28. Wyn #2
Two chews of this menthol gum have me relaxing immediately, and I lock my phone and toss it onto the counter.
I’m Wynter Snow. I’m a lot of things, but insecure has never been one of them.
“Why she got on sunglasses if she ain’t high?!”
“Because, nigga, sunglasses are a part of the ‘fit! Back up, Shaka. You know you supposed to stay sixty yards away from me!”
“Can’t no fuckin’ court tell me where I can and cannot go, Dori. Dead that shit now.”
“I’ll dead you–”
“This is a lot. And I’ve avoided Reemie long enough. Let me know how everything goes.” YT pulls me into a hug before slipping out of my hotel room.
Leaving me with G$.
Red throws his arm over my shoulder and leads me out of the room next.
His locs are crinkly from the two-strand twists and hang in his face, and he doesn’t have on a shirt under his jean jacket, so his boxers are out, too.
I’m tempted to give him a wedgie as I curl my arm around his waist and lean into him.
“You sure you not on shit?”
I look up at him from my cute new slim rectangular sunglasses. “I’m literally clenching my ass cheeks to avoid sharting on myself, so trust me, I couldn’t drink if I wanted to.”
He grins at me, pulling on the skimpy chin hairs that probably just started growing in. “You nervous for no reason, Twin. You gon’ kill this shit, then I can announce you finna be on my new single, and I’ma act like I took you from Coach.”
Our security surrounds us as we make it to the elevator. Red glances at the big burly men before grinning back at me. “You used to this shit huh?”
I shrug. “You’ll get used to it, too.”
“Nah. Security make it seem like I’m pussy.”
Red’s snatched so fast that the wind blows through my hair. Grime yokes him up as the elevator doors open.
“Nigga, ya whole crew scattered and you hiding out with ya big brother’s peoples. You are pussy. Now shut the fuck up and chill.” He throws Red into the elevator and I step on with two guards, Tripp, and Dori.
“You gon’ learn to shut that big ass mouth of yours. We almost got a deal worked out with the Russians, and I don’t need you fucking up more and sending Pops and your moms to an early grave.”
I slide next to Red, who’s fuming. “You gon’ tell me what you did?” I fake whisper.
That disarms him, and once again he pulls me close. “You look at me like Trin did. Like I could do no wrong. I want you to stay like that forever, Twin. You don’t need to know any different.”
Tripp scoffs, but when I catch his gaze in the mirror on the door, he shows me all thirty-two of his teeth.
When the doors open, Titan is in the lobby, flanked by two women and his own security guards.
One of the women can barely stay still, grabbing Titan’s hand as she cheeses at me, her head swiveling between us.
She’s tiny like Patience, with a cloud of blue and green hair pulled into two puff balls on her head.
Even from far away, I can see the intricate lines drawn on her face.
She’s gorgeous, and even though she looks nothing like Titan, I know that’s his daughter.
When we get closer, I see I know the other woman with him. My stomach drops, just for a second, before my lips spread, hiding the images of the bitch fucking my nigga all the times she thought she was getting over on me.
Titan’s in another suit, and our respective guards fan out as we reach him. He’s about to say something before his daughter screeches and jumps in front of me.
“This red hairrrrrrrrrrr!” Without a second thought, she bumps Red out of the way and takes my hands in hers.
Her energy is unreal. I literally feel the positivity radiating off her, downloading into me from our joined hands.
“You look so good. I was so hoping you’d kick all your habits. We need more affirmations rap! Thank you again for performing at my birthday. You were my first choice, so this works out.” She squeezes my hands before glancing behind her at Titan, who practically melts at her attention.
“Thank you again, Daddy.” She giggles before turning back forward and pulling me into a hug.
“Damn, Gaia. Nice to see you, too,” Red spits from our sides.
“Don’t mind him. It’s an honor to perform for your birthday.” I hug her back, before she leaves the embrace and turns to Red.
“See, Tron. You weren’t invited, and yet, you found a way to come to my birthday anyway. Daddy, this is the boy who said–”
“Maaaaan, you trippin’ girl. I’ma go to our section. Happy birthday, Gaia.” Red produces a velvet box from his back pocket before skidaddling with the rest of G$, including a cackling Grime. Gaia catches it midair, and places it in the pocket of her wrap dress before shrugging.
“Wynter Snow, this is my fiancée Porscha.”
My smile turns saccharine as I take my former best friend in.
Money truly does elevate everyone, with her full bundles and Donna Karan dress clinging to her frame.
