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He kissed my forehead and went back towards the living room. I stood there for a second before following him. Kaiden was on the sofa, and Q sat in the chair nearby. They didn’t say anything to each other at first.

“You know football?” Kaiden asked him.

“I love football,” Q responded.

“Who you got winning?”

“I got the Ravens on this one.”

Kaiden started explaining the matchup, stats, and why one team had the better defense. Q listened without pretending he knew more than he did. Every now and then he’d ask something, and Kaiden answered. I sat in the other chair and watched. After the game, the kids went upstairs to their rooms as I walked Q to the door.

“You survived.”

“Barely. That little dude got more questions than the IRS.”

I laughed. “He’s super protective.”

“He’s supposed to be.”

“You handled it better than I expected.”

“What did you think I was going to do? Try to buy some shoes and tell him to call me Dad?”

“Please don’t ever do that.”

“I’m not stupid.” He looked up the steps and lowered his voice. “I meant what I said. I’m not trying to come in here and replace anything. I like you. Whatever comes with that, I’ll respect it.”

“I appreciate that.”

He leaned down and kissed me. We didn’t want the kids to walk down and catch something they weren’t ready to see.

“I’ll call you tomorrow,” he said.

“Good night.”

I locked the door and headed upstairs. Kaiden’s bedroom door was still open, so I stopped.

“What you think?”

“He cool.” He shrugged.

“After all them questions you asked, that’s all you got.”

“He ain’t weird. I don’t have anything else.”

“I’ll take it. Go take a shower and get in bed. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

I thought it was going to be difficult letting somebody new in my life without feeling like I was taking something away from my kids. I was making it harder than it needed to be.

CHAPTER 28

KYENNA

Iwas thankful to everyone on my team for stopping the fight with Raya from becoming the buzz of the city. It was Wednesday, and I was more than ready to sit and have lunch with Lloyd. He was already at the table when I got to the new restaurant by the courthouse. He instantly stood up and pulled my chair out for me.

“I was starting to think you were going to cancel on me after the week you’ve had,” he said, smiling as he reached for his water.