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The Alphas Big Beautiful Woman: BWWM Romance (Alphas From Money Book 7) by Shanika Levene, BWWM Club (1)

Chapter 1

Ratatat-tat- Ca-LUNK. The car sputtered to a stop. A ticking sound continued to rattle through the engine, though Tiana had turned it off already.

Click-click-click…. Click…..click. It stopped, finally, and Tina exhaled a breath that she hadn’t realized she’d been holding.

She’d been in cars that had fell to pieces while she was in them. Smoke curing out under the hood, or radiator pipes bursting and shooting coolants out at her — she’d seen it all.

This time, the problem seemed chill compared to some malfunctions she had witnessed in the past. She put her hand onto dashboard near the place where the radio used to be, before someone stole it, to feel for heat.

Her nails clicked against the plastic dashboard, and she admired the manicure for a moment. She’d gotten little diamonds applied in diagonal stripes across each nail, except for her ring finger. That one was covered in diamonds. They matched her ring. The diamonds on her nails and ring looked bright against her dark, coffee-toned skin.

The dash wasn’t hot, and that made her feel relieved. The ‘91 Dodge’s heat gauge had broken long ago, and she’d learned to evaluate the temperature of the engine just by feeling the heat that came through to the car’s interior.

It’s not overheating. I don’t need an oil change. Something with the power steering fluid, maybe? Did I check that? she asked herself.

She’d meant to check all of her fluid levels before leaving the small Eastern Texas town she called home, but in all the excitement of packing, getting her hair and nails done, and arranging a sitter to watch over the cat, it simply hadn’t happened.

Shit, she thought. Those weren’t good sounds, that’s for sure.

She opened the car door and hefted herself out of the car. She’d put on some weight over the last few years, and simple things like getting out of her miniature, two-door Dodge felt cumbersome these days.

She rounded the front of the car, and was about to lift the hood, when she heard voices to her left. She looked over and saw people walking up a walkway, near the parking lot that she’d pulled into at the Marriott Hotel.

She straightened up and walked around to the other side of the car as if she was simply going on a stroll. She wasn’t about to let them see her lift the hood on her old beater car and peer under it like she was some kind of mechanic or something. Not tonight, she thought. Tonight is about class. I’m Tiana Brown, and I’m a successful woman.

A successful fiancée, she thought, glancing at her ring.

The invitation to her ten-year high school reunion had hung on her refrigerator door, front and center, for almost six months before she decided to go. The invitation had arrived in January, and she had looked at it skeptically every day through June.

Then, on July first, something inside of her snapped.
Maybe it had something to do with turning twenty-eight, and realizing the big three oh was only two years off.

Maybe it had something to do with the fact that none of her pants were fitting, and she had to go to the local Walmart and pick up new XL’s with an elastic waistband.

Maybe it had something to do with the one-year anniversary of the day Ricky had left her, walking out on the mobile home they’d just purchased, leaving her to clean up the debt.

All of those things had weighed heavy on her mind, and as she reached into the freezer for the Rocky Road ice-cream, something had snapped.

‘Damn it’, she’d said aloud, ripping the invitation off of the fridge. ‘I’m going to that reunion. I’m going to show all of them — myself included — just who Tiana Brown is.’

She’d saved up for two more months to buy an extra-fancy outfit, and she’d topped it all off with the diamond engagement ring she’d inherited from her mother, when her mother passed away.

So what, that I’m not really engaged, she thought, as she rounded the car and reached the driver’s side door again. She reached in and pulled out her credit card and car keys, and stuffed her purse under the front seat, out of sight. They don’t have to know that. And this ring looks good. Really good. She closed and locked the car, and then looked at the ring one more time. The diamond glinted with color, reflecting the streetlight above her.

The voices of the passing cluster of people faded, and she turned to see them disappear into the event’s entryway. ‘Welcome, Class of 2003!’ A banner across the door read.

She took a deep breath, and then headed for the doors.

Once inside the lobby, she saw a few clusters of people. Straight ahead of her was a folding table, lined with name tags. The woman behind the table looked familiar, but it took Tiana a moment to recognize her. She walked toward the table, trying to place the face.

