She just needed to have her plan of seduction intercepted by my own.

  Slowly, I rolled over, placing Jade on her back. She moaned with closed eyes and opened her legs automatically. Damn… I lay between them and counted to thirty before I slowly and gradually lifted my weight from her and left the bed. After tossing on fresh boxers, socks, shorts, tee, and shower shoes, I crept out. As soon as I closed the door, Tyheem was down the hall, waving me to the third floor balcony. Thank God, because I had no idea where this fool was calling me to.

  Of course, he wasn’t there. I sat on the ledge, taking in the sunrise. I rubbed my eyes, to clear them for the view. Jade would love seeing this. She loved sunrises and sets. She loved the sun. Her new motto for watching it move was ‘new grace, new mercies.’ She and Ky had been attending church even while I’d been away during the season. It really made an impression on her. She enjoyed kicking it with Ezra and his wife, Lex. We spent last Thanksgiving with them after my charity event. Jade had even bought their daughter, Lisa-Mare, clothes and girlie accessories a few times. It was a part of her aggressive personality to go so hard for people she deemed worthy. She believed Ezra was because I kept no secret of how influential and supportive he’d been during my darkest days, dropping whatever he was doing to come check me. So long as it was genuine from Jade, I had no problem with it.

  “I didn’t think you’d come.” I turned to find Jordan yawning, heading my way.

  He had one hand tucked in his jacket pocket and the other rubbing his tight face.

  “Nigga, you wake me outta my sleep in the four o’clock hour, just for you to be late ‘cause you didn’t think I was coming?” I bitched as we embraced each other in a dap.

  “I was coming. Had to wrap something up first.” He sat across from me with one hip on the ledge, overlooking the water. “Man, that was off the chain. Fucking lit!” He tossed his head back and howled. I chuckled, happy he enjoyed it. I hardly took it in, but he deserved a successful celebration. I opted to have mine in private. “Did you see Nikki D in there? I was like, ‘how the hell she get in?’”

  “I said the same thing. Then she had the nerve to ask why didn’t she and her girls get an invite. Dawg, you in here, uninvited, and you bitchin’?” JJ cracked the hell up at that truth. “I don’t even know how she made it all the way down here from Connecticut.”

  “Nikki D came a long way from B-Way Burger,” I agreed. “‘Memba she used to sneak us extra food when I first signed? Those burgers was the shit! She made mine just the way I liked it: fat boy style with all the works.”

  “True that.” I nodded with a smile, in agreement. “Nikki D let us come in the joint and locked the place down. ‘Memba that one time she had her girls come through at two in the morning to dance, tryna’ impress you?” I tossed my head back and laughed my ass off at that memory.

  Everybody knew this kid loved strippers, including Nikki D, who was pushing four hundred pounds with more confidence than a woman who weighed a buck-twenty. She wore colorful hair pieces, blending them in with her own and would talk mad smack to JJ about him not being ready to lay it down with a real woman. She was dead ass serious, but didn’t really want Jordan. She just wanted to kick it.

  “Yeah, and instead of following my lead and heading for the door, your ass gonna stand and dance with them.” JJ shook his head.

  I couldn’t stop laughing. It was fun with those plus size women. They knew how to get down. We were only one year apart with me being older, but unlike like me, Jordan didn’t come straight into the league. He went to college for three years and was then drafted in 2010. When he was picked up by the Kings we clicked right away, being total opposites until it came to fun and the field. I introduced him to the city. He caught the vibe real quick and we’d been reigning Kings ever since…until I got locked up, that is.

  I didn’t realize JJ had stopped laughing long ago. His eyes were set out over the water.

  “I didn’t think we’d ever be here, bruh,” he murmured ghostly. That killed my humor. My neck collapsed from guilt. “At least not for me with the Kings. You know how ready I was to bounce, bruh?” His eyes narrowed over me. “Ready to say fuck you to the whole Blue and Gold. Eli know.”

  “Again, JJ, I’m sorry, man. I know I dropped the ball. I know I fucked up our plan, but this game…” I felt his eyes shift toward me. “I’m going to bust my ass to bring you that ring. It’s the least I can do. I want this so bad for you.”

  “For me? Nigga, I ain’t the only one playing my heart out on that field. You been wanting it before I was drafted.” His eyebrows flew in the air.

  “Yeah, but…” I looked out at the sun that was mostly over the water now. It made me think of her. My eyes were hypnotized by the orangey-yellow glow. Her. “I got more than I deserve after that shit I pulled.” I couldn’t remove my gaze. “Way more,” I found myself only able to whisper.

  Things got quiet and JJ followed my line of sight.

  “Your little lady. I can’t believe you’re engaged, man.”

  “Married.”

  “What?”

  His head whipping in my direction was what pulled my eyes away from the mesmerizing sun. At first I couldn’t look him dead in the face, but I managed after a while.

  “A month now.”

  “When?” he shrieked his disbelief.

  My eyes diverted again, but this time I wanted more of the sun view. I had to do it while speaking about her.

