Page 26 of The Best is Yet to Cum

Once inside the restaurant, a host took us to our table, and the other couples had already arrived.

“Everyone, this is Mona. Baby, this is Juelz and his wife, Janeevah; August and his wife, Norah; and you already know Evander and his wife, Austyn. Oh, and August and Austyn are twins.”

“Hello, everyone. It’s nice to meet you all.”

We moved toward the two empty chairs, but Austyn asked if she could speak with me privately before I could sit down. I looked at Clinton nervously, and he gave me a comforting smile and nodded. Austyn and I moved a few feet away from the table.

“What’s up?” I asked.

“I wanted to address the elephant in the room and make sure you don’t feel uncomfortable around me.”

“I can admit I’ve been a bit concerned.”

“There’s no need. As of now, only me, you, Evander, and Clinton know that Winston is your ex-husband. However, if you and Clinton are dating, the topic may come up, and everyone else will connect the dots. What happened between me and your ex was a long time ago. If I’d known he was married, I wouldn’t have slept with him.”

“I believe you.”

“Thank you, but I still want to apologize. I am so sorry for being the cause—”

“Austyn, you weren’t the cause of anything but me waking the fuck up. Our marriage had been on its last leg for years, but I still had hope for some reason. I guess running into you was the wake-up call I needed.”

“God has a mysterious way of forcing us to do things we may not be ready to do. I’m glad you left him, and since you’re dating Clinton, I wanted to make sure the air between us was clear.”

“I appreciate that. Thank you.”

When we turned to face the table, all eyes were on us. I wasn’t sure if they could hear us, but they sure were locked in.

“Y’all good?” Clinton asked.

“We’re great. What looks good on the menu?” I responded.

11

Clinton

The server had just returned to our table with our drinks and appetizers. After we placed our food order, the server disappeared again.

“Okay, I can’t take the suspense anymore. I’m dying to know how this happened,” Austyn said, pointing back and forth between me and Mona.

“You mean to tell me you and your husband don’t pillow talk,” I teased.

“We may on occasion, but he definitely didn’t tell me the tea about this connection.”

“Let’s just say that business trip to New Orleans ended much better than I expected.”

“Ohh, sounds spicy. Had you met before?” she pressed.

“Maybe twice, but I never forget a beautiful face.” I looked at Mona and winked, causing her to blush.

“That’s so sweet,” Austyn commented.

“I guess y’all are getting serious,” Juelz said. “That trip to NOLA was at the end of last year, wasn’t it?”

I nodded, but Mona responded before I could. “We didn’t talk for a few months after we returned. My divorce had just been finalized, and I needed some time to regroup.”

“I sent her stubborn ass texts every day for three months, and she didn’t reply to one of them.”

“You had my boy stressing. I think he was on the verge of crashing out the day you finally called him,” Evander said.

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