The woman stood up, her red hair bouncing. “Tiana Brown!” she said enthusiastically. She opened her arms and stepped around the table. “Oh my god! How aaaarrree you?”

Tiana accepted the hug, and smiled back.

“Stacy,” she said, thankful when the name popped into her mind. Though the red-haired girl she remembered no longer wore glasses and braces, the fiery locks were hard to forget.

She recalled that Stacy had been the class secretary throughout high school, and it made perfect sense that she’d be in charge of admissions at the reunion.

Stacy had bustled back around to the other side of the table and was locating Tiana’s name on a list.

“Just you tonight?” she asked, “Or do we need to fill in a guest name tag?” She found Tiana’s name tag on the table, and picked it up. She indicated to a pile of blank tags and a sharpie.

“Just me!” Tiana said brightly, peeling the back off of her tag and plastering a smile on her face. “My fiancé couldn’t make it. He’s extremely busy with work… because of the season.”

“Late August?” Stacy asked, scrunching up her face. “Is he a… teacher?” she guessed “Or a professor? Getting ready for college classes?”

“Yes!” Tiana said, grateful for Stacy’s gullibility. She liked the way professor sounded. Like he was smart. Successful. Maybe even rich.

We’re a successful couple, she thought to herself. Me and…. Mike. Professor Mike. “Exactly. He’s a professor,” she said.

“Well, I’m sorry he couldn’t make it, but I’m sure glad you did!” Stacy said cheerfully.

A second woman walked up to the table, and Tiana recognized her vaguely but didn’t want to talk to her. Stacy became preoccupied and Tiana took the opportunity to slip away from the table.

Double doors lead into the Marriott's banquet hall, which been had decorated in a way that reminded her uncomfortably of her senior prom.

There was no doubt in her mind that the same mean clique of girls had decorated it. She’d heard that the clique had stayed in Austin, and most of them were now raising little cool-kids-to-be of their own. No doubt the next generation of coolness would have all the right clothes, all the right homes and pools and cars.

Tiana twisted the ring on her finger nervously, glancing around the room. Music was playing over speakers. The lights were dimmed, and a giant disco ball sent cascading shards of multicolored lights over the banquet tables and chairs. She searched the room for the bar and located it. She couldn’t get there fast enough.

Stay cool, she reprimanded herself as she hurried across the room. Be calm.

And don’t get drunk.

She reached the bar, and waited nervously in line. Thankfully, the men in front of her, jocks, she remembered, were completely immersed in a conversation and paid her little attention. When it was her turn to order, she requested a gin and tonic. She paid with her credit card.

Once the drink was in her hands, she felt herself relax a little bit.

Stay calm, she told herself. You’re doing fine. They don’t know you. You’re somebody. You’re Tiana Brown, wife-to-be of a successful professor. You’re doing just fine. Better than fine. Girl, you’re doing great.

Her mental pep talk served to pick up her spirits. She crossed the room, wishing her best friend from high-school, Christina, had been able to make it. The two of them had suffered through some bullying, but had made it to the other side as closer friends.

Unfortunately, Christina had been unable to attend. She was in China, teaching English as a second language.

That’s okay, Tiana thought. I don’t need Christina to have a good time. I’ll look for other friends. Someone else who I want to see.

But deep down, she knew that the friendly acquaintances she’d barely stayed in touch with since her high school years were not the reason that she’d driven six hours across Texas to attend the function.

No.

She wanted to see the clique of girls that had made her life a living hell back then.

Maybe, if she could prove to them that she’d made a good life for herself, she could finally move on. She searched the crowd, and located one of the women.

Faye was tall, and as thin as ever. She wore her long brown hair straight and shiny, and had a perfect Texas tan. She was talking to two other women that Tiana recognized well: Betsy and Nancy.

Tiana took a deep breath, and then a drink of her gin and tonic. The alcohol burned her throat. It was a strong drink, and she wasn’t used to having liquor. At home, when she drank, it was usually a bud light or a wine cooler. Nothing nearly this strong. But successful women drink gin and tonics, she thought. Women who date professors — no — marry professors drink gin and tonics.

Not light beer.

I’m a successful woman. I’m a successful woman. She repeated the phrase like a mantra as she approached the clique. They waited until she was two feet away before turning and acknowledging her.

