Allure: The Arranged Hearts Series

Chapter 3

I leanedback onto my couch, taking advantage of the much-needed peace. Since it dropped in the news that I was retiring, my father had been in a war with his damn self. I wasn’t up to fight anymore. The decision I made for my life was for me and it wasn’t up for discussion with anyone. After a while, I stopped returning his calls. It had been a few weeks since we last talked.

When my father made it a point to tell me he didn’t want to hear from me until I came to my senses, I took it and ran with it. I hadn’t felt peace like this in a while, so I wasn’t in any kind of rush to fix a damn thing.

I closed my eyes, deciding a nap was needed, and my phone vibrated. I almost didn’t pick it up, but something told me this was the call I had been waiting for. I reached over and quickly answered.

“Niko.”

“Hi, Niko. This is Joy from the Arranged Hearts office! I hope I’m not catching you at a bad time,” she said.

I sat up quickly, adjusting myself.

“Yes, ma’am. I’m good,” I answered.

“Well, I am glad to hear that! Also, I have the best news. You’re getting married. We found your match, and the wedding is this Saturday.”

I was stuck on the fact that I would be meeting my wife soon, but then the date popped into my head.

“Why so soon?” I asked.

“We like to get everything rolling since you already waited a period for the matching process. Do you have any suggestions on what you want the space to look like for the wedding?” she asked.

I thought about it briefly before answering. “No. I know this moment is something most women or young girls dream about. She can do what she wants. The only thing I want is to wear a shade of brown or a brown suit. I want this moment to be everything she dreamed of,” I responded.

“I love to hear that, but remember, this moment is just as much about you as it is about her,” she reminded me.

I chuckled lightly. “I appreciate you saying that, but I’m cool, Mrs. Joy. I just want the woman at the end of the aisle to feel treasured. The look of everything does nothing for me.”

“All right. I’ll take your word for it and make sure she knows it’s completely okay.”

“I was wondering if it would be cool if I gave her a gift before she walked down the aisle?” I asked.

I heard the smile in her voice. “I can make that happen. All I need from you is to make sure the staff gets it early, or better yet, I’ll be there to get it myself.”

“I can do that. Is there anything else I need to know?” I asked.

“The only other thing is the ring. I can tell you this: your wife is very unique in a beautiful way,” she mentioned.

The thought of that had me smiling because I considered myself to be unique as well. It made me feel good to hear my wife would match my fly.

“Cool. I’ll keep that in mind. I like that.”

“Well, Mr. Lockwood, I will see you Saturday morning. I can’t wait to meet your family,” she added.

She might be holding on to that sentiment because I hadn’t told them about a damn thing. My father was already reeling over me leaving the league without speaking to him about it. I just knew he was going to blow a gasket when he found out I was also getting married to a woman he hadn’t met, let alone, neither had I.

I chuckled. “Yeah, won’t that be a treat? I appreciate you calling me and handling the biggest moment in my life with care.”

“You’re more than welcome,” she responded.

We said our goodbyes and ended the call. I knew the time to tell my family about the new developments in my life had run out. I might as well get it all out in the open.

I opened our family group chat and sent out a message, letting everyone know I was ready to talk. If they wanted to know where my head was, they would come by my place tonight for dinner on me.

I hovered over the send button before finally clicking it. I waited a moment as my sister Alexis, then my brother Kole responded, letting me know they would be here tonight. It took a while before my mother replied, saying she and my father would be there too.

Once everyone confirmed, I reached out to my chef, hoping he was free to cook dinner. Luck was on my side when his response came in, letting me know he would be here in the next hour with steak and sides. I took that time to hop in the shower to clear my mind before my family got here. I already knew they were going to have questions galore about the wedding.

Not to mention, my father was going to want to talk about retirement and I had a limit on what I did when it came to that. If he couldn’t understand that I had finished that part of my life and was ready to begin another one, that was on him. I didn’t intend to switch my mind for him or anyone else.

Close to an hour later, my chef was here, so I let him in and decided to turn on a movie to get comfortable. While I chilled, I decided to start looking at different wedding rings that would fit a unique woman. I scrolled past many styles. Fully engrossed in what I was doing, I didn’t realize my sister Alexis and her husband were already in the house. Not until Alexis walked up behind me and shook my shoulder. I glanced up at her and she stared down at my phone with a lifted brow.

She popped me upside the head before taking a seat beside me on the couch. I reached up to dap Matthew up, then he took the seat next to Alexis. I continued to scroll through the rings like she wasn’t sitting there.

“Is there a reason you’re sitting here, looking at rings? Is this why you invited us over here? To tell us you’re getting ready to propose to a woman we’ve all never met. If so, don’t do it, Niko. You’re already in hot shit with the retirement shit you pulled. If you tell your father you’re about to propose to a woman now, he is going to kill you,” she lectured.

I ignored her ass because she was a natural worrier. I wasn’t as concerned about Big Reg as everyone wanted me to be. His bark was a lot bigger than his bite. I wasn’t getting ready to switch shit up to make him feel good.

“Don’t you got your own business to be concerned with, Alexis? And also, if I am proposing to someone, that would be what I’m going to do. I don’t need permission from a damn soul but God.”

Alexis groaned and Matthew chuckled beside her. He knew as well as I did, I didn’t give a damn. I never had. The only reason I allowed my father to think he was running something for as long as he did was because, at that point in my life, our dreams aligned. Now, they didn’t and I was going to follow where I wanted to be.

