Page 121 of Perfect Rhythm

I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket, and I stepped away to answer it.

“What’s up, O? Yo, how your ass throwing a listening party atyourclub and you not even in town?”

“Some shit came up,” he shot back. “Everything straight though? My staff handling shit like they supposed to?”

“Yeah, everything’s running smooth.”

“Aight, cool.” He cleared his throat, hesitating a little. “Skye still staying with Nyx? I tried hitting her up earlier to check on her, but she didn’t answer.”

“Yeah. She’s good. I saw her before we came here.”

“Cool, cool. Her ass probably fell asleep.”

I smirked, wanting to say something slick about him having so much concern about a woman he’d only fucked. But I let it slide.

“I still can’t believe Mecca’s bitch ass waited until I left to put his hands on her like that,” he snapped. “I wish he would’ve pulled that shit while I was there. His ass would’ve got the full experience of these hands.”

I sucked my teeth. “You wouldn’t have stopped at just your hands.”

“Damn right. They’d still be wiping brain fragments off the walls.”

“And I would be talking to you from a jail cell right now.”

“Oh well. That’s just the way shit goes sometimes.”

I froze, caught off guard by the way he was talking.

Ocean? Talking like that over a woman he barely knew? That shit was unheard of. Something deeper was brewing under the surface. But I didn’t dare ask. If he was feeling something for Skye, he’d never admit to it. He’d choke it down until it disappeared.

“So, are you heading back this way this weekend?”

“Nah, it’ll probably be a minute before I get back down there. Got too much shit to take care of here.”

I didn’t bother asking for details. I knew he was purposely keeping his distance.

“Bet. Well, I’ll catch up with you later.” I glanced down at the stage as the lights kicked on. “I think shit’s about to get started.”

A wave of noise erupted from the main entrance. At first, I thought it was because Noni G had hit the stage, but I was wrong.

Dead wrong.

My eyes widened at the sight of Mecca strolling into the building like he was everything the party had been missing.

“What the fuck is this nigga doing here?” I growled.

“Who?” Ocean questioned.

“Mecca.”

He went silent for a second.

“What the fuck? I thought his ass was in jail.”

“Shit, so did I.” I dragged a hand down the back of my head and looked at Nyx.

Her face said everything. Eyes burning with a rage I could feel from across the room.

Before Ocean could get another word in, I ended the call.