Below is an excerpt from my work in progress, WINNER TAKES ALL. This scene takes place right after Divina Langley and Grant Easton first meet at the recreation center where her cousin, Savannah Hawkins, works. IDK, I think they might kinda, sorta like each other, lol!

NOTE: THIS EXCERPT IS COPYRIGHTED, UNEDITED, AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE!

Past

A ruckus on the court brought the cheering crowd to their feet, drawing Divina and Savvy’s attention to it.
An embarrassed opponent was glaring after Grant from underneath the basketball hoop as Grant ran, smirking, back down the court. He glanced Divina’s way and awareness shot through her when Grant pointed toward the scoreboard, then back at her and winked. Divina stifled a proud smile when she saw his team was now up by eight.
Seeing their silent interaction, Savvy jumped in her startled cousin’s face. “Oh hell to the nah, girl! Anybody but Grant’s arrogant ass! Not him, or the Hershey bar next to him.”
Divina glanced at said chocolate delight, who clocked in over six feet but was slightly shorter than Grant, looking like royalty with his gorgeous cocoa complexion, and chiseled good looks. “Well, dang.”                                                                                                  “Let me rephrase that; neither those two and Hershey Bar’s cousin, Mr. Good Bar, over there on the bench, getting his hair braided of all things.”
“Do they have actual names?” Divina peeped across the gym to see another tall guy whose attractiveness rivaled yet resembled his cousin’s, letting two girls do his hair as he called out advice to his team members.
“I refer to them as Frick and Frack, but the one on the court is my arch nemesis and Grant’s best friend, Lincoln Malone,” Savvy replied darkly. As if he heard her from across the noisy gym, the baller looked her way with a rakish grin and blew her a kiss, to which a bristling Savvy scowled, turning her nose up as she looked away. His booming laugh echoed from the gym’s rafters, making her hands ball like she wanted to square up with him. “Gawd! See what I mean?”
“Not really,” Divina murmured, amused by the duo’s antics. “In denial much, cuz? Ouch!”
Savvy rubbed her cousin’s injured skin that she’d pinched and led her back to the top of the bleachers. “Hush! That serves you right! Anywho, the other is his cousin, Rourke. We all go to school together. They live down the block from me, and I’d rather have a case of flaming hemorrhoids than deal with those two headaches! Grant lives around the corner from them. Stay away from them! They’re all game-spittin’ pussy hounds with playa reputations. If you don’t believe me, take a look around you.”
Divina did a slow evaluation of her surroundings and met numerous challenging glares from the diverse female population in attendance. The ratio of females to males in attendance was at least ten to one.
“These chicks ain’t posted up here because they wanna learn to be like Mike, Vee,” Savvy added sarcastically. “They all want to be the next boo thang hugged up on anyone from that knuckleheaded trio that runs through girls like water through your fingers. If you value your sanity, you’ll keep your distance from Grant. FYI: he’s also an identical twin, but Wyatt’s super chill. Got himself a steady girlfriend so he’s not out here like them, tearin’ through ass like the Tasmanian Devil.”
Divina watched the words leave her cousin’s mouth, listened to what she was saying, and even managed to process it. Her reasoning sounded logical, and Divina was certain that Savvy wouldn’t lie to her. But her eyes involuntarily sought out Grant again, and found him at the end of the court, using the bottom half of his shirt to wipe off the sweat dripping from his face. The action exposed a rippling six-pack that made Divina’s mouth go dry, then flood with drool. Grant dropped his shirt and their eyes locked. Her heart refused to heed Savvy’s warnings as currents of attraction and expectation sizzled between them, seductively luring Divina further under Grant’s spell. In the months to come, she would soon discover the problem with logic. It was the heart’s worst enemy.

I hope you enjoyed another sneak peek at Divina & Grant, along with some of the Baxter Park crew!

Warm Regards,