“Faye?” Taina said. “I thought that was you. I just go here!”

Tiana waited, wondering if Faye would give her a hug, as Stacy had. After all, she and Stacy had not been close in high school, and Stacy seemed happy to see her. Maybe that’s how these things work, Tiana thought. Time heals all wounds. Distance makes the heart grow fonder. And all that jazz.

She waited for Faye to hold out her arms, but the skinny woman just looked at her.

Finally, Betsy spoke. “Tiana,” she said cooly. “Hi.”

The clique stared at her, making it painfully obvious that Tiana had interrupted their conversation.

Then Faye turned to Betsy, slightly turning her back on Tiana. “So anyways,” Faye said to the other women, ignoring Tiana. “Then we went to the Costco, but Bobby Junior was exhausted from soccer practice, so I told him--”

“Um…” Tiana interrupted, stepping forward. “It's’ been a while. I’d love to catch up with you guys. How are you?”

Faye turned to her with a sneer. “We’re talking,” she said. “Don’t you have friends to catch up with?”

“Well, actually--” Tiana began, despite the growing nausea in her stomach. Time heals all wounds my ass, she thought, glaring at Faye. All of her memories of the bullying she’d endured bubbled just under the surface.

“--I’m really here to see you all. I know we had a rough time in high school, but things have changed a lot, haven’t they?” She looked at the women. “We’re all adults now. You all are older, I’m older. Living our lives,” she said, awkwardly. “You know, I myself am engaged to--”

“We don't’ care what your life is like,” Betsy said. “We didn’t care in high school, and we don’t care now.”

“Well, you seemed to care in high school,” Tiana said. “You certainly paid enough attention to me.” And not in a good way, she thought.

Nancy laughed. “How could we not pay attention to you?” she asked. “You don’t exactly blend into a room, Tiana.”

“Yeah, you didn’t then, and you don’t now,” Betsy said, looking her up and down. “Some things don’t change.”

Tiana remembered all of the times that the three girls had made fun of her back in high school. In the gym locker room, they often hid her clothes, making her search the lockers with only a skimpy towel around her ample figure.

That had been embarrassing enough, but sometimes one of them would pull the towel away, and on the really bad days they’d laugh and stare. Tiana had always been full figured, but she never hated her body until those days in the locker room. When they pointed at her and laughed, she’d learned that her body was something to be ashamed of.

She felt her lip trembling. She’d hoped that seeing the women would make her feel better somehow. That she could speak to them as adults, and they could all laugh about the days when they’d been confused teens.

She’d even hoped — deep down — that the reunion would be a chance for them to say they were sorry for any pain they had caused.

She was ready to forgive them.

She’d mentally rehearsed it, many times.

‘It’s okay,’ she’d say lightly as if it was the last thing on her mind. ‘We were all just kids.’

Now, standing in the presence of the women, she realized that they were not going to apologize. Instead, they were just as condescending and cruel as they’d always been.

I came all the way here, for this? she thought, stepping backwards.

She kept backing up, one foot and then the other.

“Bye,” Betsy said, saying the word as though Tiana was being a weirdo. Nancy and Faye laughed, and she heard them resume their chatter.

She kept on backing up, even once they’d stopped looking at her. It was as if she was in a trance. The back of her leg hit a chair, and she felt her drink spill onto her top, the cold liquid seeping through the fancy silk fabric over her chest.

She struggled to catch her balance, and then turned, and made a beeline for the door. She didn’t stop until she was out in the fresh air, the glass of gin and tonic still in her hand.

“Fuck you!” she yelled, and then threw the glass as far as she could. The drink cascaded out of it. Ice cubes flew through the air, and she watched the glass land with a thud against the close cropped grass. It didn’t even break.

“Fuck.. You,” she said again, quieter now. She walked like a zombie towards her car, but when she reached it she thought of the terrible sounds that it had been making.

I can’t drive anywhere, she thought. Not until I take it into a shop and have it checked out. I reserved a room at the Marriott for tonight. It’s already paid for. She turned and looked at the hotel building.

I can’t go back in there.

Can I get to the hotel room without seeing any one from the reunion?

