Page 25 of A Little Kissing Between Friends

Although I hadn’t given her the answer she’d wanted, asking for her number brought a smile to her face.

“It’s Jackie,” she offered.

As she rattled off her digits, I typed them into my phone and jotted a quick note in the contact.

Wild ass laugh.

Satisfied that I wasn’t planning to curve her, shorty dropped a sticky kiss on my cheek and strutted off. I stared after her, full of wonderment about our entire interaction, feeling like I’d just unlocked a new level in my brain. I couldn’t wait to tell my daddy about this.

On my way back to VIP, I was stopped no less than four times by someone who either wanted to tell me how much they loved what I was doing for the city or wanted to get in the studio with me. As I told the latter to hit my DMs, I heard Xeno’s voice in my ear call me extra friendly. I’d accept that. There was no way to predict which package talent was going to arrive in, and I’d dealt with being underestimated enough in the music world to know not to do the same.

Trisha met me at the top of the stairs, pushing a shot into my hand.

“Everyone already took one. You gotta catch up.”

I eyed the brown liquid in the glass and raised an eyebrow at Xeno’s girl.

She grinned. “It’s just Coke.”

Relieved, I brought the glass to my nose and sniffed out of habit. The tell-tale notes of the cola hit me, and I quickly tossed it back. My hesitance wasn’t because I didn’t trust Trisha, but I knew all too well how easy it was to accidentally drink in environments like this one. With the low lights, it was nothing for glasses to get mixed up, or vodka to be mistaken for water or bourbon for apple juice. I handed Trisha the empty glass, and she shot me a wink before tilting her chin over her shoulder.

“Jucee was looking for you.”

Laughing at the smirk she wore during her announcement, I nodded. Jucee and I were never too far away from one another when we went out. Not even just on a buddy system type of thing, but we were always on the same vibe, so it happened that way. My mind flashed back to the dance we’d shared before she left to the bathroom. It was out of the ordinary like a muthafucka, but even then, when I rocked, she rolled. I couldn’t even explain why I’d been on her like that because that definitely hadn’t been my intention, but it felt right in the moment.

My eyes swept the section until I found her. She was off near the railing that looked over the dance floor, dancing with Mercedes and some women from a nearby section. Although each of them looked good, Jucee stood out. She was a sunflower in a field of daisies. I frowned, because why did it suddenly feel like I was seeing her for the first time? I’d had a good look at her outfit when she’d came to my house and I’ve objectively acknowledged that she looked good, but for some reason, staring at her now, watching her wind her hips under moving strobe lights, I was struck by how sexy she was.

The sheer tube dress did a masterful job of displaying all of the skin Jucee wanted to be visible, and I was entranced.

“Whatchu lookin’ at, bro?”

Xeno’s sly question was accompanied by an elbow poking me not once but twice in the ribs. Smirking, I rolled my eyes and shook my head.

“You know damn well I’m looking at the group of baddies over there.”

Dipping her head, Xeno acknowledged my words.

“You’re right, I should’ve asked who you lookin’ at? ’Cause I know damn well you ain’t staring that hard at the whole group.”

My eyebrows met as I slid my gaze over to my friend. There was something in her voice that caught my attention. A hidden message, as if she were speaking in code.

“The hell you tryna say, bro?”

Xeno laughed. “Nah, don’t play dumb. You know exactly what I’m asking you.”

I looked at her, wondering what the hell she was going on about and why she thought I knew it.

“Aight, man, you’ll tell me later, I guess.”

Leaving Xeno’s side, I approached the group of dancing women. Phones were out recording Jucee as she bent at the waist and twerked to the beat of the song while Mercedes slapped her ass a few times. She straightened and moved out of the center of the circle as another woman replaced her and started dancing. I rounded the group of women until I came to where she and Mercedes stood laughing and rocking side to side. Sliding up behind her, I dropped my chin onto her shoulder.

“You were looking for me?”

Her eyes slid over to me for a brief moment before sliding right back to Mercedes as she gave a half-shrug with one shoulder.

“I guess. That was before I saw you all booed up though. I’m good now.”

Confused, I frowned, my brows furrowing. What the hell was she talking about? “Booed up?”