Chai hesitated, then nodded. “Well… let me make a few calls and see what strings I can pull.”
I nodded. “Sounds more like it.”
Me and Nyomi locked eyes while the lady stepped off to go work her magic. Her smile was soft. “You didn’t have to do all that, crazy. What if she says it can’t happen?”
“Then I’ma buy the buildin’,” I shrugged.
She snorted. “You’re so damn dramatic.”
“Only ‘bout you.” Before the venue lady could even make it back over, I leaned close to Nyomi’s ear. “I’m tryna lick that pussy from the back. I need my fix.”
“Move, nasty.”
Before she could say anything else, Chai’s happy-go-lucky ass came back, lookin’ slightly flustered but real chipper. “Okay! So… you two must be sprinkled in wedding magic or something, because I just made a few calls. I shifted a corporate event to a different date so you can have the venue.”
Nyomi gasped. “Wait… seriously?”
“Yes,” she smiled. “Our wedding planner is going to hire an assistant and some extra staff but your Springtime wedding can happen this month.”
“Oh, my God!” She turned to look at me, tears glossin’ her lashes, lips parted, like she didn’t know whether to cry or laugh.
I just nodded and pulled her in, arm snug ‘round her waist. “Told you. Whatever you want, you can get.”
They better had made it work. Real shit, I wasn’t tryna wait no longer. We’d been through too much, held each other down through everything. This ain’t just a celebration. It was us finally gettin’ our forever started, and a nigga was more than ready.
I looked over at Nyomi and Chai as they started talkin’ ’bout next steps and shit. Everything was fallin’ into place like God was up top alignin’ shit the way it should be.
Four Days Later
(3 Weeks & 3 Days Until The Wedding)
K n u c ka n dIslid out of his truck and walked intoRoyal Stone Jewelers. The sales floor smelled like new leather chairs and fresh espresso, and every glass case threw back enough sparkle to light my lashes. A tall black man in a navy suit greeted us with a smile so polite it almost looked painful.
I stepped forward first. “I need a wedding band for my fiancé, and I need it to look like nobody else in the city can afford it.”
Knuck laughed under his breath. “Talk that shit, baby.”
The clerk cleared his throat and led us to a velvet-lined tray of men’s bands. He laid out rows of platinum, yellow gold, and black titanium that could blind an innocent bystander.
Knuck leaned over the case, chain dangling. “Nothin’ skinny. My hands swing wide, so that muthafucka gotta hold weight, too.”
“Here you go…”
I nodded as the clerk set a broad platinum band with beveled edges before us. I lifted it, and the cool metal felt solid in my palm. Knuck raised an eyebrow. “How many grams that piece weigh, fam?”
The clerk checked a card. “Twenty-two grams, sir, and it is hand-brushed on the edges for contrast.”
Knuck slipped it on his ring finger, flexed once, and watched the diamond cuts catch the light. He smiled at me, and that grin did things to my knees. “This joint feels like it means business.”
I grinned. “That ring needs security, babe.”
The clerk laughed a careful laugh. “It does include lifetime sizing and cleaning, madam.”
Knuck tilted his head. “What else you got that says I love my wife, but I’ll still body a nigga?”
The clerk immediately started to sweat on his forehead, his hands shaking. Then, he produced a heavy black titanium band with a single narrow row of pavé diamonds running through the center.
Knuck slid that one on, and the dark sheen made the diamonds look like streetlights. He turned his hand, admiring the effect. “Yeah, this one hit different.”