Page 98 of South Beach Bodyguards

Her hand came up. “I don’t want to know. I don’t want to worry. But any reason you might be seeing him is no good.”

I didn’t really want to tell her, but I wanted to give her the option to know. “He said to tell you hello.”

She made a sound of exasperation. “He can come and tell me hello in person when he’s gone straight.”

“Have you seen his house? He’s not going straight any time soon.” I wasn’t jealous though. He had earned that house by being ruthless. “On a different note, I have a date on Friday.”

She paused in going through a pile of jewelry on the coffee table. “With a girl?”

That made me laugh. “Of course with a girl. Do you seriously have questions about my sexuality?”

“No, I just meant… I don’t know.” She looked flustered. “You don’t go on dates. This is good. Really good. Where did you meet her?”

“At work.”

She made a face at that. “What’s her name? What is she like?”

“Olivia.” Saying it out loud made me feel like a douchebag. I couldn’t sit still so I jumped up off the couch. “She’s pretty.”

“A lot of girls are pretty. You don’t date them. She must be special.”

My mother was getting an excited gleam in her eye. I was sorry I’d brought it up. I wasn’t even sure why I had other than I wanted to talk about Olivia. But once I opened the door with Alejandro and my mother for a conversation, it had made me feel too vulnerable. “She’s smart. A college student.”

“Even better. It’s about time you stopped hanging around with sluts.”

“You shouldn’t slut shame your gender, Mama. If a woman wants to sleep around, that’s her right. It’s her body.”

“Of course you would say that. You’re the one getting the benefits from sluts. But I’m sorry, I think sex should be reserved for marriage.”

Occasionally I wondered if she were truly serious and had not had sex since my father left twenty-three years ago. That was a lifetime without getting it on, which seemed absolutely insane to me. Cruel and unusual punishment. But then I figured it was none of my business either way. “I’m not discussing my sex life with you,” I told her. “You’re my mother.”

“Then why did you bring it up?” she asked, piling on another bracelet and shooting me a look of exasperation.

“I didn’t,” I said, equally exasperated. “I told you I have a fucking date.”

“Don’t swear in front of me, it’s disrespectful.”

I rubbed my forehead. My head throbbing was getting worse.

“What’s the matter?”

“I have a headache.”

“Too much drinking most likely.”

That made me laugh. “Mama, you drive me crazy.”

“When you love somebody, that’s what you do.” She gave me a smile. “Are you ready to go?”

“Yes.” I stood. My phone buzzed.

Good morning.

From Olivia. And she had added a blushing smiling emoji.

I smiled.

When I looked up, my mother was grinning.

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