She contemplated this for a moment, but the thought of holing up in a quiet hotel room made her feel even worse. She turned and looked across the street. A second hotel was lit up, just across the highway. “Lightman Hotel” it said in big block letters along the front face.

They probably have a bar, she thought.

And I could use a drink.

I want to drink until I forget all about this god damn night and those god damn women.

She was fuming as she crossed the street, and still angry as she entered the bar.

*****

Tabor pulled his hat lower down over his eyes and hunched over his drink. The Lightman Hotel’s bar was nearly empty, and for that he was grateful. He didn’t want to make eye contact with the few patrons, so he looked studiously at the amber whiskey in his glass, and the slowly melting ice cubes.

He stirred the drink with the little red straw, mixing the water in with the fiery liquor. He didn’t usually drink whisky, but the night seemed to call for it.

As usual, he was treading the thin line between intelligence and risk.

He was well aware that the overdose of intelligence he’d received genetically made him prone to over thinking things, yet he couldn’t override the smarts that told him not to go into the Marriott's lobby across the street.

It’s better here, he thought.

So what that I came all the way to Texas? I thought I wanted to go. Turns out I don’t. End of story.

His aversion to the event had been clear two hour earlier, as he’d straightened his tie and stared at the banner above the door. He’d been prepared to walk in, yet something inside of him screamed no. He followed his instinct — his natural sensitivity and intelligence that often made him do things that others didn’t — and changed his course of direction, walking in a wide u back to the Lightman Hotel where he had a room.

Though he wasn’t at the reunion, exactly, the close proximity to his high school classmates was bringing up plenty of memories. And not fun ones either. He’d been an unusual kid from kindergarten on. The memories were uncomfortable, but the drink seemed to ease some of the discomfort.

He was almost through his second — which was the most liquor he’d had in years. He usually stuck to light beer.

Someone sat down at the bar a few seats down, and he turned his head slightly, pretending to pick up the little placard advertising desserts so that he could see who it was without overtly looking.

The woman at the end of the bar was gorgeous. She was curvy in a way he wasn’t used to seeing in California. All of the women in his circles seemed to be all bone, muscle and sinew.

He found that he was immediately attracted to the voluptuous woman just a few seats away. She had dark coffee toned skin and wavy, black hair with a beautiful shine to it. She was well dressed in a sexy, silky black top with cutaway shoulders, giving him surprisingly arousing peak at her skin.

This night just got much more interesting, he thought. Maybe this trip to Texas wasn’t such a waste after all.

*****

Tiana ordered a drink and then looked around her. The bar was quiet, with only a few people scattered around, and that was fine with her.

She felt overwhelmed by the reunion, and even the months leading up to it. It had been on her mind constantly. She’d been saving, planning, scheming… thinking that this evening would turn her whole life around.

How wrong I was, she thought.

She looked down to the end of the bar and saw a man sitting there. A drop-dead gorgeous, sexy guy with a model-like physique.

What, did he just step off of a movie set? she wondered, taking in his tanned skin, perfectly styled hair, and sharp suit. The bartender delivered her drink — a bud light, thank goodness, and she accepted it gratefully.

“Pay now, or start a tab?” the bartender asked.

“I’ll start a tab, I guess,” Tiana said, sliding her card across the table. She didn’t feel like this often, but tonight she wanted to drink. Really drink.

She took a sip of the beer and her senses tingled. She could feel the sexy man a few seats away looking at her even before she lifted her eyes and looked back at him. When she did, her suspicions were confirmed. He was looking right at her.

His eyes were bright, his lips curled in a subtle, knowing smile. He was wearing a baseball cap, with an infinity symbol over the top. She liked his hat.

She liked the way he smiled at her.

For some reason, it made her feel less alone.

She looked back to her drink, and smiled to herself. She could feel that he was still watching her. She took another drink. It felt good to be watched. Really good. His look made her feel pretty too. Wanted. He wasn’t giving her a look of seduction, but he was seeing her — not telling her to go away.

She tried not to, but couldn’t help it. She looked up at him again.

He glanced up at her at the same time.

Alright, she thought. I need to go over there. She stood and walked towards him, and slid onto the bar stool at his side.

“Hi,” she said. “I’m Tiana.”

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