“Bet!” He headed back onstage, and I felt Noa’s presence before I saw her.
“Oh my God, that was so good!” Her arms wrapped around me, and mine around her. I made sure I was supporting her legs and lifted her into the air. Naturally, she wrapped her legs around my waist. “Did I just hear Money invite you to the studio?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
“Oh my God! That’s huge.”
“Big!” Jess cosigned as everyone crowded around me. “Don’t even try to say you’re not going… I know you.” Jess pointed her finger at me and shook her head.Am I going? Was I really ready to record again?
“I told him I’ll think about it.”
“Quade!” everybody said in unison.
“I’m just playing. I’ma go, but if I don’t like the tracks, I’m not hopping on nothing.”
“That’s what I like to hear.” Noa swooned in my ear. “I’m so proud of you.”
“You proud of me, baby?” I kissed her lips and started walking us toward the exit, her body still wrapped around mine.
“More than proud,” she whispered. I hadn’t felt this good in so long. In the past, I’d ended shows with random women, late-night partying, and liquor. But this? This was different.
“You show me tonight.” I said it low enough for only her ears.
“Mmhmm,” she hummed, and I felt her cute little smirk against my neck. If this was the kind of love I’d get at the finish line, I’d pop out at a thousand concerts. Shit, I’d headline my own as long as Noa was my prize at the end.
“Why you ain’t tellme that man was Quae Lo?” Marcie yelled from across the brunch table. We were spending our Sunday morning at brunch, celebrating Jess’s engagement, while the men were at the studio. In an effort to reunite with my friend, I’d invited Marcie to join us. Brunch with my sister, my man’s sister, and my friend was new, but lately, new had been feeling good.
“No she didn’t.” Teagan grinned, and everyone stared at me.
“Don’t look at me like that,” I muttered, trying to fight back the smirk on my face.
“Nah, I’m looking exactly how I’m supposed to be looking at you ’cause Quae Lo? Noa, really?” Marci cocked her head to the side. “You had me staring that man upside his head, trying to figure out who he was.”
“My bad, girl. He didn’t want to be in the spotlight.” My hand flew up to my mouth, and laughter spilled out.
“Girl, I was staring at him the whole night like, why he look familiar? And then boom, this morning, I see him on my FYP page performing with YFN Money, pointing the mic at Noa,… and my mouth was on the floor.”
“That’s funny.” Jess snorted, nearly choking on a strawberry from her fruit bowl.
“So what’s the tea? Are you dating Mr. Money Up, Mr. Quae Got Next?” Marcie asked.
“That’s my future brother-in-law,” Teagan interjected before I could respond, and Marcie squealed.
“So what happened towe just friends?” She made air quotes. “That was what, two weeks ago?” As crazy as it sounded, we were just friends when I ran into her at the art show.
“To be fair, we weren’t dating then. It kind of happened that night.”
“By happened, she means she rode his dick so good it sent her ass into a flare the next morning.”
“Mmmph! Y’all were eye fucking each other in 5K that night, so I’m not surprised,” Marcie added, and the whole table burst into laughter.
I could barely breathe from giggling, but I still managed a weak, “Tea, please.”
“Nope,” she said with her fork waving in the air. “She had me worried about her the next morning, talking about she hurting. I was thinking her lupus flared up because of the art show. Nah, her fast ass just couldn’t handle the dick!”
“Let everyone at this table note, I can handle the dick just fine. Thank you very much.” We all burst into laughter again.
“That man is fine and famous, and I don’t even blame you.” Marcie high-fived me from across the table.
