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?”
