Page 3 of Perfect Rhythm

NYX

I slid down in my seat at the terminal, eyes heavy, head throbbing. All I could think about was how I couldn’t wait to be several feet in the air, unconscious and far away from everything.

“Girllllllllll,” Skye sang as she plopped down in the seat next to me. “Have you looked at the blogs this morning?”

“No, I haven’t, and I don’t plan to.”

“Well, you should. Your ass is going viral... literally .”

I didn’t move an inch. I’d grown used to seeing videos of my ass shaking all over the internet. It was what the fans loved to see, and when I was on stage, I gave them what they wanted.

“Sounds like everyone enjoyed the show.”

Skye sucked her teeth. “Honey, you’re talking about the stage, and I’m talking about the damn club.” She shoved her cell phone in my face, forcing me to look at the video playing on her screen.

I sat up, my eyes widening when I finally registered what I was looking at. “Wait a minute, this isn’t from the concert.”

“Duh,” she shot back. “I thought that was obvious. I mean, don’t get me wrong, y’all killed it on stage too. But this is different. This video alone would have me convinced that you and Shade are fucking.”

I blinked hard, caught off guard by what I was seeing. “Where is this posted?”

“Honey, it’s everywhere.”

“Fuck!”

“What? You had to know this was going to go viral. Wasn’t that the point?” She smirked. “I hope this is the first thing Eli sees when his bitch ass wakes up this morning.”

I rolled my eyes at the mention of my boyfriend and reached into the pocket of my backpack for my phone. As soon as the screen lit up, I saw that I had ten missed calls, six texts, and three voicemails. Every last one of them were from Eli.

I didn’t even bother opening the messages. Getting in an argument before I boarded a flight was the last thing I wanted to do.

“Hmm...” Skye said while peeking over at my phone. “I guess it’s safe to say that he’s seen the video, huh?”

“I guess so.” I shrugged.

“Good. That’ll teach his ass. The next time he wants to be all boo’d up at a restaurant with his little soap opera friend, he’ll think twice about it.”

I rolled my eyes, the thought of seeing him sitting across the table from Nimah Watts while holding her hand, pissing me off all over again.

I shouldn’t have been surprised when the video randomly showed up in my inbox from an anonymous source.

It didn’t matter if it was morning or midnight, Bigg City always had somebody lurking around looking for drama.

I sighed. I knew I was upset last night, but I didn’t expect to wake up to video footage of me practically fucking Shade on the dance floor.

Damn . I glanced at the video again. I really took it there.

Giggling, Skye kicked her feet. “Girl, this shit is so damn sexy. Y’all look amazing. I swear, I’m in love.”

“Well, don’t be. That was me responding out of anger.”

“Girl, bye.” She looked back down at her phone, which I’d just dropped in her lap. “This is definitely giving new obsession unlocked. It’s giving...I think I’m in love. It’s giving?—”

“Okay, okay,” I said, stopping her before she could continue her little rant. I laughed. “I get it.”

“Do you? Do you really?” she said sarcastically.

“Yes, I get it. But once again, you can get this little fantasy of me and Shade out of your head. I’m not cheating on Eli.”

“Why not? He just embarrassed the hell out of you.”

“Yeah, and I just returned the favor. I’m sure he’s losing his shit after seeing me grinding all over Shade.”

“I’m sure he is, but?—”

“I’m done talking about this Skye.” I sat back in my seat and shoved my sunglasses over my eyes.

“Fine. I’m just trying to get you to your soulmate.”

“Mmhmm.”

I was done talking about last night. It was just a moment, and it was time to move past it. Besides, I’d officially decided to look at the situation as good publicity. Selling the fantasy was all the entertainment industry cared about. If the fans believed it, it was a win.

But something told me that Eli wouldn’t be as eager to see it that way. At least not when it came to me. Unfortunately for him, I didn’t give a damn, and rightfully so. I hadn’t even talked to him about the Nimah situation, and I already knew what his angle was going to be.

I smirked to myself, thinking about all the times I’d gone off on him about his off-screen antics. On more than one occasion I’d seen pictures of him looking way to fucking friendly with an actress he was working with. But every time, he swore that it was nothing, and it was just part of the job.

Eli lived for the spotlight, and he had no problem letting his on-screen persona spill into real life if it meant boosting his career. But I believed in setting boundaries, and until last night, I’d stuck to them.

“Well, well, well. What do we have here?” Skye said, her eyes glued to her phone.

Damn, what else did I do ?

I leaned over to see what she was looking at. But it wasn’t me this time. It was someone’s living room.

I scooted over a little more and zeroed in on the man who was standing in the middle of the floor. He was hugging a woman who had just walked in.

“What exactly are we looking at?” I asked. But before she could answer, my vision sharpened. “Wait a minute, is that Mecca?”

“Mmhmm. That’s exactly who it is...him and some bitch.”

I let out a loud groan. This wasn’t good at all. “How are you seeing this?”

“How do you think I’m seeing it? I have the password to his cameras.”

“Does he know that?”

Sucking her teeth, she looked at me like I was crazy. “Hell no. That would defeat the fucking purpose.” She pressed a button, and a new screen popped up, showing a different room.

This is insane. I knew my girl was crazy, but damn.

“Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen,” the gate agent’s voice came over the loudspeaker. “We are now boarding flight 2354 with service to Bigg City. We will begin boarding by zones.”

Thank God .

“Skye, stop looking at that. It’s just going to piss you off. You already know what’s about to happen.”

“Yeah, and I’m going to watch just to confirm.”

“Why?”

“Because when I go off on his ass, I want to have a good fucking reason.”

I sighed.

Given their situation, I wanted to tell her that she was wasting her time.

But that wasn’t something you could tell a woman in love.

Even though Mecca had made it clear that they weren’t in an exclusive relationship, he’d mastered the art of stringing her along and making her think that one day they would be.

I hated it, and I was constantly reminding her that he was never going to give her what she wanted.

But she didn’t believe me. Instead, she was convinced that when the time was right, things would change, and according to her, that day was right around the corner.

“So, how are you going to explain this when you confront him? He’s going to lose it if he finds out that you’ve hacked into his cameras.”

She sighed, shoulders sagging. “Damn, you’re right.

” Her gaze shifted, and I could practically hear the gears spinning in her head as she weighed her options.

“You know what? We’re just going to pop up once we make it back to the city.

I know that bitch will still be there. That nigga loves to fuck for hours. ”

I frowned at her response. I didn’t know what was worse, the fact that she wanted to just pop up at Mecca’s house, or that she was so nonchalant about him shoving his dick into another woman for hours.

I shook my head.

“Don’t do that,” she spat.

“What?”

“Don’t judge me,” she whined. “I know you don’t believe that Mecca is going to change, but I can feel it in my bones. That man knows that I’m the best thing to ever happen to him. I just have to make him see it.”

“But that’s the thing, Skye. You shouldn’t have to make him see anything. He should already know.”

“Deep down, he does.”

I parted my lips to speak but caught myself.

It was a waste of time. She’d made it clear that she was never going to hear me.

Mecca was the only voice she heard when it came to the bullshit they had going on.

But I knew he was never going to change.

He was just like every other man in the music industry.

Fucking random bitches was a sport to them, and although they loved having a main chick to go back to, they would never be satisfied with just one.

I’d accepted it, and deep down, I prayed my girl would find a way to accept it too.