We lost touch when she went away to school, but now I know she was distancing herself to fuck with Rico.
A man she told me was beneath me, once upon a time.
“Me and Porsch go way back. Nice to see you again, girl.” I lean in for a hug. She’s surprised, but takes it in stride, a small smile forming on her red lips.
“Rico told me all about how y’all fucked,” I whisper into her ear, kissing her cheek. She freezes, so I lean back and move to her other cheek. “I’ma put it on your nigga so good, he’ll want a mold of my pussy. Then we’ll be even.”
I kiss her other cheek, then step back. Either I wasn’t whispering, or Gaia was entirely too close, because the way her eyes are nearly falling out of her head, I know she heard me.
Her arms curl around mine and she leads me toward the elevators that lead to the club.
I lean over to apologize, but her smile is back and it’s genuine.
“I hate her. I don’t know what Daddy sees in her, so if you do take him from her and become my new mom, you have my support.”
“Unfortunately, I don’t think I can be your new mom. I was just talking big shit. But I’ll try and break them up another way, and then you can find him someone who isn’t a slore.”
“Deal.” Gaia beams at me, and we’re joined at the elevator by more security.
We crowd the elevator, and once we go down to the floor where Delphi is, an instrumental of my song Girlypop vibrates the space.
My cheeks begin to hurt; this being one of Gaia’s favorite songs definitely tracks.
As soon as the doors open, she pulls me out, barely keeping inside the bubble the security makes for us.
Someone with an earpiece hands me a microphone in the dark corridor, and another person hands me some earpieces.
We had a soundcheck briefly some hours ago, but nothing like it should have been. This reminds me of the underground shows at kickbacks and hole-in-the-walls Shad would take me to in Northupton. Where all that mattered was the music, even if it was scratchy.
“You coming up on stage with me, right? I can’t do this without you.”
Gaia nods, fiddling with her own ear pieces.
I nod and turn on the mic. “Ay, Gaia.”
She leans over and grins. “Yeah, Wynter?”
I pull the mic back to my mouth. The black out curtains just ahead of us are pulled open, and I see little glimpses of the packed out club.
“I heard the coldest is back in the city.”
Gaia’s hand covers mine as she leans up. “Yup. Wynter Snow came back just for my birthday.”
We walk into the club, and I freeze, just for a second.
It really is packed out.
Earlier, I noticed it was modeled like we really were on top of Olympus. Now, purple lights obscure the blue sky walls and ceilings. Dancers are in the cages, covered in glow in the dark paint. And hundreds of fans screamed for me, and for Gaia.
That quickly, I lock back in, and the actual song begins to play as Gaia leads us through the crowd onto the stage.
I lose myself in performing. It’s only five songs, Gaia’s favorites, reconned from her social media, but she stays on stage, rapping every song word for word until I signal for her to have a mic as well.
The crowd loves it. I can tell who her friends are and who are people who bought tickets, but no one is as loud as my section.
As the last song ends, I hug Gaia to me. “Thank you so much!” she screams into my ear. “You sure you can’t be my new mom?!”
Laughter bursts out of me. “No, crazy. But we are definitely homegirls for life.”
“Fine, I’ll take it.” Security guides us off the stage as the DJ begins to play a mix. We hug one more time before she goes off with her friends, and I’m pulled from one person to the next, congratulating me on a job well done.
By the look from Sheisty, my spot as First Lady is more than secured, and I’m basically floating to the table that has ice water and juice.
But when I finally clear everyone, I stop in my tracks, as someone I didn’t think would be here stands to his full height.
His sunglasses cover his eyes, since they’ll be black for a while, but I still feel the heat coming from behind them. I bypass the table entirely, slipping into his arms.
He curls them around me so that there’s nothing but pesky clothes between us. Everything, the music, my friends and labelmates, these damn neon lights, it falls away. Even Porscha, whose glare I feel even from across the room.
“You’re here,” I project my raspy voice into his ear. He nods his head against me as his hand slides down to my asscheek, cupping it before squeezing. My pussy starts leaking immediately.
He shifts me, so that his hard dick is poking my lower belly, and I grin, happy that I’m not the only one affected.
“Had to come see my favorite rapper do her shit.”
My fingers link on the back of his neck. “I’m your favorite rapper?” God, I hate how, even though scratchy from performing, I sound so soft. Soft like winter snow.
Both of his hands massage the globes of my ass. “You my favorite everything, Snow.”