  “In between the Saints and Raiders games.”

  “You were gonna tell me…?”

  I faced him again. “At the end of the season when I was gonna ask you to be in my wedding. I didn’t want you to think I wasn’t focused…my head wasn’t in this. I still need to prove that to you.”

  “Yeah, I know some shit about not being focused, but damn. But you got married already, dawg,” he dismissed my last point.

  “For me and my lady. My next wedding’ll be for everybody else.”

  JJ shook his head, frustrated. “That’s why she ain’t trip over that stunt you pulled downstairs with MeMe? Or does Jade know MeMe swings for the other team?”

  “I hope it’s the first reason. Jade’s come a long way with her…possessiveness.”

  He laughed. “’Memba when she came to San Fran for a few days in September and wild out on that chick who tried to touch your ass in the grocery store? Yo, Jade really swung on ol’ girl!” He cracked the hell up.

  I rolled my eyes, remembering dropping milk, chips, and fruit on the
floor to snatch Jade’s ass up and carry her out the store. Jordan’s silly ass stayed back laughing while I calmed Jade’s little ass down in the back of the truck. Tyheem and Jordan played cleanup for the broad. They came to the truck twenty minutes later and JJ was still cracking the hell up while handing me my bag of groceries. If it wasn’t for that thoughtful gesture, I would’ve busted his damn chops about the stupid shit he did with Cole.

  My lady is real work…

  I sighed, scratching the back of my head.

  “Nah,” JJ tried to calm. He offered me some dap. “I’m happy for you. Jade is wild and all, but she really is a good look for you. Nicki said the same thing.”

  Her real name was Nicole. To most people on the earth, she’s Cole, but to Jordan, her name is Nicki. I shook my head at the implication of what being a good look for me meant.

  “What is up with Cole, nigga?” I really wanted to know…and take the spotlight off of me. “Y’all ain’t look so cozy tonight. You fuckin’ up already?” I joked.

  JJ sighed. “Yeah, actually. I said some shit I shouldn’t have after that last game of the season, right before playoffs. It hasn’t been right since then, but I think we’ll be okay. Hope we’ll be okay.”

  “Look at you, being all sentimental and shit. I never would’ve thought somebody would have your nose open like this.”

  He shrugged, then gave off that signature grin of his, trying to deflect. “I don’t know man… I love that girl.”

  “Love?!”

  “Yeah,” he exhaled, looking out at the water again, instead of at me. “No doubt in my mind.”

  “A’ight, so what you gonna do about it?”

  “That’s an excellent fucking question, bruh. Wish I had an answer. Why don’t you tell me?” he joked. “You’re the one running off, getting married and shit.”

  “Aye, my path was already determined. I can’t help you there. Unless you want to follow—buy a ring—”

  “Yeah, you can kill that shit. We’re definitely not there. She’s barely still fucking with me right now.”

  “A’ight.” I nodded, understanding his point. “Well…maybe you’ve gotta do something big then. Get her attention.”

  Jordan cocked his head to the side. “Like what?”

  “Like winning the Super Bowl for her team.”

  “Ha!” His palm went into the air and that sleek grin appeared. “That’s what we gon’ do then, my nigga!”

  Laughing, we smacked palms, solidifying that challenge.

  “Fourth and goal from the fourteen and the Kings are down five points. With only three seconds left on the clock, barring a penalty, this is sure to be the last play of the game. The Kings need a touchdown to be crowned Super Bowl champions.

  Trent Bailey jogs in from a quick huddle with his head coach and offensive coordinator with the play call.

  From under center Bailey takes the snap. Almost immediately he is under pressure as the left defensive end beats the fullback. Somehow Bailey spins out of the grasp of the end, picks his head up and fires a dart to Jordan Johnson who’s coming across the middle!

  Johnson makes the first tackler miss and picks up a block as he heads for the end zone! The Kings are seconds from being world champions when the free safety from the New England Patriots pulls Johnson down from behind at the one-yard line.

  Just like that, the game is over and the Kings’ dream of being Super Bowl champs will have to wait for at least another season.”

  I hit mute on the remote, done watching the different playbacks that have been sounding off for the past twenty-four hours. I sat back on my couch in the television room—the only piece of furniture I recognized from even a year ago; Jade had done so much to the place, but she kept this room pretty much the same—and reflected.

  We lost…

  As I limped off the field that day, my body beat down, shoulders heavy, my heart oddly was intact. Coaches, teammates, and even the Kings’ fanatic himself, Azmir Divine Jacobs, were in their feelings. When I made it to the locker room, he’d come in there quietly, but with an undeniable presence we all respected. He shook all of our hands, gave nods of pleasantry and moved out just as powerfully as he’d stormed in. Eli gave a dry “nice try” speech before we all broke out of there. I was sure his disappointment as the owner came from not being close to getting to even the Playoffs then having a shot at the Super Bowl, and losing it so close in the game. We all felt that way.

