Chapter Seven
Rhythm When I looked up and saw Channing standing in front of me, I just knew my night was about to get interesting.
His friend had already come to claim Nique, and my girl was living her best life with him on the dance floor.
I’d opted to rest my feet for a moment. We’d been lit all by ourselves in our VIP section since we’d made it here, and I needed a break.
“You mind if I have a seat?” he asked.
My eyes slowly perused his tall, muscular frame. He had a fresh line up, and his beard was neatly trimmed. His striking brown eyes were slightly hooded, telling me that he was either a little intoxicated or he’d been smoking.
Tonight, he was dressed in all black from head to toe. He had to be the finest caramel coated man I’d ever laid eyes on. He easily towered over my shorter frame.
His hair was cut low and so was the beard encasing those full, clit sucking lips of his. Both of his arms and hands were fully tatted as well as his neck.
From what I could see, he seemed to have a chest piece too. Minimal gold jewelry added to his ensemble. He wasn’t flashy or over the top. A man this fine didn’t need to do much to still be fine and stand out.
I waved a hand at the empty seat and crossed my legs. I didn’t miss his eyes traveling the length of my exposed thigh.
“I see your girl and my boy hit it off,” he noted, easing down next to me.
“Nique loves to dance, and your boy has been lit all night.”
He chuckled. “That nigga is drunk. He can’t be still.”
“Let him enjoy himself.”
“Are you enjoying yourself?”
I shrugged. “It’s been decent. It has served its purpose for tonight.”
“And what’s that?”
“A distraction.”
“What do you need to be distracted from?”
I giggled. “Aren’t you nosy.”
“I mean, you put it out there. I’m just making conversation, love. You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to.”
I sighed. “Life… it’s been kicking my ass, and I needed a break.”
“Is it that bad?”
“It’s not the end of the world… more like the end of an era. I’m okay though. At the end of the day, I know who and what I am. I can put on my big girl panties and carry on.”
That was the line I’d been telling myself for weeks now, carry on. I had to move like I wasn’t hurting because, at the end of the day, what was crying all damn day going to do for me?
I continued to talk to Channing for a bit. When he started flirting with me, I kept a cool head, but inside, I was sweating bullets. My hormones were raging as his eyes trailed my frame. I needed something to distract me, so I asked him to dance. Music had a way of transporting me. I could be in my zone and block him out.
Mistake number one.
The dance floor was packed. We were damn near chest to chest with people. Still, we found a spot, and when the DJ dropped the beat to “Touchin’” by Honey Bxby—that was my shit—I immediately threw my hands up and started winding my hips. I felt his hands on my hips. For someone whose friend said he didn’t dance, he was winding his hips like a pro, catching my rhythm.
I found myself turning to face him and wrapping my arms around his waist. He was solid. Beneath his clothes, I imagined he had the type of body I’d want pressed against mine without them.
That was mistake number two.
When our eyes locked, I couldn’t force myself to look away from him. He pulled me in closer, and that was when I felt the hardness pressed against me, causing the corners of my mouth to lift. He leaned in and spoke into my ear.
“Why you looking at me like that, ma?”
I swallowed hard. “Looking at you like what?”
“You know what I’m talking about. Ask for it… I might let you have it.”
My eyes widened, and I blushed as I bit my lip. Our movements had come to a halt, and now we were just standing there, looking at each other. I felt flustered. My temperature was rising, and suddenly, there were too many people around.
Channing waited for an answer. He’d arrogantly offered himself to me under the premise that he might let me have him. Any other time, it might have been a turn off. Tonight… with him… I almost wanted to give in and go against every moral I had.
“A closed mouth don’t get fed,” he reminded me.
My pussy was screaming, Whatchu gon’ do, sis?
Before I did something I might regret in the morning, I backed away and hightailed it after telling him I needed to use the bathroom. I locked myself in the stall until I could gather my bearings. I sent Nique a text, telling her to meet me at the back door because we had to go.
