Page 51 of Divine

“I’m excited. We’re not telling anyone yet. You know how he is about pregnancy.”

“It’s going to be fine, mommy. I’m so excited for you.”

As excited as I was about Royelle and Syre’s baby girl, I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of sadness. When was it going to be my time to feel that same excitement? When would I find the one to make me want to give him babies? As if she could read my mind, Royelle smiled over at me.

“Soon, we will be planning a wedding and baby showers for you too.”

“You must plan on taking Syre out of the country?”

“He’ll adjust. I keep reminding him that you are grown as hell and smart enough not to let anyone play you. He doesn’t have to interfere.”

“You can keep trying, sis, but his ass is as stubborn as a mule.”

“Don’t I know it,” she said, rolling her eyes.

* * *

After yet another unsuccessful talking stage, I was becoming fed up with the dating scene. Whoever said the dating pool was a sewer wasn’t lying. I didn’t have a specific type, so as long as the vibes were there, I had no problem with giving someone a chance. I was so disgusted with the outcome of my previous situationship that I didn’t even really feel like eating by the time lunch rolled around. If it weren’t for Liam, I might not have eaten at all.

Out of all the people who Syre had assigned to work as my bodyguard, he had been the only one to grow on me. He was hilarious and so sweet with his want-to-be-mean ass. He was a big teddy bear under all the armor he wore.

Something or someone made him feel like he couldn’t be open and vulnerable. Honestly, it hurt to know that he lived with so much trauma that he didn’t feel like he could be himself around people. Behind closed doors, I saw a side of him that most people didn’t know existed.

“Are you seeing anyone right now?” I asked, hoping that someone else’s good news could overshadow my recent misfortunes on the dating scene.

His brows hiked before slowly lowering into a frown. He placed the turkey melt on his plate as he seemed to consider his answer.

“Why?” he asked nonchalantly.

I’d half expected him to tell me to mind my own damn business, so his question almost caught me off guard.

“Just curious.” I shrugged.

“What you call curious, a lot of people consider nosy.” He smirked.

“Call it what you want. I just want to hear about somebody winning at love for a change to take my mind off my own shit.”

“That makes sense,” he said, nodding before going back to his task of eating.

“You didn’t answer my question,” I reminded him.

“Divine, you know I’m not dating. I’m always around. Have you ever seen me with anyone?”

I lifted my shoulders. “You’re not around twenty-four hours a day. I don’t know what you have going on when you’re not with me.”

“You’re around me enough.”

“Yet, I don’t even know if you’re dating,” I said, shaking my head.

He scoffed. “You know I don’t do the whole dating thing, D. I keep telling you that.”

“I don’t know that. You act like I’m supposed to know so much about you when your secretive ass just mentioned your mom for the first time today. I barely knew you had a family. I’ve known you for close to a year, and you’ve never mentioned them.”

“What’s to mention?”

His casual shrug was a defense mechanism. Something was wrong. He always resorted to being extra nonchalant when he was bothered.

“I don’t know, Lee Lee. Sometimes I feel like you’re keeping me at arm’s length.”

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