“You’re so hardheaded, man. But, I’m not going to tell you a thing. You will find out on your own,” she said.

“And will,” I responded, still invested in my task at hand.

I came upon a two-carat diamond ring in the unique shape of a rose, with white and rose gold covered in diamonds around the band. I clicked it and turned my screen so Alexis could take a good look at it.

“You like this?” I asked.

“Wow, this is beyond beautiful. Only a unique woman could see the true beauty in this,” she responded.

I knew right then this was the ring. I screenshot it and sent it over to my jeweler with a few changes and additions. Alexis placed her hands over my screen, causing me to look up at her.

“What is going on, Niko? I am used to your usual rebellious behavior, but this doesn’t feel like that. Are you going through an early mid-life crisis?” she asked.

I saw the concern all over her face, so I locked my screen and released a breath to give her my undivided attention.

“I’m cool. To be honest, this is the clearest my mind has ever been. I am ready for my life to mean more than just football. I want more out of life. I am ready to have someone to share this shit with. What’s the purpose of being rich as fuck, only to be alone and have no one to share it with? I want more than that and I am going to get it.” I left it at that as the doorbell rang.

I stood, stopping my chef from leaving the kitchen. I continued to the front and my brother Kole was outside with my parents not too far in step behind him. He dapped me up and stepped around me. I waited with the door open for my parents to make it to the door. My dad looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here, but my mother was over the moon if the smile on her face was any evidence of that.

I leaned down to wrap my arms around her and kissed her cheek. Nodding at my father as he closed the door behind himself, he followed us into the living room. Kole and Alexis were whispering until we made it into the room fully. I knew Alexis was telling him about her suspicions of what I planned to do.

Kole’s eyes widened as a Cheshire grin spread across his face. He spread his arms against the back of the couch and spread his legs, getting comfortable. I swear he got on my fucking nerves. He was always looking for something to go down. I led my mother to another chair in the room, then went into the kitchen to check on the food. I wanted to make sure my family had eaten before I essentially ruined their meal.

“How is everything coming along, Jerrod?” I asked.

“Give me ten minutes and I’ll have everyone plated. You can lead everyone into your dining room. I’ll be right behind you,” he responded.

I nodded and jogged back into the living room.

“If everyone is ready, let’s head to the dining room and I’ll help Jerrod bring out the food,” I told my family.

They nodded and made their way toward the dining room. I turned to meet Jerrod in the kitchen. He handed me a few plates and grabbed the rest. It wasn’t long before everyone was served and he filled each glass with wine or whatever choice of beverage each of us wanted.

He left to head back into the kitchen to get dessert finished and to clean the kitchen back up. Once I took my seat, I didn’t waste a second before digging into the steak with mashed potatoes, and a side of baked macaroni with four different cheeses. He was the best chef in the area, if you asked me, and I used his services often whenever I wanted to feel like I was eating out in my own house.

We all ate, having small talk every now and again before my father cleared his throat. He placed his utensils to the side and glared at me from across the table.

“Enough. What did you call us here for, Niko? If it isn’t to tell us you had a lapse in judgment when you rejected that contract and you’re going back to the league, I don’t see the point,” he said.

I chuckled and forked up another bite of my potatoes before setting my silverware to the side. My mother reached over to stop him. But I was cool with getting to the point of why they were here. I just didn’t want to ruin everyone else’s meal earlier than it could have been.

I looked over at Alexis, who was trying her best not to look at either my father or me. But not Kole. He was for all the damn smoke, ready for shit to get out of hand.

“It’s funny that you can’t enjoy a meal with your son without thinking I made a mistake. I didn’t have a lapse in judgment. I am clearer than I have ever been. I actually invited you all over here for something completely different and more important, if you ask me,” I responded.

My mother then turned her attention from my father back to me. Alexis’s head shot up and shook slightly to tell me not to do it. I ignored her and returned my attention to my father, who was practically burning a hole through me with his eyes.

“I wanted to invite you all to my wedding. I am getting married on Saturday?—”

Before I could finish, my father shot up from where he had been seated. He slammed his fist into the table, causing the dishes to rattle. That shit would have shaken me as a child, but as a grown man, it didn’t have the same effect.

“What did you just say?” he asked.

I leaned back into my seat with a smirk, then dragged my hand down my face before repeating myself.

“I think you heard me very clearly. I am getting married on Saturday. I would love it if you came, but if you don’t, it won’t bother me. I only want people in attendance if they’re there to pray positivity over it. If not, stay home.” I instructed everyone at the table.

My dad looked down at my mother. “Olivia, it’s time to go now.”

He didn’t wait a moment before storming out of the dining room. My mother gave me an apologetic look as she hugged me and whispered in my ear.

“Congratulations, honey. I’ll talk to him,” she said before pulling back to follow my father out of the house.

Matthew and Kole were still eating like nothing had happened. All the while, Alexis gave me the I told you so stare. But I didn’t give a fuck. I meant what I said, and it went for every one of them. If they weren’t there because they wanted to support me, they could stay at home. This moment was for my wife and me only.

“Damn, so is she fine?” Kole asked.

Alexis and I looked over in his direction with irritation written all over our faces.

“Shut the fuck up, Kole,” we said at the same time.

I sat back down and continued to finish my dinner. Although this night didn’t go exactly as I had planned, what happened tonight didn’t change the fact that my forever would start on Saturday.