Chapter 5 Valleigh
VALLEIGH
“Ooh, Friend! It’s thick in here!” Tau yelled over the bass from the club speakers.
We’d just made it to Dreamz Nightclub in Omar, and the entire city was in the building because Symphony was there.
Omar was only the next city over, so the drive wasn’t long.
Sym had sent a car to pick us up, so the distance wasn’t even an issue for real.
It was not my scene in the slightest; however, I told Symphony I would go.
Tauri was always down to be seen, so my girl was dressed and at my door with a bottle of tequila nearly two hours early.
The liquor coursing through my veins had me at ease, but not enough to fully let down my defenses.
I searched the sections for Sym, but crazily enough, even in a crowd full of people, I smelled his cologne before I saw him.
He had a smile on his face when he broke through the crowd.
Seeing him be so happy to see me made me smile too.
He opened his arms, and I walked straight into them like it was where I was born to be.
“You look good,” he whispered in my ear.
“Thank you, Sym. You do too.” When he released me, I turned toward Tau. She stood there, watching us with a goofy ass grin. I knew I was going to hear about this when we were alone. “You remember Tauri?”
He nodded. “Ain’t no way y’all still friends. That’s some rare shit among the female species these days.”
Tauri tossed an arm over my shoulder. “’Cause these hos ain’t loyal. This forever with us though.”
He came on the other side of me and took my hand. He lifted it to his lips before placing the sweetest kiss on it. My entire body melted when I looked into his sincere eyes. “Hate to break it to you, but you gotta share her now. I need my time too.”
Tau tapped her chin. “We’ll see about that. You might up and disappear again for another eleven years,” she said, being shady.
Sym held his chest with a gaped mouth as if he was offended by her accusation. “Tau, shut up and bring your egg-head ass on. And don’t be over here being messy either.”
Tau feigned innocence. “Who, me? Messy?” she drawled dramatically.
Sym nodded once. “Yes, you. I remember your ass being the troublemaker of this little duo. Leigh is the double, and you’re the trouble for sure.”
She laughed with a shimmy. “Happy to know I left an impression.”
We all laughed at her silliness. He kept his grip on my hand while clearing the way for us to maneuver through the crowd easily.
Before we entered the section, Tau leaned forward to whisper in my ear.
“Sisss! You better be careful, or you’re going to be fucking him tonight.
” Almost on cue, Gunna’s “WGFT” began to play, turning the club up.
“Ayyyeee! See, it’s a sign.” Tau pointed at me and hollered out, “She getting fucked tonight!”
I was so thankful the club was dark, or else everyone would’ve known how flushed I was.
Why would she put a spotlight on me like that?
To make matters worse, Sym wrapped his free arm around my waist. The other one held an expensive bottle of cognac by the neck.
“You getting fucked tonight, Leigh?” he inquired in a dangerously low voice.
I smirked while tossing my hair over my shoulder. I shrugged while looking at him with a challenge buried in my eyes. “I could be. Depends on if it’s slim pickings in here tonight or not.”
Sym sucked his teeth and released me. “On my crazy-ass mama, I’ll air this bitch out about that, Leigh. Please don’t play with me, baby.”
I popped him in the chest with a frown. “Sym! That’s not funny.
” I shook my head and lowered my voice so only he could hear me.
“Don’t talk about your mama like that,” I warned.
Because of our history, I knew things about his mother that most people didn’t.
Ms. Tamika would always be a sensitive topic, and he knew it, but the alcohol had him tripping.
When he realized I was serious, he wiped the smile from his face. He held his hands up in surrender, bottle still clutched tightly. “A’ight, a’ight. You right. That was too far. My bad. I’m just a little drunk already, baby.”
He was tossing that baby word around, and each time, it added fuel to the fire already burning in my core.
It quite literally sounded like one of the lyrics to a song of his.
I tilted my head to the side, admiring his gingerbread complexion.
With a quick step, I closed the distance between us when I pressed my breasts into his chest. Gripping his chin, I pulled his mouth closer to me.
His facial hair tickled me more than his breath did.
“Well, you better not get too drunk, or you’re going to miss your opportunity to taste me.”
“Shiddd,” he mumbled with his eyes stretched to the max. That seemed to capture his full attention. He set the bottle of liquor on the table so fast that you would’ve thought it was on fire. “Bet I won’t sip another drop in this muthafucka tonight.”
