Page 141 of Love U Down II

“You good?” Rome hit me on the shoulder and I looked over in time to see him flash his gun.

Ol’ dude scoffed and waved us off before limping toward one of his long necked, big bobble headed ass friends.

“That nigga still limping from when you shot him in the foot and got the nerve to act the way he does?” Rome asked in genuine confusion.

“I bet he knows not to try me a third fucking time.” I let my shirt go.

“You want me to put him on a T-shirt?” Shade asked as he walked up behind us, a bottle of water in hand.

“That’s between you and Genie.”

“Yeah, okay.” He scoffed.

“Mind your business,” Rome warned.

“I hear you.” He took another drink from his water and all three of us turned around when the crowd erupted into even louder screaming.

We moved closer to the stage and found Kevo playing the guitar and singing into the microphone with his guitarist.

Two songs later he was coming off stage and Genie was running out.

I didn’t have a single regret about anyone I’d signed. They’d all shown up and shown out. Besides technical issues during Rome and Merch’s set, everything had gone well and I was proud of what they’d put out.

I made my way over to Myome and threw an arm around her. She melted into my side and we watched most of the performance together.

“Wish me luck.” Myome bounced on her feet when Genie only had three songs left.

“You don’t need luck,” I reminded her. “You’ve got this. You’re a natural.”

“Thank you.” She tiptoed to kiss me then scurried off so she could have her earpiece and shit properly hooked up and connected.

When she made it onto the stage, I damn near followed her out. I stood right outside of the stage view but as close as I could get. I wasn’t sure why she was ever worried. She was a natural. She’d been a natural since I’d met her.

She looked amazing on stage and sounded beautiful. It was obvious, to me at least, that her confidence was back in full swing. I’d never seen Myome take a stage this size by herself but she looked like she was meant to be up there. My eyes stayed on her the entire performance and I jumped when Chandler tapped my shoulder.

“What’s up?” I responded without looking at her.

“You need to get your mic put on.”

“Shit.” I looked at my watch and nodded.

I’d lost track of time watching Myome perform.

I still watched her a little longer before dragging myself away. I let the tech put my earpiece on and took a sip of water while I waited for my cue.

Taking the stage with Myome was a different kind of high I wasn’t sure I’d been ready for. The chemistry we had in ourregular lives translated well on stage. We moved around each other without thinking about it. I stole random touches from her as we passed each other. She mouthed the lyrics to my rap as I performed, and when I wasn’t rapping, I was smiling like a goofy ass nigga.

When she finished our song, I grabbed her hand before she could exit the stage, yanked her in, and kissed her to the sound of the crowd cheering.

She winked at me as she took two steps backwards before spinning around.

“Give it up again for Myome King!” I grinned as the crowd cheered, adjusted my earpiece, licked my lips, and looked out at the crowd as my instrumental started to play.

The performance was easy. I spent a fourth of my allotted time performing songs from my first album and another fourth of good collaborations before I went into the songs doing the best on my latest album.

When I finished, I was more excited about the thought of going on tour. I made a beeline for Myome while I jerked my earpiece out and we hugged briefly.

“Trill Loyalty!” I called for my artists. “Let me holla’ at y’all!” I made the come here gesture and waited patiently for everyone to gather. “I want to start off by saying thank you to B. Lynn, Chamari, and Bino. I appreciate y’all coming out and looking out. Thank you.” I waited while the label cheered. “I also want to say y’all did great tonight. There were a few of y’all I had concerns about, especially our newest artists,”—I gestured to the rock group—“I know the turnaround time was crazy but thank you for jumping in and killing it. All of y’all did the label good. Y’all made me proud and I appreciate you putting your trust in me, my wife, and our team.” I smiled. “This is just the beginning. Soak up this feeling and spend the next week doing what you dobest, reveling in this win and focusing on the music,” I grinned. “Now get out there and show y’all supporters a lil love.”