Page 25 of Nothing Like Your Ex

Melo sucked his teeth as laughter filled the room. “Man, fuck y’all.”

He couldn’t even be mad at them. Roddy and Devin had been around him too long. They knew how his sessions went. Everybody talked shit and had an opinion, and somehow Melo would still manage to lay down the track. He wouldn’t want it any other way.

Grabbing a bottle of water from the mini fridge, he took a seat on the empty couch while his engineer played the song back. Checking the time on his phone, Melo shook his head at how late it had gotten. He’d originally planned to be there only a couple of hours, but he wasn’t leaving until he got it right.

There was something about creating music late at night that hit differently. He didn’t know if it was the quietness from outside that aided his pen or what. Whatever it was, Melo had always preferred working when there were fewer distractions. Although tonight, there was one distraction he couldn’t seem to shake, and he didn’t want to.

Kwinn had been heavily on his mind. She’d finally hit him up almost two weeks after he slid her his number on Instagram, and they’d been talking consistently for a week. Melo wasn’t the type of man to waste time pretending he wasn’t interested when he was, and he was feeling Kwinn.

Though they’d talked earlier in the day, Melo found himself wondering what she was doing now. That had become the norm over the last few days. He’d wake up wondering whether she’d eaten breakfast, what she had going on during the day, and never hesitated to reach out.

They’d end up talking about everything from work to music to the random shit that happened throughout their days. Melo liked talking to her more than he probably should have this early. Kwinn didn’t seem to have a problem with it, so Melo called her. He brought the phone to his ear, and she picked up after a few rings.

“Hey,” Kwinn answered with a smile evident on her face.

“What’s up, gorgeous. What you doing?”

“Working.”

He smiled. “Still?”

Kwinn chuckled. “Yes. Just going over a few designs. How’d the studio go?”

Melo told her that’s where he was when they were texting earlier, and Kwinn figured he was gone by now.

“I’m still here. We taking a quick break,” Melo replied.

“Oh. I surely thought you’d be back at home.”

Chuckling, Melo agreed, “Shit, me too. It’s all good, though. How did your important meeting go earlier?”

Kwinn stopped clicking around on her screen. A smile slowly spread across her face as she leaned back in her office chair. A few days ago, on FaceTime, she casually ran down what she had going on. Kwinn didn’t expect him to remember that today was the day of the meeting.

“It went really well. They want to move forward with the project,” Kwinn answered.

“That’s what’s up, my baby. Congratulations.”

Kwinn grinned so hard, she was grateful he couldn’t see her face. “Thank you. So, what kind of song are you working on?”

“A gangsta-ass love song.”

Laughing, Kwinn asked, “Like a lil’ romantic hood jam?”

“Yeah.” Melo chuckled, drinking from his bottle. “One of them.”

“Ooh. I love when rappers—” Kwinn caught herself and shook her head.

“Nah. Finish what you were going to say. You love when what?” Melo asked, obviously teasing her.

Smirking, Kwinn rolled her eyes. “When y’all make the songs for the ladies but still keep it G. You know what I mean?”

Knowing what she meant and glad she was comfortable enough to explain, Melo nodded. “Yeah, I do. This one is definitely for the ladies.”

“But what?” Kwinn asked, hearing the hesitancy in his voice.

“It ain’t quite where I need it to be, and it’s pissing me off.”

“Maybe you’re overthinking it. Let me hear it,” Kwinn suggested. “You might be missing a woman’s ear.”