She wasn’t happy about leaving and met me with a frown on her face. I ignored it as we stepped outside. It was just my luck that as we hit the parking lot, there was Channing and his friend. Our eyes met momentarily before I ducked off down the row I was parked in, praying he didn’t follow. We climbed into my car, and I hurriedly left the parking lot.
“Girl, why did you rush us out of there?” Nique complained as we drove back to the hotel.
“Bitch, I had to get away from that man,” I said, fanning myself.
“What man? Did somebody touch you?”
“No, nobody touched me. I’m talking about Channing.”
“The fine nigga with all the tattoos that stopped you when we walked in?”
“Yes.”
“What did he do?”
“He had me hot and bothered, that’s what he did.”
She laughed obnoxiously. “You ran from the club because the man made you horny?”
“It ain’t that funny, Nique. We were dancing, and I could be mistaken, but I was sure that wasn’t a gun pressed against me.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Was it big?”
I giggled. “It definitely was.”
“You should have taken it for a test drive.”
“I don’t know that man! Besides, I’m newly single. The last thing I need is to be getting over one man by getting under another.”
It had been a full two weeks since I left the home I shared with Raheem. After he showed up at my hotel last week, I ended up changing rooms for a double room. While I enjoyed having Nique with me, somewhere in between the last time I saw her and now, my girl developed a snore, and I couldn’t take that shit in my ear. While I missed the private pool, the room we had now was just as beautiful.
With Nique here, I felt so much better. She never let me be a sad bitch for too long, if at all. I hadn’t been on social media, and I’d blocked Raheem from contacting me. There was a slight sense of peace in that. The less I saw or heard from him, the less I would see or hear shit to further upset me.
The first few days of her being here, I’d taken off work. It was a much- needed mini staycation. All we did was eat, drink, and roam around the city. Even though we said we’d look at apartments, it hadn’t happened yet. I was enjoying the amenities of the hotel anyway, although the restaurant downstairs was going to have me trying to unbig my back. The food was so good, and I sometimes overindulged in its goodness.
“Did you at least have fun tonight?” Nique asked.
“I did. This definitely took me back to our college days. You remember how wild those parties used to get?”
She laughed. “Chile, we used to be hell. Don’t let them play our song and everybody got to strolling.”
Nique and I entered Greek life our sophomore semester, and every chance we got to stroll with our line sisters or the bruhs, we were right there. It was a wonder that either of us could walk in heels at this point with all the hopping and jumping we used to do in them.
Nique grinned. “You know, Channing was giving those dawg vibes. I can see him hitting that nasty neck roll. Imagine if that man put you on his shoulders.”
“Girl, please shut up!”
I laughed, but the truth was, in the short time I danced with that man, I imagined him having me several ways. The height difference between us as the hardness of his dick pressed right up against me caused thoughts of us in different positions to flood my mind. Not only was he fine as hell, but he smelled so damn good.
When he pulled me close, it took everything in me not to wrap a leg around his waist and off myself right there on the dance floor. Everybody would have borne witness to the dry humping I fought against. The way he looked at me told me he would fuck the shit outta me if I let him.
When I excused myself to the bathroom, I found the seat of my thong soaked. I had to take them off and trash them. That was when I knew I had to get the hell out of there. If I’d gone back to that man, there was no telling what might have happened, and I’d never been one to fuck on a stranger.
My attraction to him was absolutely insane to me. Maybe it was the fact that I hadn’t been intimate with Raheem in months. He’d been pissing me off so bad that I just hadn’t been in the mood to have sex with him.
Sex wouldn’t fix what was wrong with us. I didn’t trust him. I didn’t trust that he wasn’t out here sticking his dick in somebody else, especially a bitch he’d been parading around in my face. That was the curtain call on our relationship, and his little proposition was the benediction. “Is that everything?” Nique asked as she looked around my bedroom.
I was teary eyed as I looked around as well. I couldn’t believe I was moving out. I hadn’t returned home since the night I left. Things between Raheem and me were done, and it was time for me to officially move out.
