EPILOGUE #2
Jackie folded her arms and huffed as the DJ started playing “Single Ladies,” the unofficial bouquet-tossing anthem.
Honestly, she would have much rather he played “Knuck if You Buck”—but hey, it wasn’t her wedding.
She looked over to see Sara stretching in her dress, comically doing squats.
Mya was looking just as uninterested as Jackie, scrolling on her phone instead of readying herself for the toss.
Tanika had changed into a shorter, sleeveless ivory dress with custom retro Pumas that said Mrs. Miles on the side in blue. She looked stunning with her gray-streaked hair blown out and flowing down her back. “Alright! Y’all ready? Mya! Get off the phone!”
Mya tucked her phone in her dress pocket and looked up. “Dang, okay. Let’s get this over with.”
“Just toss it to me, Tanika,” Sara said. “I need some luck in the man department!”
“I can be your man,” PJ called out from the crowd. Antonio gave him a nudge to chill out.
“Ugh.” Sarah held up her hand. “I need one who can rent a car legally! Thank you!”
Everyone laughed wildly.
Tanika held up her hand. “Okay! Enough! I’m just going to toss it over my shoulder! No peeking! Okay? On the count of three. One…two…three!”
At first, Jackie wasn’t paying too much attention to the trajectory of the small bouquet.
Until it seemed to change directions and curve right.
Was it coming toward her? She tried to step out of the direct line of fire, but it was no use.
The small bouquet of orchids and hibiscuses landed right at her feet.
Shit. Holy, colossal shit.
“Girl, pick it up,” Mya yelled. “It’s yours! It landed in front of you!”
Jackie stared at the bouquet as if it were an alien spore. “Technically, I didn’t catch it! It landed on the floor.”
Tanika put her hands on her hips. “Pick up the damned bouquet, Jacqueline.”
“Jeesh, fine!” Jackie bent down to pick up the bouquet, and everyone cheered.
She looked past her girls to see Antonio with an amused look on his face.
She shook her head, horrified. They hadn’t talked about marriage.
Hell, they were just getting into the groove of dating each other.
Since he was on the West Coast heading up that division of AMW-Elite, it had been months of long-distance flights, FaceTime calls, and lots of late, naughty texts.
It was entirely too soon to talk marriage.
Tanika came over and hugged Jackie. “Relax, Jackie. It’s just some fun.”
“It’s never ‘just some fun’ with you all,” Jackie said. “This whole group always has some extraordinarily freaky coincidences happening.”
Tanika shrugged with a smile. “Maybe.” She hugged her best friend and whispered, “Things happen for a reason, babe.”
Gideon walked out to toss the garter as the DJ played “International Playas Anthem.” He rubbed his hands together. “Alright, we only got three single men here: PJ, Antonio, and Uncle Roydell.”
Uncle Roydell came out with his cane to the dance floor. “Listen, I got a good pension from the Army, social security, a new knee, and stocks. I can be somebody’s sugar daddy.” He looked right at Sara and Mya. “Y’all want to keep an old man company?”
“Please,” Mya laughed. “My granny says old men have worms.”
“Hey,” Uncle Roydell yelled. “I ain’t got no worms. Well, not since I caught a little something in ’Nam that one time, but that was fifty years ago. It’s been treated.”
“I think I’m going to hurl.” Jackie held her stomach. “Please stop talking, Uncle Roydell, and let Gideon get this over with!”
“Thank you, cuz,” Gideon chuckled. “Alright, fellas. Here we go. On three. One…two…three!”
This time, there was absolutely no doubt where the sneaker-themed garter was landing. Jackie watched it play out in slow motion: The silk cloth went up, up, up, and straight down onto Antonio, who plucked it off his shoulder. “Well, damn,” he chuckled. “What are the odds?”
“Very high with this group,” mumbled Jackie under her breath. She was sure the universe was conspiring against her. When the DJ began to play “Meeting in My Bedroom,” Jackie for sure knew that this was her own personal version of hell.
Antonio pulled her by the hand. “C’mon Lucky. We’ve gotta dance. It’s tradition.”
“No, it’s not,” Jackie protested, but she held on to Antonio’s hand as they walked to the middle of the dancefloor.
“Y’all look like Shaq and Spud Webb,” teased Mya as they began to slow dance.
“Shut up, Mya!” Jackie scolded as she swayed with Antonio.
“So, you didn’t want to catch the bouquet?” asked Antonio. “You were really dodging that thing.”
“And you wanted to catch the garter?” countered Jackie. “I see you made zero effort to get out the way.”
Antonio said nothing for a few beats as he looked into Jackie’s eyes. Unnerved by his staring, Jackie probed further. “Seriously, Ant. Do you want to get married?”
“Would you run for the hills if I said yes?”
Jackie thought about it. “No, but we hadn’t talked about getting married. There is a lot to consider. You’re on the West Coast. I’m on the East.”
“I have a solution for that.”
“Oh yeah? What?”
“Leaving AMW-Elite.”
Jackie’s eyes widened, “Seriously? Antonio, you just got back out to LA.”
“I know, but I realized it’s not fun anymore. Especially without you there next to me. There’s no spark. No challenge. I think I’m going to do this thing on my own.”
