Chapter 17
Drahma Town
Yass! Sing that shit, bitch!” I shouted to my bestie while she sat in the passenger seat of my white Mercedes, rapping like she was auditioning for a record deal.
The bass vibrated through the doors as we flew down the expressway with the windows cracked just enough for the night air to kiss my glossed-up lips.
Dream was yelling the lyrics, Mia was in the backseat hitting her little two-step even though she was sitting down, and Nola was recording all of us for her story because she never missed a moment when we looked good. And we looked real damn good tonight.
I pushed my hair off my shoulders in that slow, lazy way I always did when I wanted to feel extra fine, letting the silk of it fall down my back while the glitter oil on my chest caught every bit of light from the dash.
My skin was glowing like it had something to say, my lashes curled up pretty, and my lip gloss was sitting thick and wet the way I liked it.
I knew exactly what I looked like, and I wasn’t about to downplay it.
Women lied all the time, but Echo Lennox didn’t need to.
I was the only girl and the baby out of three overprotective brothers who treated me like a trophy they kept polished.
If anybody in this world was raised to walk like they floated, it was me.
Trips, gifts, niggas throwing money, private flights, ocean views, rooms full of roses, expensive meals and long hotel balconies where I stood in tiny bikinis taking pictures I didn’t even need to edit.
That was my life. I was twenty-five and spoiled, and I embraced every bit of it.
Some girls pretended they didn’t like being spoiled. I never had that problem.
“Bitch, you really ate that verse,” I said to Dream, laughing as I swung the car into valet. “Nicki need to put you on payroll.”
“Tuh! I’m just sayin’,” she giggled as she fixed the strap of her dress and checked her reflection. “Echo, you know we look too damn good. They not ready.”
“They never ready,” I replied with a smirk, tapping the wheel as the valet boy damn near stumbled trying to open my door.
I stepped out slowly, letting my leg show just enough to make him blink too much.
My heels hit the pavement and my girls climbed out behind me in a line like we were arriving at an award show.
“Have a good night, ladies,” the valet boy said, his eyes glued to us like we were a walking billboard.
“We will,” I answered, sliding my hand into Dream’s as we walked toward the entrance.
The bouncer didn’t even ask for IDs. He just looked at us and pressed his hand to his earpiece.
“Let them in.”
Dream squeezed my hand. “Told you.”
Inside, the club smelled like hookah, liquor and money.
The lights were low but colorful, moving over the crowd in waves, and the DJ was already hyping up whoever’s birthday it was.
Niggas turned their heads as soon as we stepped in, looking us up and down like they were hungry.
Women stared too, and I didn’t blame them. We were a sight.
I kept my walk slow, my hips moving just enough to catch attention without begging for it.
Some nigga grabbed his friend’s arm when he saw me pass and mouthed something like “damn,” but I didn’t even look twice.
Pretty men didn’t impress me. I’d been around enough money and enough arrogance to know the difference between a nigga who looked good and a nigga who was worth my time.
We slid into a section that wasn’t empty but wasn’t crowded either, and nobody questioned it.
Men liked pretty girls in their sections, and pretty girls liked free drinks, so everybody won.
Music pumped through the speakers and Dream had already started dancing when the DJ’s voice boomed through the mic.
“Aye! Aye! Turn this bitch up for the birthday boy! Kay’Lo in the building tonight!”
People cheered, bottles sparked up across the club, and I glanced toward the source of the noise. That was when I saw the man of the night.
He was sitting back in the center of the VIP area like he didn’t owe anybody anything.
He had on some designer shades in the dark, and black leather on his body like it was carved for him.
A thick chain rested over his chest. He had big aura, a dangerous aura…
The kind of aura men didn’t have unless they really lived the life niggas pretended about in songs.
He lifted his glass after the shoutout, just a small nod to the crowd, nothing extra. It was obvious that he was a man who didn’t have to do the most because the most was already happening around him.
And I felt something low in my stomach when I saw that.
“Echo, girl, you good?” Nola asked.
“He fine as hell,” Dream whispered, following my stare.
I didn’t say anything. I just watched him.
I watched the way he leaned back, watched how the lights hit his jewelry, watched his hands and the way his fingers wrapped around his glass like he didn’t even need to try to look sexy.
I’d been in rooms with men who had money, power, status, all that, but something about this nigga was different. He wasn’t looking around to see who was watching him. He wasn’t trying to be loud or flashy. He just existed, and the energy bent around him.
A man like that didn’t need to be introduced. You just felt him.
Before I could think twice, or even talk myself out of it, I started walking toward his section. My girls peeled off behind me like they already knew what I was doing.
I walked right to him and slid into the spot next to him like I was already his was girl. He turned his head just enough to look at me, his lips parted a little, but his expression unreadable behind those shades.
He didn’t speak first. He didn’t smile and didn’t rush to greet me.
He just looked at me like I was interesting but not surprising, like women sat next to him every night and he still hadn’t seen one worth reacting to.
And that made me want him even more…
“I’m Echo,” I said, letting my voice drop into that slow, sweet tone I used when I chose somebody instead of them choosing me.
He took a sip of his drink, didn’t break eye contact, then nodded once. “Kay’Lo.”
His voice slid right down my spine.
I smiled and crossed my legs, letting my heel brush his ankle on purpose. “Happy birthday, Kay’Lo.”
He hummed a cool “thank you”, nothing extra, then looked away like he had the right to dismiss me. And maybe he did, but I wasn’t going anywhere.
While he talked to another nigga across the table, I glanced around and noticed a slim girl with soft curls sitting close to a fine man with a beard thick enough to grab.
They looked good together, but the girl kept cutting her eyes at me like I was messing with her personal space.
I didn’t know who she was or why she was pressed, but I wasn’t about to be bothered.
I wasn’t fighting in a club I looked too good to be thrown out of.
I pushed my hair back slowly, letting the glitter on my chest glow under the lights. I licked my lips, pretending not to see her watching me.
I turned my attention right back to Kay’Lo.
He finally looked at me again, and he smirked.
Just a little…
Just enough to let me know he felt my energy, even if he wasn’t ready to show it yet.
And right then, I decided something.
I was going to be in his bed before the night ended.
He just didn’t know it yet…