Pullin’ her by her waist, I hugged her from behind and kissed her neck. “Get whatever you want, baby.”
She turned her head and looked up at me. “You serious?”
“Whatever you want.” After payin’ off the garden roses and all the other shit, we jumped in the car to go to the last spot. It took us almost an hour to drive there in traffic. I threw the truck in park and leaned back in the seat for a second, rubbin’ my stomach. “I’m hungrier than a muthafucka,” I muttered.
Nyomi looked over at me. “Same. I want lobster.”
“I need a big ass steak right now.” Our phones went off at the same time, and I pulled mine from my jeans to see it was a group text notification from Ma Deb.
“I bet Kassim is giving her a run for her money,” Nyomi chuckled. I opened the text on my phone, and she peeked over my shoulder. “Aww,” she said immediately.
Laughin’, I shook my head. “That boy droolin’ like a muthafucka.”
She nudged me. “Leave my baby alone. I miss him.”
We bothlovedthe picture, and then I slipped the phone back into my pocket before we got out the truck. Wrappin’ my arm around her shoulders as we walked toward the entrance, I told her, “Let’s get through this venue shit so we can go get my son.”
She smiled up at me. “Deal.” The spot was nice wit’ one of those long wooden walkways that led down toward the entrance. Nyomi stopped halfway across the lot just to stare at it again. “You see this?” she said quietly.
I looked at the buildin’. “I see it.”
“Imagine the wedding.”
I shrugged. “I’m imaginin’ a steak.”
She laughed and shook her head. “You get on my nerves.”
We walked in together, and the vibe hit immediately. The whole spot smelled like pine, vanilla, and money. The Asian woman who came to greet us was all smiles. “Hi, hi! I’m Chai! You must be the future Joneses!”
Nyomi chuckled. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Right this way,” she said, leadin’ us through a hallway. “Let me show you the spaces for the wedding and the reception.”
We ended up lookin’ at two big ass ballroom wit’ shiny floors glistenin’ like they was freshly waxed, ceilings damn near touchin’ heaven, and tall ass windows showin’ off the city skyline. Nyomi damn near fell out. Her whole face lit up like a lil’ kid who just seen all her presents under the tree on Christmas mornin’. Big ass smile. Eyes all wide. She wasn’t even tryna play it cool either. She spun ‘round in a slow circle, takin’ it all in like she already saw us dancin’ in the middle of that floor.
“Aww,” she whispered, damn near breathless. “This is it. This is the one. I can feel it.”
I just stood there watchin’ her, arms folded, tryna hide the smirk creepin’ up on my face. I ain’t even gon’ lie. Seein’ my woman that happy made me finally get it. Nyomi walked toward the windows, fingers stretched out like she needed to touch the damn air.
“Knuck, it’s perfect. I can see it all. The flowers, the uplighting, the aisle… oh, my God…”
I shook my head and chuckled. “You actin’ like we just found Narnia.”
“I’m serious,” she said, turnin’ back toward me, eyes glossy like she was lowkey emotional. “You don’t understand how much I want this. It’s gonna be classy and not too big.”
I walked over, grabbed her by the waist, and looked ‘round real quick. “Whatever you want, baby.” She grinned hard, gripped my arms, and kissed me hard as shit.
“So,” Chai walked over to us, “What dates are we looking at?”
Nyomi looked at me, then back at her. “The 30th.”
She blinked and laughed a lil’ bit. “You mean… as in the end ofthismonth?” We both nodded. She laughed again, but slower this time. “Oh! Um… I’m sorry. That’s… that’s not possible. I mean, we’re, like, completely booked. Usually…”
“I’ll pay whatever,” I cut her off calmly, pullin’ my black card from my pocket and slidin’ it across the nearby table. “Double the rental fee. Staff bonus. Whatever you need to make this shit happen.”
Her eyes bounced from the card back to me.
“I don’t care what it costs,” I added, lookin’ her dead in the face. “We gettin’ married at the end of this month. If you can’t fit that into your schedule, I’ll take my bread somewhere else.” Nyomi touched my arm lightly, surprised but lowkey blushin’.