Page 39 of Divine

I sighed. “Mom, I know you’re omniscient and everything, but Liam and I are just friends.”

“That was a little better, but keep working on it,” she said, patting my arm.

“I need to get food and a stiff drink first, but I need to talk to you about something when you get a chance.”

“I’m headed back over to our table. Your cousin just got here, so I have to make sure he behaves himself tonight. If it was up to him, my entire head would be gray,” my mom said, shaking her head.

“You’re the one that has him so spoiled,” I reminded her.

“And everybody still knows not to mess with my baby boy,” she sassed.

“Whatever, Ma.” I rolled my eyes.

“You two grab what you need, and find our table. Liam, have a couple of drinks tonight, baby. It’s OK to loosen up sometimes. It’s a party. You see your boss doesn’t have any problem doing just that.”

“I see. As a matter of fact, I want to go over and speak to him. You good with that, Divine?” Liam asked, actually pausing and waiting for me to answer.

I nodded in confirmation. “I’m going to get something to eat in a second.”

Keeping his attention on Syre, who seemed to make himself comfortable at the open bar, he asked, “You want Pinot Grigio or Moscato?”

“Moscato is fine for now,” I confirmed.

“Come sit down, Divine. One of the servers will bring your plate,” my mom told me.

“In that case, I’ll meet you back at the table. Should I order for you?” I asked Liam.

“Yeah. You know what I like,” he said, giving my mom a nod before heading to the bar.

“God was just showing out when he made that man,” my mom said, shaking her head.

“Heishandsome, isn’t he?”

“More than that. When are you two going to stop pretending that you don’t want each other?” she quizzed.

“It’s not even like that.” I shook my head. “I’m seeing someone else. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about,” I said as we made our way to the table.

Sherrod Bates was a rapper that had been out for a few years but was just really taking off. He’d gotten a little notoriety over the past couple of years that kept him on the road for one performance or another. Now and then, it brought him to the area, and he would reach out to me. For now, that worked for me because I liked my space. Plus, the more he was away, the less likely one of the boys were to find out he and I were dating.

I didn’t have a type, but if I did, I’m not sure Sherrod would fit the description. He was a little chubby but not hard on the eyes. On our first date, he was the perfect gentleman. He’d had his eye on me for the past couple months after I’d seen him on the front row at a basketball game.

My girl Candice bailed on me at the last minute, but I decided that I would go to the game alone even if she couldn’t go with me. The one good thing about having bodyguards and security details following you around was that you were hardly ever really alone. The worst thing about having a security detail stalking you was that you were never fucking alone.

They got on my nerves just as much as I appreciated them when something went down, especially Liam’s nagging ass. He was about as bad as Syre and Maven when it came to me dating. He didn’t give a damn that snitches got stitches, because as soon as I gave a guy my number in front of him for the first time, he threatened to tell Syre. Syre was his boss, not mine.

“Uh oh.”

“Don’t say that, Mom. Things are going good so far. I just don’t want the boys to mess it up when they finally catch wind of things.”

“Does Liam know?” she asked with lifted brows.

“Yes. He found out after he caught me out on a date with him. He was pissed that I kept it from him and made me promise to keep him in the loop going forward.”

“Was he pissed at you for hiding your new man or for the fact that you had a man in the first place?” my mom questioned as she took her seat at the head of the table.

Falling into the seat to her left, I shook my head. “What does that even mean, Mom?”

“There’s no damn way you don’t see how crazy that man is about you, Divine,” my mom said, nudging me.

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