Now that he wasn’t blocking my view of the section, I immediately picked up on the jealous stares and hushed whispers among the other women who were already there. Tau danced her way up behind me, taking notice of the energy almost instantly.
“They might as well hang a picture of you on the walls, best friend! You’re all anybody can look at tonight!” she boasted loud enough for everyone to hear.
My cheeks were on fire when Sym pulled me against the front of his body.
He stared deeply into my eyes with a gaze both heavy and low.
He began to sway us from side to side. His nose nuzzled in the crook of my neck was comforting.
I wrapped my arms around his neck, giving myself permission to be in the moment and not in my head, and just like that, the world slipped away, leaving only me and Symphony.
“I’m so happy you came,” he told me. He cupped my chin, then ran a finger down my lip, making me smile.
“I am too. I am proud of you, Symphony. You’ve always had a beautiful voice. It’s truly amazing what you have been able to accomplish at such a young age.”
He chuckled with a slight shake of his head. “Damn, that’s the first time you’ve allowed yourself to acknowledge that I’m him. Thank you. I really appreciate that, baby.”
In tandem, I sighed as my hand went to his cheek. “You have to stop calling me baby,” I warned him.
He smirked slyly, rubbing small circles on my chin with the pad of his thumb. “Why, baby?”
“Because I’m going to get delusional.”
I swore, that man hollered like a psycho, and suddenly, we were back in the club with everyone’s eyes on us.
“It’s about damn time. You’re not being delusional fast enough, if you ask me, and that’s saying a lot, ’cause I never let a woman get close to me.
But you . . .” He shook his head as his voice trailed off.
I wanted to chase whatever was at the end of his statement, but what came out of his mouth next was just as satisfying.
“You wanna go to the courthouse and get married tomorrow?”
Without thinking, my head began to nod. “Yes, I do.”
Sym’s face broke out into a panty-soaking smile. “Oh shit, I’m pretty sure I’m in love with yo’ ass.”
He scooped me up and sat down with me right on his lap.
Then we were kissing . . . I’m not talking about a little peck that only lasted half a second.
No, . . . I’m talking about the kind of kiss that people found both intriguing and repulsive while being unable to look away.
Ask me how I know? When we finally broke away from each other, there were a variety of expressions on the faces of everyone in the section.
“Mind y’all fuckin business! Me and my girl getting married tomorrow!” Sym yelled out, making me slap a hand over my mouth to hold in my laugh. He turned his attention back to me and grinned. “Don’t pay them no mind, baby. They don’t know what real love looks like.”
I shook my head and used the back of my hand to check his temperature. “You are not right in the head,” I teased Sym, but I got the eerie feeling someone was watching me. Glancing over my shoulder, I spotted one of the girls in the section sporting a deep scowl.
She was obviously the Instagram-model type, but everything was just too . . . big. The lips, the teeth, the titties, even the ass while she sat down made me very uncomfortable. No one needed to have that much for a man to lust over. Whatever issue she had was her own, so I paid her dust.
My attention fell on Tauri bouncing her ass like an expert. She never needed anyone else to have a good time. With a grin, I leaned forward to beatbox her ass cheeks. “You see it moving, best friend?” she jokingly asked.
“Chudaiii,” I replied, and we both fell out laughing.
My head snapped to the right when a voice I didn’t recognize spoke up. “Ayeee, bounce that ass just like your friend do.”
It was the same hating-ass girl who wouldn’t give me my face back. I twisted my lips to the side, giving her a deadpan expression because, girl, puhlease . . . “I’m not my friend. I have a mind of my own, and it couldn’t fathom bouncing my ass for attention. Seems more like your speed, babe.”
Her head jerked back, and those eyes rolled to the back of her head. I was surprised they didn’t get stuck to the thick clumps of glue along her lash line. “Oh, girl, please. Sym loves bitches who shake their asses. Be for real.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at that one. Little did she know, Sym would lose his mind if I put on a show for these people.
“I’m sorry. I can’t relate. I’ve never had to shake my ass to get Symphony’s attention.
But like you said, that’s something bitches do.
” I flipped my hair over my shoulder and shrugged. “And I’m far from that.”
Tauri noticed the exchange and cleared the distance between us quickly. “You got a problem, ho? My friend might not fight, but I’ll dog walk your ass from here to Chinatown just for fun. Jump stupid if you want to.”