Manny POV

He was on cloud nine after his win at the talent show. He went from a nobody to the man on campus. Everyone was greeting him, trying to get his attention. His videos on social media were getting massive hits and shares.

And that brought lots of attention from girls.

Never before in his life had he had this type of attention from girls. Still, he was shy around girls so there was not much he could say to all the attention. Except he liked it.

"I think with all your newfound fame, you should explore your options." Shamiya sat next to him while he hung out in the first-floor game room. They were having a dorm event and he thought it would be good to do something different while he had a little free time.

"What options?"

"Other girls," she said, smiling at him.

Why was she doing this to him? She knew he had a girlfriend, but she was tempting him. He looked away just in time to see Laila walk in. By the look on her face, she was not happy to see Shamiya so close to him. He quickly stood up and walked to her.

"Hey, I didn't think you were coming because you said it was lame."

"Yeah, well it's a good thing I did. What were you and Shamiya talking about?"

"I think she likes me," he admitted to her. There was no reason to lie about it. "But don't worry because I'm happy with you."

"Okay," she simply said.

For once, he enjoyed himself around others and not just his girlfriend and his roommate. He needed to make other friends besides them. Soon he would be in a fraternity but having frat brothers was different than having friends.

He thought the Big Brothers would take it easy on them that week after they won big, but for some reason, they were on them even worse.

"Don't let that lil shit get to your head. When you're an Epsilon Upsilon, a taste of greatness is not enough," Taj yelled at them while they were on the floor doing push-ups for no reason. "And by the way, second place is not the winner."

"Y'all was good and all, and the bruhs liked that shit, but now you're on everyone's radar. When you cross with those letters on your chest...I mean, if you cross, it's not about you anymore, it's about us!" Brian would not let up either and he was their Dean of Pledges, there to help them.

He was sweating profusely, droplets of sweat beading down his forehead and onto the carpeted floor. Jordan was in a bit better shape than him, but even he looked like he would pass out any minute. He stopped for a second to catch his breath.

"Did I say stop!" Taj yelled at him.

"Maybe they need a water break?" Brian asked, and he was relieved the Dean suggested that. "Or maybe not. Twenty more before you get that break."

He did not think he had twenty in him, but Brian counted them out and he pushed through them. He collapsed to the floor. What had they done to deserve this?

"Y'all done? Do you want to quit now? There's the door," Taj said.

He did not come all this way to give up. He looked to Jordan who was already scrambling to his feet. He made his way to standing, arms felt like goo.

Brian handed them each a bottle of water and water never tasted so good.

"That's enough," Brian said, taking the bottle before he was even halfway done. "To the wall and squat."

Wall squats were the worse. He never worked out a day in his life, nor played sports, so all this physical activity was new to him. He stood against the wall and squatted down against it like they had done before when they were in trouble.

"Tell me when you want to give up. Tell me when you can't handle it anymore. I will have Brian escort you out and you can have a good day on your own. Go chill with your boo. Let everyone continue to kiss your ass because you came in second in a talent show. If that's all you want to be known for."

There had to be a point to what they were doing to them. He was not even thinking of quitting after all the hard weeks he put in. After learning and appreciating everything about the fraternity. He did not know how badly he wanted it at the start, but he wanted it even more now. Jordan was the one to make him see how badly he wanted it, but maybe he wanted to give up.

He looked to Jordan, who shook his head at him. That meant they both wanted to stay.

"Big Brother Black Magic, we're not going anywhere!" he shouted back out to him.

"Arms up," Taj said to them, and they both lifted their arms out to mid-air, palms down and held them in balance.

They were testing them physically. Trying to break them but it was not going to work

After two hours of hell, they finally were dismissed. Neither could barely walk but somehow made it to their dorms.

After he took a nice long shower and changed, he texted Laila.

I need u

Come on over

He was sure that meant Marketta would leave and head over to his room so they all could have their privacy. Most times he stayed for a few hours, then he would go back to his room and vice versa with Marketta. It was a system by now. Once he arrived at Laila's room, Marketta was still there, sitting in her bed on her phone.