I chose today because I knew he’d be out of town for a show. I didn’t have to worry about him being here or coming home while I was trying to move. It would only lead to yet another argument or him trying to convince me to stay.
Since I’d blocked him and changed hotel rooms, he’d been leaving messages on my voicemail at work, begging and begging. His words weren’t lining up with his actions though.
Against my better judgment, I went looking on the gossip blogs.
There was still shit about him and Lady Lingo being put out, and he did nothing to alleviate the rumors. He seemed to be eating up the attention. Social media was flooded with pictures of them in the studio or the club appearances. They always looked real cozy and shit.
Before she joined his label, none of this shit had been an issue. He worked with female artists before. He’d been photographed with them before, and they had never been inappropriate. Yet, there was something about him and this girl that just rubbed me the wrong way.
He told me I was seeing what I wanted to see. Why the fuck would I want to see the man I loved be all over another woman? Make it make sense. I was mentally and emotionally drained. My worst fear of moving out here was coming true. Before I got any deeper in my feelings, I felt it was best to just leave the relationship altogether.
All that was left to do was pack my belongings and gather the dignity I had left. If he wanted to fully submerge himself into this toxic lifestyle, he’d have to do it without me. By the time he returned from his gig, it would look like I was never here. Part of me wanted to be petty and fuck up his shit, but my heart wouldn’t let me.
“That’s it,” I said softly. “At least I think it is. At this point, I don’t care.”
Nique came over and wrapped her arms around me. The moment they encased me, I broke.
“It’s okay, boo,” she said, squeezing me. “You’re doing what’s best for you.”
“Then why do I feel like this?”
“Because you love him. It’s gonna hurt for a while, but you’ll bounce back.”
“Was I wrong, Nique? Should I have just been the stereotypical rapper girlfriend and be his arm candy?”
She frowned as she pulled away from me.
“Hell no. You are your own woman, Rhythm. I haven’t met a man yet that is worth wrapping your entire identity up in. It doesn’t matter how much you love someone. You should never have to change who you are to fit in their life.”
“I know. He wasn’t always like this. Or maybe he was, and I didn’t notice it because I wasn’t there with him. When he used to come see me before we started dating, he did everything in his power to make sure that I was comfortable and not overwhelmed with the parameters of his success. He toned it down to get me, and now that I’m here, it’s like I’m on his turf. Either play along or get left behind. I left a comfortable life to be here, Nique. I left my family and moved across the country for a fucking man that wants me to be okay with him being in a fake relationship with his coworker, all for likes, views, and money.”
Monique shook her head. “I still can’t believe he asked you that shit. The Raheem we grew up with was humble. I don’t know who the fuck he is now.”
“I know who he is. He’s Prince Cole. He’s trying to fully submerge himself into this lifestyle, Nique. It’s not gonna happen at my expense. If I have to start over, then so be it.”
“Well, at least I’ll be there with you.”
“Right, at least you’ll be—wait, what?”
“I’m moving. I was planning to surprise you. That was one of the main reasons I was coming out here. I’d already scoped out a place and put a deposit down. I just wanted to see it in person. I got the keys the other day while you were at work, and my job has taken care of my transfer!”
“Oh my God! Nique!”
I pulled her in for a hug. If things had to be ending, I was happy to have her here with me.
Nique laughed as I rocked her back and forth. “I take it you’re happy?”
“Happy isn’t the word!”
She smiled as she pulled away from me. “And I have a two bedroom. You are more than welcome to stay. I miss you, Rhythm. It doesn’t have to be permanent. I know we’ll both want our space and privacy, eventually. It would be nice to have back some of the time I’ve missed with my bestie, though.”
I nodded in agreement. “It would be. I’d love to stay. Only for a while though. You might meet a man, and I’m not trying to hear him clapping your cheeks.”
“And you know this ass is gonna clap!”
She bent over and started twerking, causing me to laugh. Of course, I had to hype my girl up and give her ass a playful smack. I really did miss her, and I knew it would be great having her here. She was just the person I needed to help me through this. I may have been smiling right now, but my heart was very much hurting.