Page 49 of Divine

“Answer the phone, Lee. It must be important. Up until now, I don’t think you’ve ever even mentioned your mom.”

“What was there to say?”

“For starters, I have a mom.” She shrugged.

“Did you think I came from under a rock?” I asked with raised brows.

“Sometimes I’m not sure where the hell you came from.”

In spite of the phone wearing on my nerves, Divine’s comment made me smile. She placed a plate and a full glass of that purple drink in front of me before picking up her sandwich and taking a bite.

“Answer the phone, Liam. I’m about to get dressed to go to the store so you can talk in private.”

“I’m actually gon’ head out after I eat.”

“Are you not going to make sure I make it to work safely?” she asked, narrowing her eyes.

Don’t I always?It felt like a rhetorical question. I tailed Divine to work every day, but at 8:00 a.m., I was technically off duty.

“Isn’t your morning shift here?” I asked just because she had come to expect me to be there.

“When has that ever mattered, Lee? You know you don’t trust them to have my back like you. Neither do I. Just give me a minute.”

I would give her forever. I didn’t have to give her a response since she didn’t bother waiting to hear one. Knowing that Divine felt safer with me made my chest swell. I wasn’t planning on leaving anyway. I wanted to step outside to answer the phone.

Divine could claim that she was going to get dressed to give me space to talk, but like I said before, her little ass was nosy. She wouldn’t be able to resist eavesdropping. Since there was no telling what my mom wanted this time, I needed to speak to her privately, if at all. I made quick work of eating both sandwiches and gulping down the juice before hopping up to go outside and call my mom.

“The whole universe was in a hot, dense state. Then nearly fourteen billion years ago, expansion started…” I sang as I listened to the phone ring.

“I was just about to give up.”

“Fuck you want, old man?” I roared, irritated once it registered that my father was the one behind the constant phone calls.

“Your mother needs you.”

“Let her tell me that,” I said, ending the call before he could retort.

I looked up just in time to see Divine prancing out of the house wearing a pair of huge sunglasses. Dark denim jeans squeezed the bottom half of her thick frame while an oversized cream sweatshirt with her business logo etched on it swallowed the top half. She looked adorable in anything. When she stepped outside, she placed her hands on her hips and shook her head.

“I freaking forgot you brought me here on that thing.” She huffed.

“Maybe stop entertaining niggas who can’t even know where you lay your head,” I suggested.

“Whatever. Now, I gotta catch one of the guys to the store.”

Irritated at the very thought of her riding with one of those fools, I took a deep breath in an attempt to temper my mood.

“Get on the bike, Divine.” I smirked at her cute little pout.

“Even if I didn't value my own life, I'm not letting you ride without a helmet again.”

By no means was I intimidated by her scowl, but she had a point.

“That's the only acceptable excuse,” I said, sliding my helmet over my head.

“Did you talk to your mom?” she quizzed.

“No.”

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