Jackie’s heart swelled. “Does that mean you’ll come and work with me?”
“Not so fast,” Antonio chuckled. “I didn’t say all of that. I think, given the circumstances, it’s probably best to not work together. Separate business and personal as much as possible.”
“True,” Jackie chuckled. “I’d be a terrible boss. I’d ride your ass.”
“Shit, I might like that.”
Jackie playfully slapped Antonio’s arm. “Stop it! You know what I mean.
“Okay, be honest. You aren’t upset at the idea of me going out on my own?”
“Nah. I think this is good for you,” Jackie said, sincerely meaning it. “You’ve always been on a team in one way or another. Being on your own is what you need. Even though that means we’re back to competing for clients. We could have another Paco Jimenez situation.”
“I kind of like that,” Antonio said with a hit of mischief in his voice. “Adds some spice to the relationship.”
“Like we need more spice,” Jackie laughed. Once her laughter quieted, she asked, “But what about PJ?”
“Now Jackie,” Antonio warned. “You can’t use managing PJ as an excuse anymore. He’s fine with us. He loves you, Jackie.”
Jackie furrowed her brow. “Seriously? I can’t be his agent if we get married. That would be weird.”
“You’d be like a stepmom-ager. That’s all. Like the Kris Jenner of sports management.”
“First of all, my pixie cut is way flyer than hers,” Jackie said. “And me? A stepmom?” Jackie had never pictured herself as a mom in any capacity. But she’d grown to love PJ deeply—not just as a client but as an extended part of her family.
“Wife,” Antonio corrected. “My wife, first. Stepmom, second. Agent, third.”
Jackie gave Antonio a curious look. “We’ve never talked about marriage, though. Like, really talked about it.”
“We’re talking now, aren’t we?”
“Antonio! Be for real!”
Antonio sucked his teeth. “So, what did you think we were doing all this time, baby?”
“I don’t know,” sighed Jackie. “Dating. Having fun?”
“We are entirely too old to be dating for fun. I’m trying to wife you, Junior. Stop playing.”
Jackie squeezed his arm hard, her nails digging into his arm. “I told you not to call me Junior!”
“My bad, ma,” Antonio laughed, wriggling his arm out of her grasp. “But I’m saying, Jack. You know you’re my forever. I love you, Lucky. I fell for you ten years ago, and I’m still falling for you. Every day. Of course I want to marry you.”
Marry me? She repeated the phrase over and over in head. Jackie’s lips parted, then closed.
“Oh shit, don’t tell me you’ve lost your voice again,” Antonio said in a genuine panic. “Listen, I know I said—”
“I love you too, Ant. I’ll marry you.” The words tumbled out of Jackie’s mouth like falling dominoes, but for the first time in her life, she didn’t regret speaking from the heart.
“For real? Listen, this isn’t the proposal. I want to do it right. With a ring and all of that. Trust me,” Antonio assured her. “But I needed to know where you stood.”
Jackie gave a warning look. “You better do it right. Proposing at someone’s wedding is the tackiest thing you could do.”
“Is it? I thought that was like platinum-level romantic.”
Jackie shook her head. “Not in the least.”
PJ came onto the dance floor, pulling them both into a hug. “So, am I getting a new stepmom?”
“Yeah. But not today,” Antonio said. “Also, please let us go. You’re smushing Jackie, dawg.”
“My bad,” PJ said, loosening his grip. “I’m just saying. I figured you might as well marry Jackie since you all wanna be keeping me up all night with your—”
Jackie held up her hand. “PJ, what did we say about boundaries!”
“Sorry,” PJ apologized. “But y’all are loud! Damn.” He hugged his dad and kissed Jackie on the cheek before heading back to the rest of the wedding party.
Jackie shook her head. “He’s something else. A good kid, but he’s a mess.”
“If we get married, he’d be our mess,” Antonio said. “You okay with that?”
Jackie gave him a smirk. “I think so. You okay with being a doggy daddy to my PeeWee?”
Antonio chuckled. “Absolutely. I have a lifetime supply of allergy meds on deck.”
“Good.”
“Damn, how long is this song?” Antonio said. “Want to get out of here and watch the rest of that documentary on the killer carnival clown? Speaking of our doggy son, I’m sure PeeWee is missing us, all alone in the suite.”
Jackie breathed a sigh of relief. The flats were helping, but the cloud effect was wearing off. “Oh, thank God! I thought you’d never ask!”
“Alright, let’s make it look good for the people then,” he whispered.
Antonio spun Jackie around, then dipped her. The entire party went wild with screams and applause. He held her, looking into her eyes. “How was that?”
Jackie said nothing, just smiled at this wonderful man who had literally swept her off her feet.
“Jackie?” Antonio asked, still holding her. “You good? Or are you struck speechless again?”
Jackie lifted her head, and with all her soul, kissed Antonio.
The kiss gave her those familiar tingles, and she knew: She’d always have the words to describe her love for him.
She had an endless vocabulary at her disposal, and a voice brave enough to speak the truth.
She looked in his eyes and smiled as she said:
“Never again.”
THE END