  We soared this season after a horrible start most teams wouldn’t be able to rebound from. As an organization, we endured losses, internally in the QB corner, from losing our second string to a sex scandal, and our first to a career-altering injury, having to pull from the third string in the span of weeks. That never happens—not impossible, but highly improbable. But God. I’d been restored and fulfilled. God had not forgotten my name. He forgave me and eventually I forgave myself.

  Not only did I get a second chance at the one career I felt I was built for, God showed me there was more to life than what took place on the green. He expanded my field of vision, demonstrating that my life had meaning elsewhere. In my home. A home now filled with a love I’d never known. I almost missed out on this blessing. Almost turned it away after inviting it into my home. While my teammates, Brownsville City, and bosses were likely sulking at this very minute, I was praising God for the journey of my life.

  I recalled Ezra’s prophetic Word a year and a half ago about God restoring. It’s not that I didn’t believe him, it was just that I couldn’t see how I’d make it to the victorious place Ezra described that day. I was grateful for the spark of hope from getting the Word and focused on the caution Ezra presented in terms I understood.

  “You’re now in the red zone, bruh. And we know while it is a promising place on the field, it is also proven that anything can happen while there. Don’t be dismayed by the promise. It isn’t assurance. Keep your mind and heart on the goal until you score.”

  My eyes pooled with tears at the flash memory of fear that struck my chest as I sat across from him. It had been the biggest play of my life. It was the one defining moment in my walk of faith that I could not doubt God. Losing Shank could’ve been a reason to doubt and not accepting Jade with her neurotic flaws would have made me blow it all.

  “But the steps of a righteous man are ordered by the Lord…”

  “And he delights in his way.”

  I turned around and saw Jade standing in the doorframe, her little body leaning at the shoulder.

  “What’s the smug look for?” I smiled. “You reading your Word now?”

  “Daily. I gotta keep up with you. I know the way to my man’s heart.” Her mouth was in a tight pout.

  You own my heart, baby…

  She looked cute in her cropped fitted sweats, and fitted Kings t-shirt. Her hair was styled differently. It was thinner en mass, a dark brown, and only meeting her shoulders. This was the shortest I’d ever seen it. And her face. It was clean of makeup in the middle of the day. I could see the different hues of brown in it.

  Cute…

  “I love it.” My smile widened and my dick swelled in my pants.

  Her shoulders fell and chin, too. “You do? Thank God!” she breathed, crossing the room to make her way to me.

  I met her halfway, scooping her into my arms. Jade felt so good against me. So soft and compliant to my big body. She giggled when I nuzzled in her neck.

  “Stop, Trent! Are you serious? This is a big deal for me. I’ve been feeling off and wondering what to do to get back on track. And then you lost yesterday, so when we got in last night, I decided take the weave out and relax my hair. No makeup, unless I’m going out. Are you okay with that?”

  I buried my face in her neck again, loving the smell of berries.

  “I’m good with you any way. I wasn’t hatin’ on the weave, I just don’t like that you feel you need them. Wasn’t mad at the makeup, but I want you to feel good about yourself totally naked with me. You’re beautiful, Jade,
in every sense. Like…for real. That hair and stuff only enhances what you naturally are. If I didn’t know you were good underneath all that, I would’ve never let you put my dick in your mouth that night.”

  “Trent!” she started slapping my chest and arms, breaking away from me. “Trenton!”

  “What?” I laughed.

  “First of all, I didn’t come up here for all of that! I only came to get your approval and tell you I’m taking Ky and Jordan to the skating ring. Stenton’s bringing him across the road now. But since you want to go there: You never let me do anything, which was the problem!”

  “I did let you do something.” I bit her chin.

  “I let you steal my heart.”

  Our eyes locked and within seconds hers swelled with tears.

  “You always say the sweetest things, even injured, after losing the biggest game of your career.” Jade sniffled.

  “I actually won the biggest play of my life. She’s in my arms; a little calf strain don’t compare.” I was really laying out my Romeo Romance cards. It was easy. With Jade, it was true.

  “Speaking of which, you need to get ready. Tyheem will be here in less than an hour to take you to treatment.” She started straightening in my arms.

  “Good. Because what I wanna do with you only gon’ take about twenty minutes, tops.”

  Jade’s eyes ballooned. “No. I have to go. I’ve put on weight, Trent. This skating is going to help me burn a few calories.”

  Here we go…

  “What weight, Jade? You’ve been complaining about this for weeks now.” I scooted back, being sure not to put too much weight on my left leg. “I don’t see it.”

  “But I feel it! It’s in my clothes.” She shook her head. “I’m not about to argue this with you. Ky’s waiting.”

  “You’re perfect, J. Quit that shit!” She was killing my vibe with that.

  Her face fell. “I’m trying, but—”

  “Try harder.” I kissed her glossed lips. “If you do, maybe I’ll let you taste me again…this time on the elevator. And I’ll invite you to my bed to sleep. You ain’t gotta creep in at night.” I went in for another kiss, but Jade wasn’t having it.