"Hey, Manny," Marketta said to him without looking up.

"Uh, hey." He looked to Laila sitting at her desk, who simply shrugged at him.

"How was everything tonight?" Laila asked him.

"Crazy hard. I think they were testing us tonight, trying to see if we would drop." He sat on the edge of Laila's bed.

"Not after everything you have done so far," Laila said. "Well, at least it hasn't been anything crazy like hitting you and forcing you to drink alcohol."

He could not say they forced him to drink alcohol, but they had offered. He was happy it was not forced on him, he did not know how he felt about drinking yet. He was almost twenty now, it was no big deal if he wanted to drink beer. Some people started drinking when they were younger than him.

"I can't wait till you guys finally cross!" Marketta jumped up from her bed.

"Why aren't you in my room with Jordan," he finally asked.

"Jordan said he was too tired to hang out and was going to sleep. But see, you're not too tired. What the hell?"

"Well, I am tired, it was a lot tonight, but I still wanted to hang with my girl."

"Aaaw! He's so sweet!" Laila said, grabbing him and wrapping her arms around him giving him kisses.

"Ugh! That's my cue to leave," Marketta said, phone in hand, she slipped on flip flops and walked out of the room.

"Sorry, she could have stayed, we're only hanging out."

"Nope, I like it when it's just us," Laila said, giving him more kisses.

He sat there on the edge of the bed, Laila between his legs and they kissed for a long time. He liked having her this close to him. They were a perfect team together. Sure, now other girls were taking notice of him, but he was happy where he was.

As they got heavier into kissing, his hand slipped up her shirt, his fingers rubbing her stomach before moving up to her bra, cupping her breast. He never felt a girl up, it was exhilarating. But he quickly pulled back.

"I'm sorry, I-"

"No," she held his hand in place. "I like you touching me."

"You're beautiful and I think I'm in love with you," he said before he could stop himself. "I mean wait...I do...I do love you."

"Aaw Manny! I love you too!" She hugged him to her tighter, so much so that they fell back on the bed.

The kisses led to caresses, and the caressing turned to moans and clothes coming off. Feeling Laila's naked skin against his, becoming more aroused, he needed to stop himself...but he couldn't. She needed to stop him...but she did not seem to want to.

He kissed over her neck, down to her bare breasts, kissing them both, before going down to her stomach and kissing there. His pants were off, only her red lace panties on, it was so inviting. He wanted to know what she looked like, so he gently pulled the panties down. He didn't know what to do at the moment, just looking at her most intimate part, but he did what he felt was right.

He kissed her there. Her moan made him want to do it again and again, till he was tasting her. This was wild. He never thought he would be a guy that enjoyed going down on a girl, but here he was.

Then he realized he did not ask Laila if it was okay. He stopped and moved to look up at her.

"Laila, I'm sorry, I-"

"Don't stop! Keep doing that."

Well if she insisted! He planted himself right back between her legs and kept going till he had enough. She was totally naked, he still had his underwear on, but he quickly removed them.

"You really want to do this? Now?" he asked, rubbing her face.

"Yes. I want to make love with you."

Tonight was the night! He was glad he always kept condoms in his wallet that he thought he would never use. He grabbed one out and quickly put it on, then got back in bed with her. It was her first time as well, so he hoped it would be good for both of them.

If he knew what to do. Not like his father detailed what to do with sex. He closed his eyes and did whatever came naturally to him. He slowly, slid inside her, taking his time, not wanting to hurt her. Her arms were wrapped around his waist, squeezing him tight. He pushed further till he felt he was deep inside her.

He finally opened his eyes and looked down at her. Laila's eyes were closed as well.

"You okay?"

"Yes, I'm good."

"Okay," he said, kissing her. "I love you, thank you for this."

A/N: Ummm...okay Manny. He ain't little choir boy anymore. I just had to have one of the guys break the "no sex till you cross rule." Jordan still has a chance to stick to the rule.