Lucina was used to handling the athletes and their groupies, the movie stars and theirs, the rock stars and theirs, but hip-hop music seemed to create the most powerful energy. It was the pulsations of the music that made you move right now! Especially Busta Rhymes’s music. The extrathumping kicks, bass lines, and verbal chants drove the crowd into a frenzy.

“Hey, Ivan,” a few of the girls called out. They were able to grab on to him because he had no security protection. Ivan didn’t figure he needed any.

“Hey, calm down,” he told them.

“Are you gonna bring someone to San Diego every weekend? We hear you got Timbaland and Nelly Furtado next week,” they asked. They had done their homework.

Ivan told them, “Yeah, so just stay tuned for the next one,” as he moved on.

The guys were giving him an extra nod of attention as well.

“What’s up, Ivan? Keep doing you, man.”

“Thanks,” Ivan responded with a nod.

“Hey, nice party you got here, Ivan.”

“I’m just trying to work it,” he commented.

Other guys looked on and nodded to him.

When Ivan made it over to VIP, he noticed a few of the Chargers making small talk.

“Hey, Perry, I didn’t see you in here, man. And how could I miss you, right?”

Perry Downing was a heck of a human specimen to miss, over six foot five and two hundred eighty pounds.

He said, “Naw, you were doing your thing in here, man. I figured you’d see me sooner or later.”

“Well, come jump in this picture with us,” Ivan told him, leading Perry over to Lucina, Busta, and Eve, who were all chatting it up in the crowd of VIPs.

“Okay, let’s all get these pictures for the website,” Ivan told them.

The photographer was right there to begin snapping pictures in front of the bar.

Busta faced Ivan and said, “Yo, you know how to party, dude.” Then he pointed to Lucina behind her back and gave Ivan the OK finger signal.

“That’s a good partner, too,” he commented.

Ivan smiled it off, while Lucina’s girls flooded the section for all sorts of celebrity catering.

Ivan heard one of Busta’s squad members comment, “I feel like I’m in another one of them videos, with so many bad women around me up in here.”

“Who you fuckin’ tellin’?” his partner responded with a giggle.

Ivan grinned himself, wondering how many girls would get out of there that night without being hit on a bunch of times.

I hope these girls are all ready for this, he told himself. But Lucina probably has that all handled already…I hope!

Julio approached Ivan and told him, “Hey, man, I found two girls I like. You got those wristbands for me?”

Ivan smiled, dug into his sports jacket, and handed over two yellow wristbands.