Page 2 of Divine II

I rolled my eyes and shrugged. “I don’t know what y’all do.”

“I’m pretty sure you know we don’t hit licks, Divine.”

“Well, what do y’all need me there for? That’s the question.”

“I guess we’re about to find out together.”

“I guess so.”

“You brought me some smoothies?” he quizzed.

“No. You didn’t ask,” I noted.

That made him shake his head. “I like how you came here to pick me for information without any incentives.”

“I didn’t know I had to pay my bestie for the inside scoop. Besides, you didn’t know anything.”

“You’re right. I don’t have the scoop. Let’s go, though. You know my big head brother is going to trip out if we show up late.”

“Tell me about it.”

“I’ll follow you down there. Let me let Elle know I’m gone,” Syre said before moving past me toward his cute little family.

I watched in complete awe as he kissed his wife and kids goodbye. It was still so strange to see his hardnosed ass loving on someone other than me or my mom. Syre was so happy and at peace these days. I loved to see it.

Seeing how hard he had fallen in love was the thing that made me believe I could find real love myself. For the life of meI couldn’t understand how he didn’t want me to have the very same experience that had thawed his frozen heart. There had to be a way to make him understand.

Sometimes, I allowed myself to have the crazy dream that Liam and I could have that kind of life-changing, soul-healing love. I wasn’t oblivious to the fact our thing was purely a friendship with benefits, but Liam was such an amazing guy that a girl couldn’t help but dream of having more. It was lofty to think we could fall in love and live happily ever after without him having to dodge bullets for the rest of his life. We just didn’t have that luxury.

For that reason, I knew that whatever we decided to do had to remain between us. I couldn’t put Liam in that kind of danger. I loved him and valued our friendship far too much to ask him to put himself at risk just for me.

Once Syre was done talking to Royelle, he didn’t look back at me as he headed for his truck. I guess that was my cue to follow.

“Call me, Royelle. I want to set up a day to spend time with you and the kids,” I called out once I made it back to my ride.

“Girl, forget these kids. We need to set up a day for just us. Let Daddy watch the kids since he’s trying to have a whole football team running around out here.”

“Y’all are off to a good start.” I laughed as I slid into my car.

After cranking up the car, I led the way out of Syre’s yard and headed for Bishop’s. There was about a thirty-minute drive if I stuck to back roads. It made me sick that both of them lived so far out in the wilderness, but the longer I lived the more I understood the desire for privacy. Lord knows I valued mine. Liam would already be dead if we didn’t have the good sense to keep the new developments in our relationship under wraps. I would never be able to live with myself if something happened to him because of me.

With my radio blasting and thoughts of Liam running on a reel in my head, the thirty-minute drive seemed to fly by. Before I knew it, I was pulling onto Bishop’s ranch. As I drove up to the house, I noticed that all of the guys’ cars were already there.

The meetings usually only included immediate family, so I was sure they were just waiting on me and Syre to show up. Syre was already out of his car by the time I found a good spot to park. Once I was parked, I didn’t waste time getting out myself. What was so different about this meeting that it required my presence?

As soon as I stepped into the house, my senses were flooded with the mixture of testosterone, leather, and expensive cigars. It was a clear indication that my cousins and brother were all in the same place. I loved the boys down, but with so many egos stuffed into one room, I knew that the meeting could easily go left. It was the main reason that I hated coming to these meetings in the first place.

My eyes landed on Bishop first as he sat at the head of the big, mahogany table with his huge hands steepled in front of his mouth. His eyes were glued to me like I was a mischievous child instead of a grown ass woman.

Maven and Psalm flanked him with Syre sitting at Psalm’s right. All eyes were on me as I approached the table and debated which of the empty seats to take. There was a bottle of water in front of each chair as if we were expecting more people, but I knew that it would only be the five of us.

“Have a seat, Divine,” Bishop stated flatly.

Instead of following Bishop’s instruction, my eyes shot to Syre. He was always my savior. No matter what this was about, I knew he had my back. Between the four nosy muthafuckas seated at the table, I was more than certain that their prying had resulted in them finding out about me and Liam’s trysts.

Knowing them, I had likely been summoned to a fake meeting so they could have him taken care of while I was out of the way. Syre’s face gave nothing away, so I was pretty sure he was out of the loop like he said. He wasn’t that good of an actor. Plus, he didn’t rock like that. He would have wanted to handle Liam himself.

“What’s this about?” I asked, folding my arms across my chest.

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