“Oh, I don’t know her. She video called once when we were at a mentor meeting, and I spoke with her for a brief moment. She wanted to meet the woman who was mentoring her daughter,” I told him.
He stared at me briefly with what I would describe as a suspicious eye. I wouldn’t read too much into it. “Okay. Well, I’m not trying to take up too much of your time, beautiful. I just wanted to lay eyes on the woman that has already been so influential to my baby girl.” His brow rose. “Perhaps we can grab lunch and talk about that a little deeper.”
My head bucked back for a split second. “I’m impressed, Mr. Conners. Not too many men would have the nerve to ask Dr. Hestia Basil out on a date.”
He stepped into my personal space. His cologne swarmed my senses in the best way possible. It wasn’t a heavy scent either. It was clean. His lips came close to my ear. “Dr. Basil, I didn’t askyou out on a date. I asked you if you wanted to grab lunch. Trust me, sweetheart. When I ask you out, every part of you will know it.”
He stood to his full height. He didn’t tower over me, but he was tall enough to have to lean down a little for his lips to get to my ear. He held his hand out. “Give me your phone.”
Normally, I would have gawked at him like he had two heads, and one of them was a dick. Whatever it was about Mr. Conners . . . Bread made me unlock then hand him my phone without a second thought. I watched him tap my screen. I wasn’t sure what he was doing, but I had some clues. Seconds later, his phone rang in his pocket.
He pulled it out, looked at the screen, smiled at it, then looked up and smiled at me. “Now we have each other’s contact information. I’ll be sure to reach out to you so we can set up that lunch, sweetheart.”
I took my phone from him. “Okay, yeah. Um, you do that.”
He smiled before he moved to talk to some of the otherMt. O Riders. My eyes didn’t want to remove themselves from him, although I wanted them to. Well, it was no worries because my knucklehead nephew stepped into my perfect view.
“Auntie, what’s up?” Dorian stood in front of me like he wasn’t the one who asked the question. His beautiful, light brown eyes were tight.
I tilted my head and tightened my eyes. “Um, the sky. Boy, what do you want?”
He kissed his teeth. “Auntie, you really weren’t going to tell me that Jade was a prospect? That’s how we’re rocking?”
The bridge of my nose scrunched. “It’s not that I wasn’t going to tell you. I didn’t. I’m not sure why it would have mattered to you, Dorian.”
Dorian joined theMt. O Ridersshortly after his nineteenth birthday. My brother told him that he had to prove himselfin school before he could join the ranks. We didn’t accept dummies. “Auntie, what you mean? She’s my girl.” He caught himself when my brow rose. “You know what I mean.”
“I don’t, Dorian. You know I love you. Nephew, what Jade does is no longer your business. She’s not in your business, even though the little sorority bitch that you’re seeing, fucking, or whatever wants to put her there,” I fussed. I pointed my finger at him. “I fight college bitches, then I will stitch her ass up from the trauma I caused. Tell her stop playing with my niecey-pooh.”
He looked utterly confused. Before he could say anything, some skinny minny walked up and wrapped her arms around his waist. “Hey, Dorian. You looked good out there.”
I took a moment to scan her attire. She was in the typical groupie getup, but she wore a unique color match.This might be miss sorority bitch.“Um, hi, how are you, miss ma’am? Did you not see him in the middle of a conversation?”
When she kissed her teeth, rolled her eyes, and slowly rolled her neck in my direction, I knew at that moment Dr. Basil wasn’t within a fifty-mile radius of this event. “And! You were talking to him. Now I am.”
Dorian pulled her arms from around his neck and took a step back from her. “Yo, you’re out of your damn mind talking to my auntie like that. Is you cool?”
Shock covered her silly ass face. “Oh my God. I’m so sorry! I thought you were just another one of those biker hos like Jade.”
Dorian chuckled. “Yeah, Shannon, you got to fuckin’ go. You’re doing way too much.”
She fussed as he shunned her off. I couldn’t be bothered, so I removed myself to go talk to my sisters. From the jokey smirks they all wore, I knew it was about to be some shit.
“What was that about?” Melody asked verbally and with her hands.
I shrugged. “Dorian is tripping about you.” I pointed at Jade. “Girl, he’s in all his feelings about you being in the club now.”
“Bitch, you know good and well that we not talking about that. What is up with Bread?” Hera asked. Her arms crossed over her breasts.
I rolled my eyes. “He asked me to have lunch with him to get to know me better. That’s it, that’s all.”
“Well, are you going to go? I think you should go. Don’t tell Hades I said this, but that man is zaddy fine.”
Jin’jer didn’t have to worry about that. Hades’s crazy ass wouldn’t kill me. I pondered her question for a moment. “I think I am. I have to find out who the hell that man is.”
Mentoring The Future . . .
“How do you deal with the people who doubt you or try to undermine you?” Jessica asked.
